For a small seminary assignment, I interviewed four colleagues about Church discipline. The findings: All of them did it. All of them had first-hand experience with it. Where the need arose, all four of them went in first as minister. In three out of four cases, the next step was taken by the minister together with the elders. In the remaining case, it went to the elders and deacons together. If it ever went to the whole Church, all of them did it merely to ratify the decisions of the elders -- and in that one case, decisions of the deacons included. It was not up for discussion before the Church. One of the ministers commented that the pastor is “the enemy's main target”, and that his or her protection is a priority for the Church. Another commented: “Last time I did this, one of the deacons resigned about discipline being too harsh a thing, but he wasn't prepared to accept any responsibility.”
No comments:
Post a Comment