The Church Guide for Making Decisions Together

Recent political events in the USA indicate that ordinary people areweary of traditional politics and ways of doing business in the halls ofpower. A similar mood is present in churches around the world. Ordinarychurch members are tired of the fighting and politicking that seem toprivilege the same people all the time. They want a new way of makingdecisions in their churches and in their representative meetings. Thisbook shows them how such a hope can be realized.

Robert’s Rules of Order, or the traditional parliamentary style ofdecision-making used in many churches, can work for simple decisionsthat are aggregated and passed by consent. For complex and divisiveissues, churches need a decision process that does not result in acombative, winner-take-all approach to church life. A healthy churchalso tries to involve commitment from a wide range of stakeholdersrather than privilege a few well-informed and capable speakers. A vitaland healthy congregation yearns for a more collaborative, respectful,encouraging, engaging, and empowering process.

This book on discernment in the church provides a step-by-step guide onhow to create a new way of working together. Drawing on tried and testedprocesses, it advocates for a consensus building approach and showingpeople how it can work in their setting (local church or judicatorymeetings). Readers will learn how to design a consensus buildingbusiness process for their church meeting while still respecting thedenominational and legal requirements under which they must operate.

This book is for leaders, members of church boards and committees, andchurch members who know that there is something wrong with the presentsystem but don’t know what to do about it. This guidebook is hopeful,inspiring, and practical.