As Stacy and I have been going through the church search process, a few issues have come forward as we seek to evaluate whether or not a particular church is “right” for us.
Issue #1: In all church ministries should the leader be a member of the church? Why? Are there any scriptural references to support your answer? Ministries being defined as Sunday School, VBS, youth group, small groups, nursery, hospitality, etc.
Issue #2: I think in our family circle it’s safe to assume that we would not support a church having a female pastor, but where do you draw the line for women having a leadership role in the church? Should a woman be allowed to teach an adult Sunday School class containing both men and women? How important is this to you; would you leave (or not join) a church that does this? Again, are there any scriptural references to support your answer?
I’ll stop there and let the discussion be on those two issues. I have more and, Lord willing, I will post them in the future. Let’s see how this goes first. Thank you for your thoughts.
Joel Ham
P.S. We were given a book (What is A Healthy Church by Mark Dever) as a gift from one of our elders at Eden Baptist before moving to Kentucky. This book has served as a good reminder of the essential marks and important marks of a healthy church and helped put us in the right mindset to assess each church. I highly recommend it.
About that Missing Blogpost....
11 months ago
Posts
4 comments:
while i may feel comfortable commenting on politics...this is one topic that would put me in the deep end (without a flotation device!)
i best not comment on that which i have not studied...
W
Joel:
Regarding issue # 1, while I have no scriptural references readily available, I'll gladly offer an opinion. ANY ministry associated with evangelism, teaching/instructing, counseling, mentoring, discipling (sp?) should be done preferably by a member of the church. I say this this because in most cases the churches I would join and support have a membership process that requires new members to read, understand and agree with the church constitution, doctrinal statement, statement of beliefs and etc. In instances where church membership is not a requirement, I think it is the church staff/elders responsibility to question leaders in these ministries and affirm that they are in agreement with the church's beliefs/policies/practices before allowing them to participate. Possible exceptions to this would be infant nursery workers or child care not associated with teaching.
Issue # 2, my opinion is it would be O.K. for a woman to lead a women's Bible studay, SS class (women only), or a children's ministry PROVIDED they meet the criteria I've already covered in my answer to issue # 1 (be that a member or nonmember). A woman leading a mixed gender group from high school age and up would not convey the 'authority' and may have trouble with discipline, each leading to the wrong impression (women in leadership) being portrayed and possibly interpreted as O.K. by the church body being represented.
While I've offered no striptural basis for my feelings, they are my convictions nonetheless. I hope these opinions help you in your search for a church family to unite with.
Anonymous,
Thank you for your comments.
On Issue #1, what is a church to do if testimony comes forward of unbiblical behavior by a non-member participating in church ministry? Surely a church cannot conduct biblical church discipline; for one has to be a member (belonging to the body) in order to be separated from the body. There is more that can and, probably, should be said about this, but I want to try to keep this brief and palatable, so I’ll keep moving.
On Issue #2, I agree 100%. To expound, I’d add that women with the gift of teaching (and other similar gifts) SHOULD be involved in a women’s bible study, women’s Sunday School class, and children’s ministries. Proverbs 27:17 says “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Just add “wo” in front of man and it still holds true.
Any other comments, from anyone else? If not, then maybe I’ll try some more after Christmas or New Years.
Joel
Joel:
With your question about issue # 1, if/when this occurs, the leadership of the church body should meet with this nonmember and allow them the opportunity to explain their reason(s)for the unbiblical behavior as it was presented to them (the leadership). In some cases it is necessary to separate fact from fiction.
The leadership must also make it clearly understood that it is their obligation to investigate any teaching/behavior that give the appearance of being non-scriptural/unbiblical or unacceptable to the body of believers.
If indeed the nonmember has acted in this manner and appears unrepentant, they must lovingly (but firmly) ask this individual to remove themselves from this ministry.
At the same time, leadership must communicate their action to the person(s) making the initial report and those that may be directly effected by their decision (i.e.; other individuals of the ministry team the nonmember was involved in). There is a fine line between under/over communicating issues and actions like this, but unity can be quickly strained if the issue appears to be not acted upon or the impression given that the leadership went on a 'witch-hunt'.
Post a Comment