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Response to ......................................................................Board Meetings and By-Laws: Necessary Evils or Helpful Structures?

Dittos to Scott...except for a few minor (and I do mean minor points).

I guess you are suggesting that Acts 6 shows the selection of the first deacons. I would only point out, that the text does not specifically say they were deacons. They may have been.....it just doesn't say that....so I have found myself in recent years not referring to them as such.

And....I still say....By-Laws are not required by the State. Articles of Incorporation are.

And even if one wants to argue that By-Laws are necessary...I would simply repeat what one state attorney told me while I was in Kansas and we reduced our By-Laws.

He stated, and I quote..."But the state cannot tell you what is to be in them or how long they are to be.....whether it's one paragraph or ten pages."

I think Scott would agree....most churches are in excess of what they need.

-- Anonymous, September 07, 1999

Response to ......................................................................Board Meetings and By-Laws: Necessary Evils or Helpful Structures?

I must say.....I am impressed and encouraged by the responses on this page.

It is a great thing when the "Restoration Movement" continues.....to restore.

-- Anonymous, September 08, 1999

Response to ......................................................................Board Meetings and By-Laws: Necessary Evils or Helpful Structures?

OK, I'll get the ball rolling. By-laws, creeds, difference? Only in degree.

The only board you will find in the NT (and I've looked) is the one you remove from your own eye before removing the speck in your brother's eye. Where and when did deacons become leaders in the Church? They were not listed as a gift of Christ to the Church (Eph 4).

If an elder is qualified in 1999, what happens that disqualifies him in 2000? If the men are the men that meet the qualification of I Tim 3 and Titus 1 then why create some kind of arbitrary method of rotating them?

Voting? Since when? Can anyone show me a single vote that took place in Scripture? Some look to the choosing of Matthias, but that was not a vote, it was a choosing, and God was the one Who chose. The first deacons were selected from among the congregation, but they still had to go before the apostles for approval. How is it possible that the designated servants of the congregation have authority at all, much less superceeding the authority of the eldership.

It is possible to have by-laws that uphold Scripture. I do not mean that they reword Scripture or anything of that sort, but that they say something to the affect that the NT is the only rule of order within the congregation. While in my last ministry, we worked quite extensively to create something the State would accept yet would keep the NT in it's rightful place of authority. Not an easy thing to do.

Scott

-- Anonymous, September 07, 1999

Response to ......................................................................Board Meetings and By-Laws: Necessary Evils or Helpful Structures?

Have had serious struggles over these issues the past 2 yrs. I wrote a 30 pg paper. Here are my conclusions. Any comments?

A PATTERN FOR CHURCH ORGANIZATION

1. When needs arise that are not being met, the church selects people to fill those needs The Hellenistic Jews were being neglected in the daily administration. If the church has a need that is not being met, find some people to fill it.

2. The people selected to do this work are required to meet certain qualifications Full of the Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3) Males are to be Men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain I Tim. 3: 8 Women are to be Dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. I Tim. 3:11. Find the best person to fill the need.

3. The Servants of the New Testament church should be selected to meet specific needs. To wait on tables(Acts 6:2). There were no servants who did not serve in some ministry; that is a contradiction. If they are not serving, they cease to be servants.

4. The servants of the church are selected to care for any need of the flock, not just $ (Acts 7-8)

5. The servants of the church are selected by the people somehow: Choose out from among you (Acts 6:3).

6. The servants have responsibility delegated by the Apostles/Elders and serve under the oversight of the Elders We will turn this matter over to them (Acts 6: 3).

7. This delegation of responsibility allows other leaders to keep their prioritiesWe will give our attention to the ministry (Deaconing) of the Word (Acts 6:4)

8. Some men are called to be specific servants of the Word We will give our attention to the ministry (Deaconing) of the Word (Acts 6:4); these are the Elders who bear the responsibility and the authority.

9. All Christians are called to be servants and some are called to be servants of the flock in specific ministries To wait on tables (Acts 6:2) having no authority and no responsibility for the oversight the Word.

10. Women are allowed to serve in any ministry of the church for which they are qualified so long as it does not put them in authority over the teaching of the Word. This would exclude them from the modern day role of the preacher/proclaimer and the Elder/Shepherd.

