Fundamentals: Why and How Are We Doing This?
The basis of any and all governmental aspects are to adamantly adhere to the Scripture, which establishes all humans to be of equal value, each having one soul, and all incomparable to the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, grace, and might. This is to be accepted as gospel, that being defined as indisputable fact, by the leadership of the church. God's Word also shows that humans, while being of equal value, are not of equal talent, as we can readily observe. In order to establish proper, organized operations of the church body, we must agree that the talents that God gives to us can and should be used to lead and follow each other in accordance to what is most efficient for His Glory, which necessitates an established allocation of leadership roles, hence the present assembly and discussion. We all recognize that, although the establishments of mortals are flawed and doomed to eventually die, reflecting the status of their generators (namely those of us who are in attendance and formulating this leadership allocation), we must nonetheless formulate said establishments with the explicit purpose of assembling in a unified manner under God to do His Will.
Roles/Positions
Pastor, Leading Member
Definition: A pastor is a shepherd. The term is used to denote a church leader as a direct reference to the metaphor in which the members of the church are sheep, which must be assembled and led in accordance to the will of their master. This similarity reflects the responsibilities of both the pastor and the entirety of the church; the pastor is responsible for calling on the church when necessary, while the church is responsible for answering the pastor. The pastor is responsible for leading the loosely defined “grand direction” of the church, and the church is responsible for following the grand direction. Conversely, one aspect of the metaphor that should not be overlooked is the fact that the pastor is also a sheep, just as the rest of the church is, under the Great Shepherd. This holds cohesion to the fundamentals that we hold; the pastor is a fellow with the God-given talents to lead and teach (specifically in accordance to our Master's Will), not a superior being. A pastor is not a monarch or a president; he does not sit on a throne and wave a scepter, nor does he sit behind a desk and press a button, in order to simply direct others to his/her will. Just as a shepherd walks with the sheep, the pastor of our church should work with us, practice what (s)he preaches, and in all ways within his/her ability conform to the direction in which (s)he leads.
Uprising/Downfall: The qualifications of being a pastor... (I'm honestly a bit foggy on this part. After the qualifications are established, or, well, probably in the process, we need to go over how to elect one. It seems to me that it should just be a quick, simple election the way that we normally do things so that we have an agreement on whom has the gifts to be the pastor at the time. Since I'm basically saying that the matter of a pastor's uprising should be conveyed in your words, why don't you handle the downfall part, too? About all that I have on this is that the pastor should have gifts of teaching, preaching, wisdom, knowledge, and otherwise should have the qualifications of an elder, as well as being an ordained minister.)
Elders, Council of Experience
Definition: A step into an etymology lesson reveals the fact that an “elder” is simply a word for an old man. However, not every man that comes of a certain age defaults to the metonymic position, nor is the role limited exclusively to that literal interpretation. There is a distinction between the historic origin of the word and the actual definition of the position. If we can argue that we must adhere blindly to the etymology, we have drawn a line that we must then mirror when reading that “every man has sinned” and similar verses, excluding women from that statement and thereby uprooting our entire belief system. Just as we know that the latter statement refers to all of mankind's sin, we should know that the term, “elder,” refers to all people of age. By extension, we can derive the concept that “elders” are specifically people of wisdom. God does not wish us to be led by anyone and everyone that reaches a designated age with total disregard to the actual wisdom of the people in question. God wants our flock to walk with people who have learned from their years and have had years to study His Word. The age of an elder acts as an indicator that (s)he has had the time to learn enough that (s)he has a solid foundation in his/her beliefs, but the role is not assumed until a multitude of the church agrees on the unit's general competence. An elder's responsibilities are again a matter of simply sharing his/her capabilities for God. An elder is to convey his/her wisdom in the forms of expressing discernment and views on matters, acting as an advice council to the pastor, remaining available to teach classes and preach sermons when called, privately counseling individuals, and bringing matters to the other elders and the pastor, as well as any other ways that are found for said wisdom to be shared.
