Our church is moving from having a 7 person "leadership team" to the more traditional Elders and Deacons model. Today we voted on what that actually meant. We met from 12:30-2:15 to tie down a few issues and to ammend the document that myself and a few other committee members put together.
One person brought 8 of the 9 overall amendments to the meeting today. Issues we voted on today included:
Alcohol: the committee chose not to force the Elder/Deacon candidate to abstain from alcohol, although one amendment recommended it. The amendment was voted down. The idea is that a church leader should really use alcohol very discretionately and we did say abstainance was the best choice.
Divorce: the committee basically said an Elder/Deacon could have divorce in his/her past. A few opposed this, but biblically we couldn't justify excluding anyone who had a divorce for any reason. We chose to look at each candidate individually.
Women deacons: the committee recommended men only Elders, but felt biblically justified allowing women to serve as deacons. An amendment was brought forth to only allow men to serve. That amendment was voted down.
It was tough breaking few "traditions" that some grew up in. If you think about it Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament, probably wouldn't be allowed to be a Deacon or Elder in many Baptist churches because he had a violent past, ordered and watched many Christians be executed, and he was a convict.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Reply to hud: thanks my man.
I try to appeal to all.
Take care of your family
It looks like you guys made some good choices in your requirements.
Reply to billyv: the meeting would have only lasted 15 minutes had one guys, a former leadership team member, hadn't brought forth 8 amendments.
It was interesting, the debates and personal feelings on these hotbutton issues.
I think those are very reasonable steps toward proactive change. I think anyone who follows the teachings of Jesus must admit that he valued women in positions of service to the church.
Reply to wiccachicky: yes, the women definitely played a great supporting role meeting his own basic needs. For women to get so much bible space in a time women were not regarded as equal to man, then I think they should be serving in more leadership roles today!
Post a Comment