Budget Meeting

I attended an Anglican Church budget meeting this week. This was interesting. It was said that, above all, the meeting was there to inform members, and to be accountable to them. In the Congregational Church, the primary purpose is different. In that meeting, the congregation shapes the budget and gives orders to the diaconate (this includes the minister and finance officers). It is based on the spiritual principle that Christ Himself imparts decisions to His Church, as they are gathered together in the Church Meeting (and only the Church Meeting). OBSERVATION: Various aspects of budget meetings will be found in every Church, so we are talking about priorities here. However, these are very real differences. One is that, in a Congregational Church, big things can happen in that meeting, sometimes not predicted.