The position of the Restoration Movement has always been, Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; Where the Scriptures are silent, we will be silent Where the Scriptures speak has generally been interpreted to mean that where there is a clear, direct thus saith the Lord or an Apostolic precedent, this is a matter when the Scriptures speak. On the other hand, where there is no clear, direct thus saith the Lord or Apostolic precedent, this is generally considered a matter where the Scriptures are silent. A serious look at the passages concerning both male and female workers has shown that, in fact, there is neither an unequivocal command or even a clear, concise biblical example, precedent or model. Therefore, we must be very careful in enforcing opinions on one another or making them a test of fellowship.

This is where a second motto of our movement takes over: In essentials...unity, In non-essentials.liberty. This matter seems to fall into the category of non-essentials. It is not mandated by command or unquestionable Apostolic example, nor is it a matter of salvation. Therefore, in matters of opinion, the biblical example (Acts 15) is to entrust the eldership to study the scriptures, seek Gods will, and determine a course of action based upon what is best for that particular congregation. This is the very essence of the autonomous congregation. At that point, the third part of this slogan must be exercised, In all things.charity.

-- Anonymous, September 08, 1999

Response to ......................................................................Board Meetings and By-Laws: Necessary Evils or Helpful Structures?

Since several of the comments have addressed the role of deacons, thought I'd put in a bit of my research

WERE NEW TESTAMENT DEACONS BOARD MEMBERS WITH AUTHORITY?

A. What about the Office of Deacon?

It is often pointed out that the elder/bishop in I Timothy 3:1 and the deacon in 3:13 are called officers. This, however is again a KJV accommodation to high church organization that the King had put in place in the church of England. It is not New Testament.

In the original text of I Timothy 3:1, the words office of do not appear. The reader will note that in the KJV these appear in italics to indicate that they have been added by the translator. This was done to accommodate the Church of Englands hierarchical structure in which the bishop was indeed an officer, along with the Archbishop of Canterbury. The original text simply reads: If anyone oversight desires The work of the elder is never called an office anywhere in the New Testament.

The same is true with the work of the deacon. Many people point to I Timothy 3:13 and say, My Bible says Those who have used the office of Deacon well Indeed, that is what the KJV reads. However, this again is another case of letting theology interpret translation instead of vise versa. The words Office of do not appear in the original text. It simply reads: For the [ones] well having served  Literally the passage simply says, The ones having served well, have earned for themselves a good position and much boldness in the faith, in one in Christ Jesus. Neither elders or deacons are ever called officers in the New Testament.

E.G. Sewell

In an article on Appointment of Overseers and Deacons and the How of It in 1892, he commented:

Officers in the church are men that have been installed into authoritative positions, by virtue of which they have authority to do things they would have not right or authority to do outside of such positions. In this sense the word office is not found in connection with any worker in the church in the entire Greek Testament, and ought not to occur in any translation of it.

B. How Much Authority did New Testament Elders Have?

How much authority New Testament deacons had can partially be answered by asking another question: What did the New Testament elders do? Elders had very clear authority and responsibilities. The deacons task was to do what the elders could not do because of time and priorities. The deacons did not do the work of the elder. So, we can determine, in part, what they did not do, by looking at the work of the elder. The work of the elder included:

1. The elders oversaw the funds ( Acts 11:30) 2. The elders settled a doctrinal dispute, being given the same authority and place as an Apostle by the Apostles themselves(Acts 15) 3. The elders continued to be built up by the Word (Acts 20:32) 4. The Christian elder had to be on guard for himself (Acts 20:28) 5. The Christian elder was to shepherd the church of God ( Acts 20:28) 6. Christian elders were to watch the flock for perverted elders (Acts 20:29, 31) 7. The Christian elder maintains unity and peace without compromising the essentials of the faith (Acts 21: 18-26) 8. The Christian elders managed the church of God (I Timothy 3:5; 5:17) 9. The Christian elders were to work hard at preaching and teaching (I Timothy 5:17) 10. The Christian elder will care for the sick (James 5:14) 11. Elders were to be examples to the congregation (I Peter 5:3)

This brief but complete summary of the activities of the New Testament elder makes it plain that the elders were and are the only human authority in the church. There is no biblical mention of a joint board, board of directors, or general board as it has been practiced in American churches.

