Turning Commitees Into Community
Even the let's-get-down-to-business types will be more effective when they see the hidden human element.
Roberta Hestenes
July 1, 1989
We dreaded the meeting but attended once a month anyway. It always ran long. We usually went home frustrated. None of us, if we were honest, could say we enjoyed the meetings of our board.
One night the issue was how to revitalize our worship services, which we all agreed were flat. Someone had argued at a previous session that the elders should "exercise some responsibility."
The solution: we organized a committee and assigned an elder to be in charge. What happened? Nothing. Month after month, no report, no report, no report. The tension and pressure kept rising.
Each meeting began to follow a pattern: After prayer we'd go directly into committee reports. Although scheduled, we'd get to old or new business only rarely. We would rehash each committee's report or, in the case of the worship committee, the nonreport.
Bob, the chairman of the board, would make a speech lamenting comments gathered from parishioners who took him into their confidence that month. He'd report "some people" about to leave the church.
Jim, the music director, would respond defensively, saying he receives only positive comments and is still waiting guidance from the worship committee.
Bill, the worship committee chairman, would invariably have another explanation for why the committee was unable to meet or still wasn't ready to offer recommendations.
Speeches would get louder and less subtle. And all this over how to worship the God of love.
One night, as I pulled into the parking lot, I couldn't help but wonder, If we leaders of the church don't know how to be the church to each other as we do church business, where will we ever be the church?
The Other Extreme
Some people react to the distasteful side of working within a church structure by avoiding the ...
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