TAKING THE MUDDLE OUT OF THE MEETING
Robert K. Oglesby
April 1, 1991
Ask any minister to "name three things that drive you to distraction in the church," and one of the three will likely be something about meetings. Every minister seems to have a story of a church meeting that lasted till 2 A.M. and almost split the church . . . or a meeting in which the sole accomplishment was to set the time for the next meeting. I've had my share of frustration, too, but I have discovered ten check points that have helped take the muddle out of meetings. Â Do we really need this meeting? Some think the first step to solve any problem is to call a meeting to discuss it. The truth is, meetings make some problems worse, not better. Someone once said that if you gather ten church members, you'll get twelve answers to every question. (By the time the last person expresses his opinion, the first two will have changed their minds.) The longer the meeting, the more opinions it spawns. Some decisions are best made by one individual, not a committee. When someone who has the authority and the information necessary to make a decision chooses instead to call a meeting, he may simply be sidestepping his responsibility. As a result, we lose time and gain heartache. Before I call a meeting, I ask myself if a committee of one is enough to solve the problem. If I have the authority to make the decision, then I try to do it and to be emotionally prepared to take the heat for decisions that are mine to make. If someone else has the responsibility, I ask that person to decide. Only when a group needs to be involved do I call a meeting. Â What is our purpose? Once it's clear a meeting is necessary, its purpose must be stated carefully. One man was frustrated after a meeting he led. "Every time I chair a meeting," he said, "things fall ...
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