The church where I am a member this past Sunday had a recall vote on their pastor. Yes, there are a few churches around who still operate that way. Voting on the pastor is something I have given a good deal of thought to over the years. Here are some of my thoughts.
-Whoever came up with the idea of having the church decide by a secret ballot vote of the members on whether or not they want to keep their pastor came up with a very strange and cruel method.
-I can't find any Biblical foundation for such an idea. The only time the New Testament church voted on something was when the apostles cast lots to determine who would replace Judas. The lot fell to Matthias. Matthias was never heard from again. In due time God raised up His own man to replace Judas, the replacement was the Apostle Paul.
-Voting on keeping the Man of God. The Man of God who is the shepherd of the sheep, who prays, preaches, counsels, and helps direct you in the ways of God. The Man of of God who is God's anointed leader of the church. Then we want to turn it into a popularity contest as to how many people like him enough to keep him as pastor.
-From my experience when a church has a plan in place to have their members vote on keeping the pastor from time to time it creates an unsettled atmosphere within the church. Particularly unsettling around the time of the vote.
-Pastors are humans and have family. Can you imagine the stress having an entire congregation of members vote on the pastor puts not only on him but his entire family?
-Church is not the place for politics. We are people of God seeking the will and way of God. We find God's will and way by prayer, Bible study, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
-Voting never settles anything. People feel the say way after the vote as they did before the vote.
-Kids know it doesn't sound right. When our church announced a vote on the pastor two weeks before the vote was taken my grandson who is 11 years of age looked at me and said, "what is this about", you could see the look of something about this doesn't sound right in his eyes.
-The church has a mission to accomplish that is the greatest mission on earth. We should not be wasting our time 'voting on the Man of God'.
In case you are wondering the vote on our pastor came out very good. Oh yes, a few people voted no, now I suppose church folk who have nothing else better to do are trying to figure out who voted no. How ridiculous!!!!
I can't help but wonder what God thinks about such a strange way of doing things. What do you think. Please leave a comment.
Darrell...good thoughts. Thanks for sharing them. My votes have always been good...but I still don't understand why we have to go through all this. Trent Patterson
ReplyDeleteMe either Darrell. It seems like the plan set in motion by the pastor and the LBA under the direction of the Holy Spirit goes into motion. Then that plan is stalled as the vote takes front seat for at least the Spring portion of a given year. This is my first recall vote and I think I am approved by my people, but a feeling of dread rises within me over this vote. Now I know why Alvin got nervous each Spring every four years.
ReplyDeletePastor Darrell,
ReplyDeleteYou raise some good points. Like Trent said, I've always had good votes, but I can see where the stress and pressure could be huge for a pastor who has a divided congregation.
If we don't have a congregational vote on the pastor, what mechanism should we have in place to provide a check and balance to the pastor and to provide accountability?
I have seen churches where the pastor never comes to a vote or review, and even though the churches are dying, the pastor is sort of like a Supreme Court Justice, he seems to have a lifetime term no matter his performance.
Seems to me we have to have an accountability system. Is there one more biblical than the one we are using now (congregational voting)?
Darrell, The key problem you hit the nail on the head is the issue of church politics. The United Methodist Church has the appointment/itineracy system. Basically, the appointment to a new church or to the same church is made every year by the Bishop of our conference. He/She meets with the cabinet (10 District Superintendents) for input. They will also consider imput from the pastor and from the church when making a decision. At first, I thought this was a much better system than the congregational vote,(Which I was a part of for 10 years), because you couldn't be voted out and you were guaranteed a church to serve. However after 25 years, I don't see alot of difference. People with self-serving agendas in a congregation, can and do influence The Bishop and D.S. to move their pastor. We have a Pastor/Staff Parish Relations committee that the D.S confers with. Even though the congregation doesn't vote, in essence these committee members do. If you have a chairperson with the intent to get rid of the pastor, it will happen, even through the majority of congragational members, respect the pastor's leadership and want her/him to stay. Sometimes I think that church politics can be as vicious as any type of politics. God help us.
ReplyDelete