Uprising/Downfall: An elder must self-nominate and be recognized by a minimum of two thirds of the congregation's vote. In order for such a nomination to be considered, the person in question must be a member of the church, have attended at least __ Sundays, with a minimum of __ Sundays within the last _ months, and be of at least __ years of age. Votes will be cast on the basis of individual evaluations of trustworthiness, discernment, steadfastness, and overall wisdom. An elder must be available for communication with acceptable consistency, as an elder is to be a teacher and counselor to the congregation. Just as an elder is recognized by the church, so, too, may the church revoke the recognition of a member's status as an elder if necessary. A member may make a motion to revoke another member's elder status if the elder no longer meets the accepted requirements of continued elder status, as defined hence:
- The elder is no longer a member.
- The elder no longer meets the age requirement.
- The elder does not attend fellowships regularly enough to keep up with current events and developments.
- The elder has given sufficient reason, as determined by the voting members of the church, to find that the elder does not have the trustworthiness, discernment, steadfastness, teaching ability, and overall wisdom to be a reputable, respectable leader.
- The elder has voluntarily resigned from the position.
An elder's status is successfully revoked if the majority of the voting congregation finds the member to be unqualified.
Deacons and Deaconesses, the Reliable Helpers
Definition: The definition of a deacon is not expounded on in great detail in the Scripture. In fact, the only explicit mentions of the word, "deacons," in the NKJV, are at Philippians 1:1 (where they are addressed alongside elders, though not defined), and in 1 Timothy 3:8 and 3:12-13 (where they are said to require respectable reputations). In Acts 6, a position is formed because the elders can not possibly contend with every minute aspect of every act within the church; the Apostles and elders could not afford the time to stop teaching, preaching, and counseling in order to do such menial tasks as waiting tables, passing Communion plates, et cetera. A deacon is not a "super elder," an "archbishop," or any other such superior officer; a deacon is simply a person whom, like an elder, is reputable, is publicly recognized as a reputable person, and is ready, willing, and able to perform tasks that the elders are too busy or otherwise incapable/excessively inconvenienced to perform. As a result, deacons should be as plentiful as those whom qualify, as should be the case with all other positions.
Uprising/Downfall: This is to mirror the uprising and downfall of an elder with the exception of the necessity of teaching capacity, with the stipulation that a deacon should be ready, willing, and able to reliably perform humbling works when called upon.
Members, the Congregation's Constitution
Definition: Members are simply the individuals who assemble as the church regularly in order to learn about the Lord, inclusive of the pastor and elders. All members are equivalently subject to regulations of the church. All members that qualify to vote on motions yield votes of equivalent value. Any member may pose an argument in a discussion for a motion.
Uprising/Downfall: An individual must first attend at least __ instances of assembly and fellowship and must be a Christian. An individual loses membership upon becoming an apostate, upon voluntary resignation, or upon loss of contact for __ consecutive __s. Finally, an individual immediately loses membership and all other roles upon death.
Note: Before continuing and reading the treasurer values, we should discuss whether we want a solitary treasurer, a financial committee, or a fusion. Personally, I would like to immediately throw the latter option under the proverbial bus for the following reason: The majority of the committee would only act as an advisory board for the treasurer, which is already handled by standard congregational rule in the form that we already practice, so it would be redundant. While this could be efficient for large, heavily-populated churches, I don't see the practicality in it for ours. Similarly, before addressing the values of the secretary, we should decide whether we want a single unit for all the paperwork, a group of the same (generic secretaries), or a segregation of individual aspects (scribe, inventory specialist, et cetera).