C. Restoration Scholarship

E. G. Sewell, 1893, editor of the Gospel Advocate (Church of Christ publication) and co-author of Queries and Answers with David Lipscomb

Mr. Sewell said:

All official authority in the church is from Christ, the great Head of the church, and not among the members. They have no official authority over each other.the deacons were to simply serve in any capacity needed. The word deacon simply means service, not office.

In 1882 he wrote an article on ordination for the Gospel Advocate in which he observes:

The word deacon is by no means an official title . . . . But there is work or service to be performed in the church of a general character, work which one or two members may do for the whole congregation, such as carrying around the bread and wine, looking after the finances of the church, looking after the poor, and such like . . . .Such men are not officers, but workers, servants for the congregation . . . . They (the Seven) were appointed to do a certain work and when the necessity for that work ceased, they went to something else . . . ..

His continuing study of the question of deacons led him to make these statements in 1892:

We have shown in preceding articles that by a literal translation of the scriptures, the word deacon would disappear from the oracles of God. And we have also shown that there is no such thing as a class or order of men in the church called deacons. In all such cases, the men chosen were simply workers, not officers in the church.

It is clear that Mr. Sewell saw no separate class of persons such as deacons in this statement in his 1892 article defining Diakoneoo:

Such servants are never in the Greek represented as a separate order or class of men, official, or anything of that sort. A pure and literal translation of the word of God would relieve the church of a world of trouble, and lead the Lords people in the right way.

Carroll Osburn, Faculty member of Abilene Christian University

Speaking in the 1988 A.C. U. Lectureship, Mr. Osburn stated: The deacon is just a member of the church that has a specially designated task. In the early church, whether he was a male or a female, [the deacon] just [had] a specifically designated task, and he didnt have any kind of authority in the church

Knofel Staton Buddy Staton is very clear in his statement regarding the authority of New Testament deacons. He writes, There is no Biblical hint that deacons were selected to vote on issues in some kind of board meeting. They are called servants, not voters. To restrict deacons to a place of status that gets carried out in monthly meetings is erroneous.

In summary, it can be said that there is no indication that New Testament deacons were officers of the church in any way. The office of deacon was created by the Church of England and perpetuated by our Restoration fathers. The founders of our movement in the late 1700s were so infatuated with the American system of democracy that they saw it as the best pattern for the church as well. The concept of a Senate made up of older, more experienced men found its counterpart in the eldership. The House of Representative, which has the control of revenue matters, found its counterpart in the Diaconate, who were understood to be the almoners or treasurers of the church. The Joint Session found its equivalent in the General Board. Thus, American government gave the Christian church its polity, not the Bible. When the scriptures are reviewed, these facts come to light: (1) The church has no officers; (2) The Seven in Acts 6 were not deacons as we know them but possibly Elders; (3) Elders were the only leaders with authority and the Apostles considered their authority equal to their own; (4) Deacons hold no authority, only places of service; (5) No Joint Board is ever mentioned in the New Testament

-- Anonymous, September 08, 1999

Response to ......................................................................Board Meetings and By-Laws: Necessary Evils or Helpful Structures?

In answer to your original question of what kind of situations are some of us in, I am in a church that has twice a month elder meetings where the elders and ministers gather to pray, study the Bible and the role of elders and then, discuss business. As a group, without a vote, just general consensus, we make decisions that we feel lead the body of Christ we are working with to a higher spiritual growth. Issues of grounds maintanence, building upkeep, etc. are simply turned over to the deacons and we try to limit our decisions to the spiritual welfare of the church. We are moving away from the idea of "voting" for elders and are re-writing the by-laws to get away from it. Instead, elders will be appointed (after they have come and expressed a desire to become an elder and have shown themselves to be "qualified" by the teachings of I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Then they are brought before the congregation, questioned on doctrine and lifestyle by the elders to show to the congregation that they are indeed men who "qualify" according to the word of God and then the congregation is asked if they will submit to their leading. When the congregation says yes, then they have hands laid upon them, are prayed over and "appointed" to be overseers of the local flock. Although, until our by-laws are voted on in 10 days, our elders are only appointed to serve for three years, we plan on making it, with the new by-laws, an appointment until such a time that they wish to remove themselves or should be removed due to death, moving away or falling away from the faith. I am not saying this is the very best, most Biblical way. I am just reporting as to what situation we are in.

