Every day, people make decisions. We make decisions that have an effect on our individual lives, our families, our work, our community, and our church. During the course of this brief paper, I want to examine three issues of decision-making here at Oxford United Methodist Church: The Style of Decision-Making; the Responsibility of Decision-Making; and, Trust.
In the United Methodist Church all decisions must be consistent with the current Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. There may also be state and local laws that determine the manner in which we must make some decisions (e.g., the purchase of property, etc.).
It has been the tradition of many organizations to conduct meetings according to Robert's Rules of Order or some modification of it. Robert's Rules imposes what is essentially a confrontational style of decision-making on the organizations using the Rules. The basic pattern for decision-making in Robert's Rules is making a proposal as a motion. After being seconded, this proposal (motion) is then subject to discussion, for and against, and may be altered by substitute motions to replace or amend the original motion. The chair or parliamentarian is responsible for keeping track of which side has spoken (for or against) and often serve as time-keepers.
While this approach is effectively used by government legislative bodies, and even for large church legislative assemblies such as Annual and General Conference, its place in the local church should be limited. Legislators often form various parties that take sides on various issues. In the local church, it should be more desirable to work towards consensus, especially in Church Council meetings and committee meetings. Decisions made by consensus may still be formalized by vote.
This strict pattern of decision-making often leads to hard feelings on the part of participants. Decisions may be made that carry only a 51% approval, with 49% of the people opposing the decision. This pattern fails to adequately address the concerns of all church members beyond the simple majority. This method of decision-making is not beneficial to the life of a congregation seeking to be Christ-Centered and is arguably not even consistent with the ideals of democracy.
The consensus model differs from the pattern provided by Robert's Rules in that a proposal is put forward, discussed, and altered until a consensus of the group can be made. The role of the chair is to encourage participation and discussion from all members of the council or committee. The goal of consensus is to make a decision after everyone has had a chance for input. This model presupposes several values. These values are the Fruit of the Spirit:
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NRSV)
Love, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are appropriate for any gathering of Christians. This is no less important when Christians gather to plan and make decisions.
Let's say Faye Smith (a Lay Member to Annual Conference) wants to start a ministry for young singles at Oxford United Methodist Church. During the new business time of the Church Council meeting she brings the matter up for discussion. People begin to take turns talking about the idea. At this point, the conversation focuses on answering the question, "Is this consistent with the mission and vision of Oxford United Methodist Church?" At this point, particulars and details are not discussed because they are outside the scope of the purpose of the Church Council. The Church Council is not concerned with the details, but whether or not this is an appropriate ministry for Oxford United Methodist Church. The Church Council decides that the ministry is appropriate and consistent with the mission and vision of the church. The matter is referred to the Chair of Discipleship Ministries who appoints a task force of the Education Chair, the Young Adult Coordinator, and Faye Smith to provide a specific plan of ministry to the Discipleship Ministries Committee. The Discipleship Ministries Committee reviews the specific plan of ministry and seeing that it is consistent with the mission and vision of the church and consistent with the Discipline of the United Methodist Church and the policies of Oxford United Methodist Church it is approved and reported back to the Church Council be the Chair of Discipleship Ministries.
As mentioned at the beginning of this paper there are many decisions being made by each individual every day. Many of these decisions are important to the life of the church. For there to be effective ministry in the Name of Jesus Christ there are many decisions that must be made. The avoidance of decision-making is itself a decision. The responsibility of decision-making in the church therefore belongs to many people. It belongs to the leadership of the church; it belongs to all members of the church; it belongs to people whose lives are affected by the church. It even resides to some extent with people who have nothing to do with the church (e.g., government officials, legislators, newcomers to the community, etc.).
Let us consider the responsibility of decision-making that belongs to the leaders and members of the church. How many people does it take to make a decision? That is the basic question. For example, do you want a group of five people determining the budget for the next year, or whether or not to commit the church to a 1.5 million dollar building project? Should five or fifteen or twenty-five people determine the policy and direction of the congregation? The answer to these questions is "no!" These are the types of decisions that should be made by the entire congregation, not a committee, or even the Church Council. It is the congregation that should determine the mission, vision, and direction of the church. The congregation has the responsibility to prayerfully make these decisions by the direction of the Holy Spirit and in accordance to the Discipline of the Church and any other laws (federal, state, and local) that must be considered.
