I’ll never forget the time that I saw a deacon stand up in anger at the leadership meeting and call another member in the meeting a “son of Satan”!  That was nearly 30 ago, but the memory is fresh in my mind.  Over the years, I have been involved in more meetings than I care to recount.  Some of them were productive, some were a waste of time.  Sometimes I wondered if the people were truly followers of Jesus, and sometimes I wondered if the walls were going to fall because the Spirit of God was moving among the people.  The idea of a “meeting” can conjure up all sorts of feelings for those who have to attend.  This Sunday is our Grace Bible Church Annual Business Meeting immediately following church.

How is a church to “conduct” a meeting?  Most of us have become familiar or experienced enough of Robert’s Rules of Order in our culture that we have an emotional reaction to the very name!  Who was Robert anyway?  For some, it means a dry and boring procedure.  For others, it is the only way to conduct business in our culture.  My argument is not about whether or not this is good or bad, but rather an observation that the early church seemed to make decisions without having a Robert on their team, but I digress.

Our current constitution that we operate under addresses the parliamentary procedure that we use for our meetings:

ARTICLE XI. PARLIMENTARY RULES
We will not be bound by iron-clad parliamentary law; however, all business meetings,
whether routine or special, committees, boards or congregation, shall be conducted
decently and in order, with Christian love and courtesy (I Corinthians 14:40).

Our understanding of Biblical leadership and relationship should not be bound by iron-clad parliamentary law…I like that part of the current constitution.  But, does that mean that we should cast lots and make decisions by random draw and leave it to the “fate of God’s hand”?  I don’t believe that is a healthy way for a church to operate either.

We have been asked a few questions regarding the format of the meeting and how we will conduct business. So, what should you expect on Sunday?

Well, we love Jesus, but we like a little bit of Robert too!

The elders will introduce the discussion by introducing an amendment to the document that you have had access to.  This will be made into a motion, receive a second motion, then open for discussion.  After sufficient discussion, we will call for a vote to add this amendment to the revised constitution document that was posted on our website two weeks ago.

Next, the elders will make a motion to adopt the revised constitution.  It too will need a second motion, then discussion can be made on that motion.  At this time, we will be able to engage in questions and answers.  This discussion is a healthy part of the process and the part where we call ourselves back to the spirit of conducting ourselves “decently and in order, with Christian love and courtesy”.  If, through this process, there are other amendments that need to be made, they can be presented in the form of a motion.  They would need a second motion, then that issue alone can be discussed and voted on before returning back to the original motion.

At the end of the day, we will call for a vote on the constitution to be ratified or rejected.  Ratification will mean that it becomes the accepted rule of order and legal guide for how we conduct business at church.  If it is rejected, then the elders would take the information that was discussed back to the drawing board and rewrite another revision that would be presented at a later date.

We hope that you have taken the time to look over these documents.  If not, I encourage you to do so prior to the meeting on Sunday.  You may find the link to both the current constitution and the proposed revision at the following link. Church Constitution Documents – Grace Bible Church McPherson, KS

Finally, thank you for being patient with the process.  The elder board has been working on this document for long season of time.  I will re-iterate what I shared in last week’s article (https://gbcmcpherson.org/moving-beyond), we know that this is not a perfect document.  We hope that you can recognize the spirit of humility from the elders as they worked diligently to lay out a document that best represents the biblical calling of what church structure should look like and how it should operate.

Most importantly…pray!  Pray for our church.  Pray for our leaders.  Pray for our pastors. Pray for our ministry volunteers.  Pray for our families.  Pray for our youth.  Pray for our children.  Pray for our future…that God will move us into a clear calling of ministry in this community.  Oh…and say a little prayer that we all conduct ourselves with love and courtesy as we meet on Sunday.

In Christ’s LOVE,

Pastor Dwight

I loved playing baseball when I was younger (I still love it now, but it hurts too much).  I was never a power hitter, but rather a guy with a lot of speed that could turn a routine ground ball into a single, a single into a double, or a double into a triple. I always hustled to first base with an eye on the ball and the intention that I was continuing on to second.  While the average parent in the stands was cheering the hit and a clear single…my mind and the path of my approach to first base was setting me up for a double.  I had to be prepared to turn the corner and go at the right time.  If I wasn’t prepared, I would be stuck with a single, or worse yet, make a panic and unprepared move and get thrown out somewhere between first and second base.

Preparation is often overlooked.  We are people who like to see progress.  However, there is often much groundwork that has to be done and in place before a foundation can be laid, a structure erected, and systems installed.  It is only when that process has fully taken place that effective use of a building can happen.