In the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, Malcam

-- Anonymous, September 08, 1999

Response to ......................................................................Board Meetings and By-Laws: Necessary Evils or Helpful Structures?

"By-laws ... we don't need no stinkin' by-laws!"

By-laws, at best, are a-biblical. That is, not biblical, and not anti-biblical (unless something in the by-laws themselves goes against Scripture).

Articles of incorporation are usually mandatory ... while what are legally seen as by-laws not. And I agree with Danny, who or what says how long they should be.

I like what transpired in Cocoa. I had just come aboard with Danny Gabbard. Only a short time after that, the congregation was questioned as to if we were a people of the Book, or a people of the by-laws. Following their answer, all of the by-laws, except for the articles of incorporation, were literally torn from the binder, and thrown into the trashcan ... where I personally believe they should be. To my knowledge, only one person/family got upset enough to leave over the matter ... and truth be told, they were most likely looking for a reason to leave anyway.

Tried the same thing when I moved to Charleston, SC. Mentioned what took place in Cocoa, and one of the elders had what can only be termed a royal fit. Spitting, and almost swearing, he couldn't understand how you could have a church without bylaws. It was interesting reading through the pages of pages of their bylaws, and trying to think of why this article, subpart a, paragraph b, etc. was put in. Obviously lots of problem sin the past, and the by-laws, rather than the elders or the Scriptures, were used to settle the matter.

Last congregation I served prior to coming to campus ministry was 150 years old, and had never had by-laws. When I came on board, one elder asked if I would help the congregation put together by-laws. I simply asked him what we needed them for. His basic answer was, "Well, so-n-so congregation has them." Needless to say, we never put by-laws together, and I don't think they ever will.

-- Anonymous, September 08, 1999

Response to ......................................................................Board Meetings and By-Laws: Necessary Evils or Helpful Structures?

To answer the orignial question concerning our situations. At the congregation I serve we do not seek to place before the congregation a slate of Elders or Deacons. When a man desires the position, he lets the congregation know. The congregation has one year to observe them and to let the serving elders and evangelist know of any problems with their qualifications and or the ability to serve and lead. When the year is over and they have proved themselves they are ordained. Each deacon is given an area of responsibility. They are to work that area and report back to the elders and the other deacons what they have done at a monthly accountability meeting. The elders and the evangelist meet monthly to pray and discuss the spiritual aspects of the church, which include the growth of the individual memebers of the church. If teaching is determined to be needed in any given area, such as gossip, forgivness or such, then we make a plan of action to start teaching. This is not perfect but at least the popularity vote is illimnated and the men know they are to work and not just serve on a board that meets once a month. We expect them to work and they know it. The only thing I believe I would add is the opportunity for the congregation to answer questions concerning qualifications for each person being considered. Let me ask, "Are any of you finding it hard to find qualified men to serve as elders and deacons in your churches?" We have had a very difficult time finding qualified men.

-- Anonymous, September 09, 1999

Response to ......................................................................Board Meetings and By-Laws: Necessary Evils or Helpful Structures?

I would also like to commend the writers in their responses. As David Snyder posed the question,

"Are any of you finding it hard to find qualified men to serve as elders and deacons in your churches?"

May I propose an answer. Although this takes time, train the men to take God seriously and to accept the blessings that are afforded by the opportunities God has for them in their future...

Go for it, guys,,,, Keep up the good work Dave

-- Anonymous, September 10, 1999

Just to let any one interested know that the church in which I serve, we have four elders and no deacons. The deacons are the biblical servant of the church which includes any one matching to Acts 6 (inference) and the outlined biblical I Timothy. This is the ideal for any church and it works! THings get done without arguments and voting. The elders and Minister/Preacher/Evangelist make the decisions and the deacons help to carry it out. The Bible is correct and true! If we only followed it!

-- Anonymous, September 29, 1999