From the Bottom Up

In the Congregational Church -- perhaps rather, in Congregational Churches where I ministered -- policy came from the bottom up. In many other Churches, it comes from the top down. I found, though, that "from the bottom up" delivered some very good policy -- often better than from the top down -- and more than that, it had broad support. I was often surprised by the spiritual knowledge and wisdom of the ordinary members. OBSERVATION: There are, I think, drawbacks, too. The ordinary members may not be so good at implementing policy, or grasping when it needs to be implemented.