Today’s guest blogger is Russ Jones. Russ and his wife A.J. visited our church in Santa Clara nearly 20 years ago and chose to stay. Russ eventually became chairman of the governing board and has always been there for me, in good times and bad. Russ and A.J. live in Wickenburg, Arizona. Russ and I meet for breakfast every month – even though he’s a Dodger fan – and his friendship and counsel continue to inspire me to this day. Here is Russ’ view of the connection a board member needs to have with a pastor:
Having served on several church boards and been the board chair at a couple of churches, I believe that the most important characteristic of a board person is loyalty. It is imperative that the board person consider the pastor as the leader of the board and the church and that he or she must accede to the dictates of the pastor.
Now, certainly, if the pastor is indulging in heresy or some type of deep sin, the board must act to replace that pastor. In lieu of that type of behavior, I believe that the pastor should be the real chairman of the board, that he is the professional while we who serve are the lay persons. We are there to serve him and therefore to serve God.
If the board is carefully selected and conforms to the qualifications as Paul dictated in 1 Timothy, I don’t believe that we would have the all-too-frequent problems between the board and the pastor.
I have seen a number of pastors thrown out of the church by a board for personal reasons. Not only is this devastating to the pastor, but inevitably the kingdom of God is affected as people will leave the church for their own personal reasons.
As a relatively young Christian, I was blessed to serve a godly man on his board. There was conflict in the church and the end result was that he was terminated. Now please understand that this pastor was a friend of mine, a hunting buddy, and a man who I had turned to for godly counsel.
As a result of his being forcefully terminated, I left the church. I remember so well that I told myself that I could pray and read the Word and didn’t need any fellowship to continue as God had ordered. How foolish and how wrong I was! For it wasn’t a week before I quit praying and reading my Bible.
I thank God that I have returned to Him and prayerfully serve Him to the best of my ability. Today, I use that story as my testimony to young people to tell them that we must continue to fellowship with other Christians and that they must find a church where they can feel comfortable and learn what God has so beautifully given to us through His Word.
It pains me deeply to see Christians – or at least those who purport to be Christians – act so contrary to God’s Word. They murmur, they gossip, and they display no loyalty to their church, their pastor, or their God.
If I may give a little advice to anyone sitting on a church board – or to anyone who might reasonably be given that blessing in the future – do not let any murmuring or criticism of the pastor go unchecked. The first time you hear someone make a derogatory comment about the pastor or criticize the church or the way it is being run, you must take that person and demand that he or she go with you to the pastor to air their differences. You might be surprised at how often that person will find a reason not to talk to the pastor about their criticism when challenged in such a manner. And again, how often that ends the problem with no further discussion of the matter.
In conclusion, if you don’t feel you can fully support your pastor, giving him 100% loyalty, do your church, yourself, your pastor, and God a favor and decline the offer to be placed on the board.
You probably don’t remember me, Russ, but years ago I was in a small group with you and A.J. just before you moved to Arizona. I remember when A.J. told us that before you were married A.J. stood for “Almost Jones” and after you were married A.J. stood for “Always Jones”. I’ll never forget that. Thank you for what you have written today. Whatever the endeavor, whether it’s joining the board of a church or leading a ministry, the person being asked to fill that spot must be clear about what their role is. I served on the board of a small Christian school for five years, but it took me a year to figure out what my job was-only to realize that the board was not always functioning as it should (but that’s another story!). What about people who start off with good intentions and later find they are no longer able to be supportive-what would be an appropriate course of action for them?
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Ce Ce, I told Russ how to answer your comment, but something may have been lost in translation! I’ll try and answer your question. I believe it’s the job of a board member to share what they really think and how they really feel at all times. If you’re doing that during your tenure on a board, and you find something you can’t support, you need to speak up and say just that. Who knows, your words may keep the ministry on course. But if you’ve tried and you don’t like the direction the ministry is going, you should resign from the board at your first opportunity. Sometimes that’s best for your own health and sanity, and sometimes that’s best for the board, which may be able to operate more freely without you. What some board members do – and this is wrong – is fail to speak out in the meetings, and then hatch plots against the pastor in private. Thanks for your feedback!
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Guest bloggers? When do I get a turn 😉 What a clever idea Daddy-o! It is great to “see” Russ on the blog and read his wise words. Job well done Russ and thanks for being a good friend to my dad. Say hi to AJ for me!
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Sarah Grace, if you want to be a guest blogger, then submit an article to me, and I’ll consider it. Fair enough?
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