Models of Board Member Ministry

Almost every church has some variety of leadership team which meets regularly (or occasionally) to make decisions and help and/or hinder the work of the congregation’s professional staff.  These groups are variously called: the board, the elders, the deacons, the consistory, the session or the council.  The degree of authority which they wield varies greatly.  Their gender makeup varies from all-male to all-female. Their relationship to the church’s paid staff varies considerably as well, from that of a rubber stamp to that of an iron fist!

Here’s a challenge we’re facing today which is increasing every year: Since denominational loyalty is pretty much a thing of the past, the typical evangelical (or “Bible believing”) church is made up of persons from a vast variety of tribal backgrounds.  It’s not uncommon today to have six board members (I’ll call them from now on) who hale from six different denominational backgrounds.

That’s not necessarily bad, but it’s a big challenge in the boardroom, as each member walks in the door with a different set of expectations regarding what “board members” are supposed to be and do.  That’s why I created a handout a few years back to help church boards to sort out the expectations and presuppositions they’re carrying into the boardroom with them. (Click here to find the original post.)

Today I’m giving you a new version of the item I’ve had on my web site for several years. In it, I’m not taking any position on most of the variations on the themes…except for a couple of snappy comments. This tool is all about helping pastors and boards to sort out their expectations so that together they can work towards becoming unified, effective, church leadership teams.  I strongly recommend that pastors and boards work their way through this material, with rich discussion along the way. So with that said, let’s start with some:

Basic board paradigms in evangelical churches:  

1. Board members as officeholders. All good men (or good people) are seen as candidates for this revolving responsibility.  No special giftedness or degree of Christian maturity is required.  Do you have a pulse?
2. Board members as leaders. Gifted/called men or women serve as a proactive leadership team which focuses on “big rocks,” “important, but not urgent” type items of mission, vision, values, policies, boundaries and the supervising of one employee: the senior or solo pastor.
3. Board members as stakeholders/obstacles/micromanagers or ministry representatives who provide “checks and balances” for the pastor. “We’re here to keep the pastor from ruining the church.”
4. Board members as care–givers or teachers – Most of the discussion is about people or the teaching that is given to people.
5. Board members as “yes men” (or “yes women”). The pastor says “jump” and the board asks: “how high?”

Outside-the-boardroom paradigms (What do we expect from them between the meetings?): 

1. Board members are shepherds of portions of the flock.
2. Board members as small group leaders (and shepherds of those within their groups).
3. Board members as hands-on ministry leaders – Everyone leads at least one ministry.
4. Board members as liaisons to or supervisors of ministry leaders.
5. Board members as teachers or even preachers.
6. Some combination of the above.
7. Brian’s monstrosity from 1989: Each board member is a teacher, a ministry leader and a care-giver to a portion of the congregation, besides his “inside the boardroom” duties. Don’t try this!
8. Board members don’t necessarily do any ministry except that of serving as “board members.”

Types of boards from Larry Osborne’s great book, Sticky Teams: 

1. The doing board – Board members are highly involved in ministry.
2. The approving board – The board reviews options and makes decisions before anything happens.
3. The reviewing board – The board does a lot of reviewing of what others have done. This is a little less hands-on than #2, above.
4. The direction and boundary-setting This board doesn’t lead or manage; it governs by identifying values and creating policies and boundaries.  The pastor functions like a CEO who is accountable to this board.

Views on board member terms: 

1. Lifetime term (potentially, at least, as with a pastor).
2. Three-year terms (maximum of two terms in a row, with a mandatory year off after six years).
3. One-year terms with no term limit – Some churches do this and have multiple ways to get an unwanted board member “off the island.”

Views on how board members are chosen: 

1. The current board members choose the future board members. In some cases a single, returning board member can eliminate potential future board members.
2. The board members are nominated and voted on at congregational meetings (Please call me before you try this.)
3. Board members are nominated by a committee. Those chosen are affirmed by the current board or voted on by the congregation.
4. The pastor recruits or appoints board members. 

Views on the board’s relationships to the senior, lead or solo pastor: 

1. Each board member is the pastor’s boss.
2. The pastor is the supervisor of the board – They are chosen to serve him/her.
3. The board members, as a group, comprise the pastor’s supervisor, though the pastor is expected to lead (but not have authority over) the group.
4. The board members interact with the pastor, but the pastor is considered to be accountable only to the congregation via congregational meetings.

Views on associate pastors and the church board: 

1. All pastoral associates should be on the board.
2. No pastoral associates should serve on the board.
3. Some pastoral associates should serve on the board.

Views on staff members and board member relationships: 

1. Staff members should be accountable to the senior/lead pastor (who is accountable to the board). The board has only one “report,” (person they are supervising): the senior or solo pastor.
2. Any staff member is accountable to any individual board member.
3. Every staff member is accountable to the board, as a group.
4. Individual staff members may be made accountable to individual board members, at the discretion of the board (i.e., Youth Pastor Jones is answerable to Elder Smith, not Pastor Johnson).

Views on board member decision-making: 

1. Decisions should be made by majority vote.
2. Decisions should be made only by unanimous votes.
3. Decisions should be made on a “consensus” basis (but what does “consensus” mean?) 

Views on board chairperson roles: 

1. No board chairperson. (Chaos erupts when the pastor resigns!)
2. The board chairperson is the senior or solo pastor’s supervisor and seen as the leader of the church.
3. The board chairperson works closely with the pastor, serves as the board’s spokesperson and leads the church in the absence of a senior or solo pastor.  In some scenarios the board chair helps the pastor to create meeting agendas and walks the board through the meetings.

I’ll say it again: in today’s anti-denominational world, with churches increasingly made up of Christians from a variety of backgrounds, it behooves church leadership teams to work their way through this material, clarifying its congregation’s choices and convictions on every one of these items.  May God bless you as you prayerfully work through the process. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. What denominational backgrounds are represented by our current board?

2. Talk about the current training which is offered in your church to new or prospective board members:

3. Have you faced some confusion in this church or another church over these choices and options? (Tell your stories.)

4. Walk through this document as a group. Are there items of which we are unsure?  Are there options which we need to reconsider?