Decisions that carry out the mission, vision, and policy of the church are then made by smaller groups within the Church. In the example provided in the previous section, the Church Council determined the appropriateness of a ministry to young singles by examining it with the broad direction provided by the general Church and the congregation. It was consistent with the Discipline, mission, vision, and policy of the church. That was the role of the Church Council. The Church Council referred it to another group for working out the details. It was referred to the Chair of Discipleship Ministries who appointed a Task Force to accept the responsibility to work out the details. Details must be worked out by small groups - policies are set by the congregation.
An excellent discussion of this principle is provided by Kennon Callahan. In this diagram you see one pyramid imposed on another. Think of the dotted-lined pyramid as the size of the group involved. Think of the solid-lined pyramid as representing the number of decisions that must be made. The A-level decisions are the decisions that determine the direction of the church. These include the mission and vision of the church, and policy level decisions, long-range plans, and major financial decisions. The B-level decisions include goals and objectives; major operational decisions, and decisions involving general oversight to the implementation of the mission and vision of the church. C-level decisions involve the actual implementation of mission and ministry. D-level decisions are those day-to-day or week-to-week decisions that must be made quickly. The decisions themselves usually have little impact on the overall mission and vision of the church, but not making them can hinder the effectiveness of ministry.
The A-level decisions have major impact on the direction and vision of the church. There are not many of these decisions to make, but you want them made involving as many people as possible. B-level, C-level, and D-level decisions decline in the amount of impact they have on the direction and vision of the church, but increase in the number of decisions that must be made. This does not mean that D-level decisions are unimportant. They are important. Somebody must decide what brand of candle to order for the altar. The choice of Brand A over Brand B will not mean much to the vision of the church, but not making that decision has a negative impact. Choosing and ordering the altar candles is a D-level decision, but one that does not require many people (or the approval of the Worship Committee, or the Church Council, or the Congregation).
This brings us to the third and final issue of decision-making: Trust. The Church of Jesus Christ requires trust. We have to learn to trust the different parts of the Body of Christ to be in ministry and to take responsibility for the decisions they must make. Trust requires faith. We must have faith in the power and work of the Holy Spirit to lead people. We must have trust others to respond favorably to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. One of the greatest enemies of trust and faith is the need for control. We have to be able to recognize this need within ourselves. We have to be able to pray, "Not my will, but thine, O Lord." We have to recognize the Spirit of Christ in our Christian brothers and sisters. We have to be involved in the ministry of the church not for our own gain, but for the gain of Christ.
We are to be about the business of "mak[ing] disciples of Jesus Christ." Everything we do is for this purpose. We are to reach out to people and bring them to acknowledge Christ as Savior and to surrender to him as Lord. We are to help people grow as disciples, adopting the disciplines we have been given. We are to minister to people who have any kind of impediment (physical, mental, or spiritual) which prevents them from being the kind of person and disciple they have been called to be. Everything we do must be seen in the light of this charge from Christ: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…" Matthew 28:19 (NRSV).
If we are to take this call seriously - if we are to do this work effectively - we must learn to give up the need for control and develop the desire for trust and faith.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift…. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
Ephesians 4:4-7, 11-13 (NRSV), emphasis added.
The Body of Christ is a common image for the Church in the New Testament. We are the Body of Christ. We are called to be one body as we share in one Spirit. The above quotation from Ephesians sets forth the work of the Church. We are to…
The goal is that "all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God."
Decision-making is a constant need in this work. At Oxford United Methodist Church we
need to have a plan in place for making these decisions. It must be a plan that is
consistent with the 1996 Book of Discipline. It must be a plan that takes into
account the many different kinds of decisions that must be made. It must be a plan that
provides the structure necessary for making these decisions in an orderly and effective
manner that advances the work of Jesus Christ. We wish to put forward a proposal for such
a plan for your consideration. This proposal is being distributed under the title of Proposed
Organizational Plan for Oxford United Methodist Church.