Who should be church moderator

12 years ago my church desided to elect the
Moderator at the (monthly regular schedule)
business meeting. He served until last year.
Then he got brain cancer. So we got a
younger fellow to do it. This helps take
the pastor out of some stress so he can do
his job better.

 

Not the pastor.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the Moderator serves as the one with the gavel - the one who says, "all in favor say aye" and "motion carried." The one who leads the process of order. As such, they almost never express their own opinion, unless there needs to be a tie breaker.

Why on earth can't a woman do that?

 

Moderator in our church is an annually elected position. The present moderator (he has held the position for several years) is a former Judge. His years on the bench have provided him with an admirable ability to keep order, maintain focus, mediate disputes, etc. Which is not to imply that we're a bunch of hooligans!

 

There ain't no glory in being a Moderator. As Pastor, although I am not the Mod--Our Deacon Chairman is----I get with him ahead of time and discuss what is/is not, what may/may not come up and how to deal with it when it does. I try to stay in touch with what is coming up---anticipate things! The last thing the Pastor needs is a mutiny/coup attempt!

 

It is not a good idea for the pastor to be the moderator in business meetings. It makes it way too easy for the pastor to control every detail of the church. Of course, some pastors already know this...

The church I recently left was this way. The men of the church met the Sunday night before the Wed night business meeting (why Wed night? Personally, I think it was so that there would not be many there, mainly the pastor's closest supporters). In the men's meeting, the pastor laid out what the business meeting would consist of. He asked the men for discussion, but everyone would keep silent if they disagreed, as the pastor liked to call outt hose who disagreed with him. And if you wanted to see him really ticked, open a motion from the floor that was not discussed in the men's meeting...

The biggest problem with all of this is that, in many churches, the pastor is allowed to call all of his own shots...and no one can oppose him.

In Christ,
Trotter

 

One of the deacons serves as moderator at my church. But never a woman!

 

I don't recall the office of moderator being mentioned in scripture. All it consists of is the keeping of order in a meeting. Anyone with the talent of organization and attention to detail is well-suited for the task. What's so wrong with that person being female?
Don't want to hear the "authority over a man argument," though. We're just talking about an umpire. Moderators don't generally give an opinion.

 

Contrary to what I have heard on this thread, I would not even consider taking a church in which I was not the moderator. The pastor is the elder (mature presiding one) and he is also the bishop (overseer/superintendent). As the pastor he is the biblical model for moderator of the church he pastors.

Saying it would take stress off of me to have someone else do it, is like saying I should let my daughter drive when we go on a trip so I can relax. Who can relax when someone less in touch, less called or less qualified is running something as important as a church business meeting, particularly if the meeting entails something important beyond a financial report or routine business.

 

Then a local church should be a dictatorship? One of the big Baptist "things" is CONGREGATIONAL self-rule.

I don't need to even be "in touch" to be able to say:

"Let's have the Borad of Deacons Report."
"Thank you. Is there a motion to receive this report as read?"
"A motion has been made to accept the report. Is there a second?"
"The motion has been made and seconded. All in favor of accepting the report say 'Aye'."
"Opposed say 'No'."
The ayes have it. May we have the Report of the Board of Trustees?"

An so on and so on down the prescribed list. Then the call for old business, then new business. Then entertain a motion to adjourn.

An elected officer, male or female, can't do that?

 

I disagree. As a manager in corporate America, if I delegate the responsibility of running a meeting to one of my staff members, that doesn't mean that I've absolved myself from being the ultimate authority present at the meeting. It just means that I'm letting someone else take charge of some of the detail work. As long as I'm present & paying attention, I'm going to feel free to interject or step-in as necessary.

 

Dr. Bob...one of the churches I went to in Augusta, GA (used to be Garden City Baptist Church) had a split a year or so back because the pastor wanted to move towards a plurality of elders. The assistant didn't think that was such a cool idea, and tore the church in two. The man who was the pastor left and started a church and is training his people on the reasoning for plurality of elders. The first pastor of that same church is in Dallas at the theoligical seminary there getting his doctorate, and he has moved, or is moving his church towards that position. But, it is true that most Baptist churches would be against it....at least the ones I've been involved in over the past 35 years.

AVL1984

 

Absolutely! It shouldn't be any other way.

 

What if some believe in a plurality of elders? Is there anyone who can prove it's not scriptural and that one of the other elders cannot moderate? Just wondering. I've seen this both ways.

 

In very group there is the predominate leader. In a plurality of elders there is always the elder who is recognized as the spokesman and leader. Contrary what some might think God did not create everyone equal. Just read Romans 12 and 1 Cor. 12. He equipped each person differently.

Even in the churches that have a plurality of elders there is always the man who is looked up to. Paul was the person who trained the other pastors. Look in Acts 20.

Who is the elder who is worthy of double honor? All of them, one of them or a few? I saw a church go from the pastor being the primary leader to a plurality of elders and then back to the pastor being the primary leader. During that time the church went from being very evangelistic to nearly dead and now coming alive again.

[ October 06, 2004, 09:27 AM: Message edited by: gb93433 ]