No preaching on Sunday Morning?

It probably would have been a good time to have an outside speaker to preach on drawing the church together and refocusing on what hte church is supposed to be doing. I am not a big fan of those kinds of meetings anyway, regardless of the circumstances. Most community meetings like that simply give time to malcontents to spread their complainst in public without having to handle them biblically. I would probably establish the deacons as a temporary (and I emphasize that world strongly) direction committee and encourage those with a particular viewpoint to meet with the deacons at a specified time. I would not do it during a regular service for several reasons. First, to schedule a special meeting requires extra commitment. That way, those who just want to speak about a subject but don't want to actually make a commitment to it will not show up. That way, those who don't want to commit to making it better will not have a voice. Second, it prevents malcontents from influencing the body as a whole. The worst thing in a church is for some malcontent to start spreading his vitriole among the members. I am a firm believe that if you are going to spread your bad attitude, you are not going to do it on "my time," meaning at an official church meeting. Call me on the phone, schedule a meeting and we will talk till you have been heard.

These are tough times for a church when a leader has fallen. What needs to happen, IMO, is that the strong leaders in teh church need to unite together and lead. Give the people the opportunity to express their grief in a private setting, not in public. Keep negativity to a low. Do not allow people to complain publicly about the departed pastor. If he confessed and repented, then forgive him. Otherwise, let him slide off into oblivion as much as possible. Do not allow him or the situation to become the focus of attention.

However, back to the point, I can't imagine a service where the word is not preached or communicated. I can't imagine I would do it.

 

Dr. Bob
Pastor Larry

It would also seem to be a good idea to encourage a few good men to always have a sermon prepared so that they may be able to fill in on a moments notice for any such emergency. These men do not have to be ordained ministers, any saved, mature Christian ought to be able to present a lesson from the Word of God. If they can't then the church has more problems then a fallen pastor.

 

Can't say it any better than what Pastor Larry said. This is where a D.O.M. in SB life comes in handy.
Only place I might be cautious is giving the deacons any kind of authoritative rule, even for five minutes. Okay, five would be okay, but no more than ten If you had multiple elders, this would be a great time for them to lead. But the congregation as a whole has to be committed in order to survive such a time.

 

My sentiments exactly. That is why I emphasize "temporary." But since multiple elder rule is not a NT polity ( ), the deacons act as representatives for the church body for this temporary time. Of course, the church could form a different group for this as well. My only reason for suggesting the deacons is that they are already "in the loop," in most cases. In situations like this, someone needs to be "in charge," so to speak.

 

Only when that church seeks to give itself away will it have the life it should. Sounds like the leaders are more interested in "preserving" the church rather than giving itself away.

What you have decribed is an indicator of make me feel good religiom. Jesus already gave the vison in Mt. 4:19 and 28:19,20. If those men don't know what to do than they are not leaders.