Last Saturday (December 7th) the elders met for an eight-hour session laying the groundwork for the future ministry of Grace Bible Church. Rod Huxman, Jim Sugars, Pastor Don and I spent the day working through our church constitution.  There are parts we clarified, parts we deleted, parts we added, and parts that we wondered “how on earth do we put this into words?”.  We agreed, we disagreed, we wrestled over words and phrases.  We looked up scripture, discussed interpretation, valued the weight of different verses and theological perspectives.  We considered ministry context of today, the past, and the future.  We discussed current laws, lawyers, and the threats and dangers of a hostile culture.  We discussed opportunity for discipleship, outreach, and fellowship.  We discussed unity, like mindedness, and grace for differences.

At the end of the day, we were excited.  Excited to see where God is taking us a church.  Excited to see how He has been faithful to bring us this far into the journey.  Excited to see the new faces that have joined our fellowship as well as the faces of familiarity who have stayed the course through time.  We are excited to introduce the 2024 Revised Edition of the Grace Bible Church Constitution at the January Annual Business Meeting on January 19th.

Yes, just like that young boy running to first base, we have our eyes on the ball and reading the play so that we can round the corner and head to second base at the right opportunity.  The months of planning.  The hours dedicated to finishing our legal documentation of governing structure. It doesn’t look too exciting to the average onlooker, but, it has us prepared us to be ready to push forward toward the next goal.

Thanks for being with us on this journey toward Jesus!

Pastor Dwight

For the past 8 years I have had the privilege to be the public address announcer for Inman High School and Junior High Football games.  I watch the game from the press box, identify the important players in the play, and then announce the result at the end so that everyone in attendance knows what is happening on the field.  For the first seven years, I did this without a spotter.  It was just me, trying to block out the action of the entire field to focus on the ball carrier and tackler.  Sometimes I would misread a number on the jersey, thus announcing the wrong player and hearing about it later from a mom or dad who felt their son was slighted out of having his name announced over the loudspeaker.

This year has been different.  This year I have a spotter to help me.  But it is not just another set of eyes on the field.  My spotter has a pair of binoculars that he watches through.  His view through the binoculars gives him a different perspective on the game.  His view is laser focused.  He is able to see what is far away as if it were closer, undistracted by the activity of the other players on the field.  He is not scanning to see if there was a flag on the play or how many yards the ball carrier ran.  He has one focus, accurately identify who made the tackle.  That information is communicated to me, I share with the crowd…and this year I have yet to have one parent tell me that I missed the call.

Watching a football game in the stadium presents many challenges. There is the immediate action that is taking place on the field in the moment, then there is all the periphery that is taking place that can be a distraction from the game.  All of it is important, it is important to create an atmosphere that gives game night its magic.  The cheerleaders, the band, smells of the concession stand, the angry parents yelling obscenities at the ref or the coach.  So much is happening and everyone sees the game from their own perspective…some don’t even care about the game, they are just there to watch their daughter dance at halftime or play in the band.

The same thing can happen at church.  As we gather on a Sunday morning it is easy to get caught up in all of the activity and periphery of “game day”.  There are rehearsals to run through, tables to be set up, decorations and food to be placed.  There are connections to be made, songs to sing, and sermons to deliver.  Then it’s time to box it up, say our goodbyes, turn out the lights and get ready to go another week.  So much activity, so much distraction.  At the end of the day, I look and wonder, how many steps forward did the follower of Jesus take this week to help him find victory?

It is easy to lose sight of what matters most.  Jesus calls us to “make disciples”.  That is the ball carrier.  That is the progress that will be measured for eternity by our Lord.  Jesus demonstrates in his ministry that making disciples is a process, not a one play event.  Just as the ball carrier must battle for a few short yards at a time trying to reach the end zone, so too must the follower of Jesus battle to keep moving forward in his pursuit of maturity.  The goal of the church is not to score seven points, but rather, to develop fully mature followers of Jesus who are connected and unified in the body of Christ (Eph 4:11-13)

Today is the first of a new column that I will include in Grace Weekly.  This column will serve as the binoculars to focus on the “vision” of our church.  I hope that through these posts you will be able to see what is farther ahead, but make it seem closer.  It will serve the purpose of communicating what is being planned, the direction we are going, or what opportunities are being presented to help you grow in your relationship with Christ and how you can serve your role to help others as well.  I hope that you take the time to look through the binoculars each week so that you can see the church from a different perspective.

In His Service

Pastor Dwight