Treasurer, the Financier
Definition: The treasurer is a member that handles the finances of the church. The treasurer may authorize reasonable purchases with the church's money for the church's basic needs, including, but not limited to, paper goods, water, plastic cups, Communion vittles, utility bills, carpet shampoo, tissues, paper, writing utensils, and printer ink. The treasurer is responsible for refraining from drastically overstocking, excessively lagging in payments, or falling excessively behind on the matter of keeping such needs satisfied. The treasurer also handles the finances of greater transactions, such as donations to programs and ministries, structural renovations, and advertising, which are subject to congregational motions and election.
Uprising/Downfall: Any member of the church may be a treasurer. As in the case of elder status, one must self-nominate. By contrast, a treasurer requires a majority vote, rather than a two-thirds vote. A candidate should be fiscally responsible, voluntarily subject to the desires of the congregation, and regularly active in the church's fellowships. A member is no longer a treasurer upon voluntary resignation or the passing of a motion in which the member is deemed to be unqualified to hold the position. An individual also loses treasurer status upon losing membership.
Secretary, the Organizer
Definition: A secretary is a member that handles paperwork, acts as a scribe for important motions and other progressive documents, organizes paper supplies and forms, and generally performs what we may collectively call “office work.”
Uprising/Downfall: Any member of the church may be a secretary. Self-nomination is again the foundation of candidacy, and the requirement to successfully be elected is again a majority vote. The candidate should have sufficient organizational skills and be regularly active in the church's fellowships. A member is no longer a secretary upon voluntary resignation or the passing of a motion in which the member is deemed to be unqualified to hold the position. An individual also loses secretary status upon losing membership.
Elections
Process
All elections will be held by the same process. A member makes a motion, therein nominating the action to be taken. Another member seconds the motion, thereby agreeing that the motion should be considered. If a motion is not seconded, it is tabled. Any member who has attended at least __ fellowships in the last _ months may then speak on the subject upon raising one's hand and being called on by an elder or pastor. If a value(s) are addressed that involve a revision(s) to the motion during this time, the member who initially made the motion may choose to adopt the suggested revision(s). If that member does not do so, another member may move to table the present motion, upon which a member may move to vote on a similar motion with the suggested revision(s). After each member whom wishes to speak relevantly has done so, voting may commence, by which a pastor or elder asks whom is in favor, then whom is opposed, and all members raise hands in order to denote which values they each hold. Unless stated elsewise in the motion, including the requisites that are defined in this document and thereby assumed as stated properties of their respective motions (e.g. the two-thirds majority rule for election of a member to elder status), the motion will be carried (implemented as stated) or tabled (dismissed as stated) by majority rule.
Robert's Rules of Order (Revised Ed.) is adopted as the authority for parliamentary rules of procedure for all business meetings of the church and for all other meetings that demand voting of the church members, including committee meetings.
Voting Qualifications
Note: It seems to me that all elections should have the same requisites, particularly because categorizing them would be a rocky matter. That is, we could section off “position,” “financial,” and “all other” elections, for instance, but any such classification would require at least one item that is broad and really requires about the same qualities that are necessary for other elections. We need a broad term because we don't want to limit ourselves, so we may as well just have one catch-all, right?
In order to vote in any election, one must be a member of at least __ years of age and must have attended at least __ fellowships in the last _ months. The church finds that these prerequisites are sufficient for all elections because...
Another note: I wrote it like this because I think that you should be present enough to understand the matters and conflicts, but I don't want to prohibit action just because so-and-so missed last Sunday or doesn't often attend Wednesdays; that's why I didn't put a consecutive attendance order on anything.
All votes should be cast with disregard to race, sex, or any other characteristic that is not specified within this document to be relevant to any given matter.
Voting should be performed by private ballot for all position elections. All other elections may be held by the raising of hands unless any member of the voting congregation requests a private ballot.
Amendment Clause
Any item in this document is subject to amendment at any time, in the form of any revision, by five eighths vote of the congregation.
Baptism: Is it required for anything? We do it in obedient symbolism of our salvation, so it's something that Christians should do, but do we want to disable membership or participation in another role until it has been fulfilled? This matter must be discussed for consensus on the requirements of each position.