"Chairman" of deacons?

My fault, I meant to say seven, not twelve in my previous post. The baby was crying to eat.

I also just finished reading Revelation, so the number 12 is on the mind.

 

= Dictatorship

 

How can a church being run by elders (plural) be a dictatorship?

 

It said No deacons.
Therefore I took that to mean the only one with authority was the pastor. That's a dictatorship.

 

I agree, and having been part of the SBC for 30 plus years, I do not agree with the format of having only one elder (pastor), and a number of deacons who share authority with the pastor as is the case in most SBC churches. Hebrews 13:9, Acts 20:17,28 Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-2 all show that the overseer/bishop/elder should be plural, and should be the leaders of the church with deacons falling under their leadership. Deacons today play the role of elder.

 

I would just like to know how we went from a position where Deacons were created to serve the church, specifically to ensure that the Greek Jewish believers were not overlooked to a position where we now believe that Deacons are leaders and decision makers in the church. Sure, I suppose they are needed due to our lack of "elders" (unless you consider the Pastor to be the elder and any associate type pastors to be on the board of elders or whatever), but it seems we've lost track of what a Deacon is, and is not.

 

That's a point well stated.

There is a title and a list of qualifications for the deacon but no job description.

You think there might be for a reason for that?

Rob

 

Here's hour the deacons operate at my church. We see ourselves as servants, not bosses. The pastor does not work for us, we work for him. We believe that the pastor's vision of where the church should be heading should get the benefit of the doubt. We see outselves as protectors of our pastor from those who seek to exert power or influence to get their way. We see ourselves as charged with promoting spiritual growth and harmony in the body. Our trustees serve as our House and Grounds Committee. The Finance Committee handles money matters, but not independently of the pastor's input. If the pastor and I disagree over something, he and I will be the only ones to know it. Since the deacons have operated under that philosophy, we have had a blessedly sweet relationship. There are no power structures. And our congregation experiences harmony,unity and a sweet spirit. And that is something for which we are grateful to God.

Tom Butler

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that I am chairman of the deacons, but more of a presider at our meetings than a position of power.

Tom Butler

 

webdog do you really believe that the word "they" was the 12 apostles in Acts 6:6


lets try something "Whom the apostles set before the apostles ....." hmmmmmmmmm somthing seems to be wrong with this. don't you think?

 

You took it wrong.

 

The only reason for a chairman of deacons is to help meetings run smoothy (i.e. the biblical 'decently and in order') Should be no extra authority.

Regards
Bob

 

</font>[/QUOTE]Plus an extra 's up!!!

 

You're not describing a Baptist church. I'd say you're talking about a Catholic mode of operation. The Pastor is the head of the body of believers but just a poor sinner like the rest of us. People should work together in the church. A Baptist church is not a dictatorship.

 

shannonL said:

We know you find deacons in the Bible but where do you find a chairman of deacons?

The function of a chairman is to moderate a meeting, to make sure the agenda is followed, to break tie votes, and various other responsibilities. You're right, there's nothing specifically Biblical about appointing a chairman to conduct meetings, but the Bible isn't in competition with Robert's Rules of Order, either. It's simply one method of conducting business.

 

The word 'Bible' is not found anywhere in the Bible either, but we know the Bible is needed nonetheless.

 

I appreciate the and the kind words, but let me tell you that I came to our current philosophy of the roles and attitudes of the deacons and pastor through bitter experience. We went through several years of tension and division that manifested itself in different issues, including relocation. We lost many, many families and I vowed that I'd never be a part of another church fight unless it was over heresy. But never over anything less. When deacons choose up sides, so to the members. When the deacons see the pastor as just another hired hand, so do the members. When a deacon disagrees with the pastor publicly, he is committing a gross error.
By the same token, a smart pastor will listen to his deacons, who ideally will be the most spiritual and wisest men in the church. A wise pastor will have the same respect for the opinions of his deacons as they should have for his. Any deacon who assumes that the office carries with it any kind of authority has not read the scriptures. And if he does not have the heart of a servant, and is not humble, folks he's in the wrong job.

Tom Butler

 

Tom,

You speak the truth. Most churches don't have that kind of wisdom, and most young or first time pastors don't have any idea the kind of knuckleheads that can get into deacon ministry. I was saved and discipled outside of our little cubbyhole of Western KY, and in all my years of wandering in the USAF, I was never in a church that had a "deacon problem." The church where I belonged when I was called to preach (and where I am a member now) had long outgrown those things as well, so I was unprepared for what I got into when I became a pastor. IN my sole pastorate, 1997-2000, We went through a lot of storms in 3 years, saw many people saved, and we thought we had outdistanced the opposition. The church was growing by leaps and bounds, and things were breaking loose! When the axe fell, I never saw it coming. We went from a packed church homecoming Sunday to packing my library the next Thursday.

I was also unprepared to find myself personally ravaged and blackballed from pastoral ministry by members of a "certain fraternal organization." When a man has the heartfelt endorsement of the leading pastor of a region, and of the "dean" of baptist theologians of a region, but finds pastoral candidacy trumped by the ignorant objections of men fed solely by phone calls from their lodge brothers, it is time to shred the resume.