Why I No Longer Dread Elder Meetings

by Randy Nation

“I feel like a drowning man being thrown a life preserver.” I said that more than two years ago when I realized there might be an answer to the frustrations the elders and I were experiencing.

Over the last 25 years, I have served as senior minister in three Restoration Movement churches. Through the years, I have worked with many good leaders who love the Lord and the churches they lead. But I have been dismayed and frustrated that these good men, myself included, have struggled with so much dysfunction in our structure and meetings.

I presently serve as senior minister and elder with Woodford Community Christian Church, Versailles, Kentucky, a wonderful church I have been with for 11 years. That Woodford Community even exists is a miracle of God; we are the product of the merger of two churches that had split several years previously. The church smoothly transitioned through the merger, moved to a new campus, and grew dramatically, and yet it had a very dysfunctional eldership.

 

How to Lead?

We were all good men who loved the Lord and WCCC, but we couldn”t seem to get our act together in how to lead the church. There were no clear lines describing my responsibilities as senior minister and the elder”s responsibilities. Meetings lasted many hours, were filled with minutia, and often created conflict and confusion. The greatest tragedy was very little shepherding was being done by the elders.

Then I became aware of a leadership model called Policy Governance, and I began to have hope we might be able to improve our structure and organization.

Policy Governance was developed by John Carver to clearly define the roles in an organization, the purpose of the organization, and how to accomplish its purpose. The model was not designed specifically for churches, but is flexible enough to work with almost any organization that has a governing board.

Governance relates to consistent management, cohesive policies, processes, and who makes which decisions for a given area of responsibility. Carver writes, “The purpose of governance is to ensure, usually on behalf of others, that an organization achieves what it should achieve while avoiding those behaviors and situations that should be avoided.”1 

Every organization, including each local congregation, has many governing issues. In the Restoration Movement, we believe God has called elders to lead the local church. However, as the church grows, more of the management and implementation must be delegated to others. Elders need to be able to provide oversight of the church, shepherd the flock, and allow the staff to use their gifts, education, and skills.

 

Consistent With Our Values?

We knew we needed help, but wanted to make sure the model we adopted would fit with our “first values,” those of God”s Word. After much prayer, discussion, and the help of a wonderful consultant, Olan Hendrix of Leadership Resources Group, we were able to compile our Policy Manual, covering the four major areas of board and management responsibilities. They include:

Ends: What the organization exists to do, who it will serve, and at what cost.

Governance process: The board”s philosophy, accountability, and its products.

Board staff linkage: The relationship the board will have with its management (senior minister).

Executive limitations: The boundaries placed upon the senior minister and his staff and how the “ends” will be achieved.

We then changed our bylaws to reflect the changes we were making in our governance. This involved a process of educating the congregation about why we were proposing these changes and how they would work.

The congregation approved the changes overwhelmingly, and we set a date to begin using the new model. In my ministry, I have always been conservative about making changes in the church”s overall ministry. But Policy Governance is a completely different approach and model, and I realized we could not ease into it slowly.

My advice to anyone adopting this model: Put as much time and care as is necessary into the planning, but when all is ready, the transition must be immediate and complete. We made the transition in May 2008, and we haven”t looked back.

 

Still Learning

Our elders have been supportive and eager to learn more about how to govern well. We plan to educate prospective elders on Policy Governance and also continue our own education. Our elders are responsible to the “owner” of our church, our heavenly Father, and seek his will about the ends we will pursue.

The elders provide complete oversight of the church and have delegated management to the staff in clearly defined policies. These policies are monitored on a regular basis, and more information is provided to the elders than ever before. The elders can change these policies at any time as long as they do not contradict themselves or the model itself.

I am limited by the policies, but am greatly empowered to lead our staff and the ministry of the church. Perhaps best of all, our elders have freed up time and energy to focus on shepherding the church. We took one of our monthly meetings and turned it into shepherding training and included many of our deacons and other church members. Thus our elders have two primary responsibilities””governance and shepherding.

While Policy Governance is simply a tool to allow us to lead Christ”s church more effectively, it is based on the following biblical principles: servant leadership, accountability, empowerment with restraint, and clarity of values. Policy Governance demands that the board says what it means and means what it says. It stresses integrity, accountability, and excellence.

I was so impressed by the model that I attended the Policy Governance Academy, a yearly conference to train leaders, senior ministers, board members, and consultants. I came to know John and Miriam Carver and to appreciate their humility. I also gained a new appreciation for how the model could be used to help many Christian organizations such as churches, colleges, missions, and any other organization that has a board.

________

1John Carver, Boards That Make a Difference (Hoboken: Jossey-Bass, 1997).

 

 

 

Randy Nation serves as senior minister with Woodford Community Christian Church, Versailles, Kentucky. He is an alumnus of John Carver”s Policy Governance Academy.