Archive for January 31st, 2012
Before we make up our minds on this, though, I would call attention to the growth and development of the early church as we have it described in Acts and in Paul’s letters.
We know in the Gospels that Jesus called 2, then 4, then eventually 12 men to be his disciples. A number of women also became part of this group, though they were not officially disciples!
At the time of Pentecost, the 12 had grown to 70, and those 70 gathered together “for fear of the Jews” experienced the Holy Spirit as “tongues as of fire” and as the “sound of a rushing wind.” After Peter, and presumably others, preached his sermon, the size of the faithful group grew to about 3000.
Whether one uses 12 apostles or 70 followers, that meant one “pastor” for every 250 or 43 “members” of the Way.
The fellowship continued to grow, and soon the “Hellenists” in the fellowship complained that the needs of their widows and orphans were not being met. So the council of 12 apostles appointed seven deacons to oversee the “hands on” ministry.
Soon after, Paul was added to the number of apostles and his efforts among the gentiles produced more growth and the structure of the church changed again to include Paul’s on-the-ground assistants and bishops, who oversaw groups of congregations.
From church history we know that when the center of Christianity moved from Asia Minor to Rome, church structure changed once more to accommodate different needs; the church then became hierarchical, with the Bishop of Rome being, in essence, the Presiding Bishop of the whole church, with other bishoprics and dioceses formed as needed.
Here at Faith we’ve had growth over the years, and we’ve had to adjust our structures and methods of doing ministry to meet new needs. Your constitution committee is attempting to take seriously the needs of a congregation with nearly 500 worshipers on an average weekend and a total budget of just over one million dollars.
In developing a structure to meet this situation, the committee is relying on research done over the last quarter century or more by the Alban Institute. Alban’s Susan Beaumont has written Inside the Larger Congregation, which the committee has reviewed.
In short, the proposed revision suggests a congregation council of seven voting members, and more accountable committees, boards and ministry teams who, along with staff, actually carry out Faith’s ministries. The council’s responsibilities will include three areas: visioning/planning, policy setting and fiduciary. The committees, boards and ministry teams will be responsible specifically for their ministry areas and will maintain regular communication with council about those ministries.
Yes, size matters for how we organize ourselves and carry out our ministry. I urge you seriously consider the needs of Faith at this point in time as you review the proposed constitutional revision. And I urge to remember that even near the beginning of the church in the book of Acts, the structures and methods needed to change in order to meet the emerging situations in which the early church found itself.
Lyle A Kleman
Intentional Interim Pastor
