Rule-Based Governance in Church

This morning I have somewhat recovered from the events of the past several weeks leading the Church's AGM last Sunday. From the first meeting that I chaired in mid December last year I had set the ball rolling and planned out the meetings, seminars, retreats leading to the recently concluded AGM. I conducted a seminar of our Church's constitution which somewhat remains an elusive document to many members and leaders. In fact, at the denominational level, I started the ball rolling in 2017 and gave seminars on the Church's constitution State wide three years in a row (2017-2019). A few hundred elders and candidates for eldership attended those meetings. And then the pandemic struck.

It is not easy to change one's way of doing things or culture whereby people simply do things without rules or according to the whims and fancy of the leaders of the church council or the local District Superintendent who normally chairs such meetings. It has been a long journey since I became the District Superintendent in 2004-2008 where during those short 4 years, I managed to get 6 or 7 churches to set their house in order so that every three years they will hold an AGM to elect church leaders, deacons and deaconesses. 

As a majority of our church members are females (65%), the church elected 6 deacons and 6 deaconesses with two male elders and myself, making men the majority of the church council. We have now in our ranks a young lady in her mid 20s elected deaconess and a couple more ladies in their early 30s. So it is a good mixture of men and women in different age levels.

I had to run the show practically in the past two months when the youths held their AGM, followed by the Children's ministry. Only the women's AGM I stayed away literally as I was away in Sandakan for a series of meetings. At the AGM, I had set the rules, making decisions according to our Church's constitution and the Constitution does not provide for it, I rely on established administrative principles. It helps that Administrative and Constitutional Law subjects were among my favourite law subjects at University. I have kept an interest in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

It is a challenge to inculcate a consciousness and way of thinking that rule-based governance is the best, more so at the end of the day, we seek to obey God's law and his commandments as revealed in Scripture.