How We Fixed Our Sleepy and Unspiritual Members’ Meetings
January 18, 2019
January 18, 2019
Sleepy. That’s the word that comes to mind when I used to think of members’ meetings. Now, I came by this impression honestly—having grown up in a rather typical and small Baptist church. The only members’ meetings I’d ever sat through involved tedious budget walk-throughs, informational updates from various committees, and, in the good months, the happy reception of new members. Even back then, I knew what we were trying to do was something that really should be, and could be, spiritual and God-centered and joyous—and yet, it seemed our implementation rarely lifted beyond the informational.
But about five years ago, I saw something quite different from other churches, and my expectations of a members’ meeting changed from “information about what we are doing” to “inspiration about what God has been doing and, we pray, will continue to do.”
I’ve tried to implement this shift in the church I pastor by being clear about at least these two things: what we’re trying to accomplish and how we organize our time.
As our elders prepare for a members’ meeting, we’re trying to accomplish four leadership objectives and four membership objectives—all woven together with worship and prayer.
We want to testify to the work God has done throughout the various ministries of our church. For example, we’ll talk about raising up new small group leaders, or equipping a new biblical counselor, or emboldening evangelistic efforts in a particular neighborhood.
We tell the story, and as we do so we clarify our ministry plans for the future. More than merely repeating information about activity, we want to paint a picture of future ministry so that people can see what we’re trusting God for. This will help our members participate, pray, and prepare.
We want to use these meetings to expose our members to godly leadership, especially our elders. This is why we ask them—both vocational and non-vocational elders—to present the various agenda items.
We also want to recognize other leaders in our church, giving honor where honor is due and thanking God publicly for them.
We want to take time in each meeting to testify to the work God has done through the regular preaching of his Word. We’ll ask a brother or sister to share how they have grown through our most recent sermon series, so as to encourage the whole congregation. We’ll also give a brief overview of where our preaching is headed next. I’m always surprised how many people want to know, read ahead, and do some supplemental study.
We want finances to be a regular part of our meetings—not only for accountability and decision-making but also because finances provide a simplified snapshot of our needs, our priorities, and God’s generosity. The money tells a story, and as leaders we need to tell it and help the church understand it.
At each meeting, an elder will read aloud our membership commitments and after each the congregation will affirm with a hearty “Amen!” It’s amazing how many productive conversations this provokes afterward with some who are just beginning to recognize the biblical truth and necessity of these commitments.
For each meeting, one of our small groups takes responsibility for providing snacks for the whole flock. We give them a budget, and they love creatively serving their brothers and sisters and using food as a springboard of fellowship.
Every members’ meeting, our congregation receives new members who have attended our membership class, been baptized as believers, and met with an elder to discuss their profession of faith.
At the same time, we use these meetings to communicate with our members about those who have moved to another church. We inform people as to where brothers and sisters have moved, and the churches with which we are working to transfer their care.
At every members’ meeting, we discuss our Member Care List, even if no one is on it. The Member Care List includes anyone who has entered the public/congregational stage of church discipline, or is experiencing a severe crisis that requires congregational involvement. Obviously, we prefer no one to be on that list, but we discuss it every meeting as an opportunity to teach the church about church discipline and caring for one another in times of need. After all, the best time to teach about church discipline is well before you need to actually do church discipline!
So those are the objectives we seek to accomplish. But our format for doing so is organized much more around time, that is, looking at the past and looking to the future. And all of it is woven together with worship and prayer.
A typical members meeting might look like this:
That’s it, nothing fancy. But a big shift happened when we stopped asking “What do people need to know?” and started asking “By God’s grace, what do we want this church to invest in and to celebrate?”
When church members vote on new members, they’re deciding on those with whom they’ll share the highest authority in the church.
Biblical ecclesiology crumbled my world, but it also built me up again.
As a new pastor, there’s a type of triage required of you. Not a triage of what’s urgent (like the triage unit at your local emergency room), but a triage of what’s wise.
