Bible Discussion Thread

Church committees (cont). It should be stated from the previous post that often church members aren't asking about some of the issues which come up for public vote. One example I have seen is congregational meetings on procuring monies for a new facility as opposed to remaining in the current one. I have seen firsthand how the wisdom of a licensed contractor with many years of experience was ruled out with everyone supporting the Pastor on purchasing a church facility needing much work which originally was to be about 100,000 dollars work of which most was already available in the church budget. Instead of being willing to pay for things being fixed properly the church all worked with a plan to bring in missionaries; and for people to pitch in on projects; as well as having one of the elders who had some industrial construction experience be the one in charge. In short; largely due to the foundation issues inside with the gully and overwash in the driveway outside today they are estimating it will be 400,000 dollars to put into it. I had earlier voiced concerns over spending about a thousand a month more than the place we were sharing with another church for a more convenient space at an earlier time as well. In any case; it appears God is continuing to expand membership so they may eventually be in the black; but it is a risky thing especially when there was such a surplus a few years back that could have been spent on missions.

Church discipline; as well as membership also involves public meetings as well as; of course marriages. If laypersons would follow Biblical guidelines when a brother sins against them and that includes those in leadership as well being held to the same accountability; we surely would see less decay today.

When it comes to missions; there is often sadly a great lack of money in terms of percentage of the overall budget for those entrusted to preach the Gospel overseas; and members can express this at budget meetings.