Minister Or Committee

Someone asked me last week whether a minister should take charge of Church discipline, or whether it should be a committee. A committee, they said, would keep the minister out of street fights so to speak. Well yes and no. The minister often has far more experience, while there will be few committee members who can take the heat. There is the real hazard that committee members may suffer what, in leadership theory, is called "backlash", to be lost as supporters of the ministry. At the same time, the minister cannot afford to be isolated in a disciplinary process, all the more so because ministers tend to be made the primary target of opposition. Perhaps a synthesis is best. The minister leads, supported by a prayerful and watchful committee. OBSERVATION: Which is what the Bible seems to advise.