I think that one of my favorite things so far about working at the church has been learning what I never paid attention to at Rejoice. Sure, I know how to make bulletins, lead in worship, teach Sunday school, etc., etc...yet, as far as I know, I never attended a council meeting, nor do I have any clue how a church creates and enacts a constitution. These activities have been extremely interesting for me because I've learned a lot more about the inner workings of the church.
Last night, I got to attend a meeting of the governance team, which is working to rewrite St. Mark's constitution. The one that they have just doesn't fit who the people of the church are at this point in time, so they're working to make it a better match. I'm not going to lie, I was expecting to be bored to tears, but I really enjoyed my time last night. I learned a little more about how a church functions, and it was quite interesting. I was also happy to know that I understand enough to have some input for the team, rather than just stare blankly into space.
One of the most striking points we discussed was how challenging it is to find the right role for the church council. The goal of the council definitely isn't supposed to be management. The people who serve on council should be overseeing the church's functions as a whole, not micromanaging every little issue that comes up each week. Yet there is a wide range of possibilities within that framework. How many people should be on the council? How long should their terms be? Should they be elected and then receive tasks, or be elected to a specific position? What should the teams look like? How is this going to move the mission of the church forward? I'm sure that we addressed this issue and many more when we organized Rejoice, but I was only 11 or 12 at the time and don't remember much of this discussion.
The other critical issue that came up during the meeting is one I've been wrestling with for quite awhile: what, exactly, is the role of the pastor in the church? We quickly eliminated the notion that every task, idea, problem, etc. that happens in the church must first be funneled through the pastor. I'm totally behind the idea that the pastor is not the center of church life. If that were the case, churches would crumble every time a pastor got a new call or left for any other reason. And we see this happening all the time. I always thought it was a testament to how awesome Dad is that people would leave the church when we moved. Of course, it was a compliment to him in some ways, but it was also an indication of people not understanding the role of the pastor in the church.
I'm not saying that I have every detail of this figured out myself--I definitely don't. I do know that my call is not to be a micromanager. If I felt the call to manage something, I definitely wouldn't be in seminary right now. I could have done that at Starbucks, and earned some money along the way...But what exactly is the call of the pastor? I already know some of that, I'm working some of it out now, and I know questions and issues will come up later on, as well. But I appreciated hearing not just Linda, but the whole team agree that the pastor is NOT the church...now to figure out what the pastor IS.
No comments:
Post a Comment