A board is the small group of people who make decisions for a church. “Amen” is the word that Christians say at the end of a prayer. It means “yes, let it be so”. The title speaks of a board that only says yes.
What is this page about?
Most churches have a group of people, next to the pastor, who are responsible for the church. They are called deacons, elders, trustees or a board.
Do these people have real duties? Duties to God, to the church, to the people who give money, and under the law? Or is their work only to agree with the pastor, above all when he says that a plan came from God?
Deacons, elders, trustees
Three names for people who serve and lead a local church next to the pastor. Trustees usually look after the church’s property and money.
What this page holds
Board members have real duties.They cannot say yes to everything without looking. They must fear God and not people. And the words “God told me” should not make them silent when a plan goes outside the Bible or the law.
What this page tests
The board’s work is to agree.The pastor hears from God. The board shows its faith and its loyalty when it supports him without questions. This page tests this view.
The opposite mistake
The board treats its pastor as a suspect.It finds fault with his sermons and stops everything. The Bible rejects this too: “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor” (1 Timothy 5:17).
So the question is not, “Should we support the pastor?” The question is: does support mean that we never look?
Sit in the meeting
Imagine that you are a deacon. Eight things are on the list for tonight’s meeting. This page made up every one of them. For each one, you can do four things: agree, ask questions, leave the room, or vote no.
After a meeting, someone writes down what was decided. This record is called the minutes. Your name is in it.
1. Land. “The Lord has shown me that we must buy the land next door. The owner needs an answer by Friday. I need your yes tonight. The numbers will follow.” Nobody has seen a price or any papers. Best: ask questions. Ask for the price, the value, and the terms of the loan. This accuses nobody. If God has shown the pastor this land, it will still be the right land on Monday, with the numbers on the table. A hurry that someone has made is a warning sign.
2. The pastor’s pay. “I have set my new pay where the Lord put it on my heart. Let us not dishonour God by arguing about his servant.” The pastor will stay in the room for the vote. Best: ask questions. Ask the pastor to leave the room. Ask what pastors of churches like this one are paid. Write down the reasons for the decision. This protects the pastor as much as the church.
3. A contract. “The Lord brought your wife’s brother’s company to us for the new car park. I have peace about it.” Only one company has made an offer. Best: leave the room. It is your own family’s company. Say so. Ask that it is written in the minutes. Suggest more offers, and then go out. The rules for the pastor are rules for you too.
4. A member. “Sister Ruth has been asking questions about the building accounts. The Lord showed me that she is making trouble. I have removed her from membership. I need the board to confirm it tonight.” Nobody has told her what she is accused of. Nobody has spoken to her or heard her. (“Sister Ruth” is a made-up name.) Best: vote no. Have it written in the minutes, and demand that she is heard. The board was the only group that could hear her.
5. A fund. “The Lord has told me that we must change direction. Move the roof fund into the new media ministry. The roof can wait. Souls cannot.” People gave that money for the roof. Best: vote no. A feeling from God cannot move a gift that was given for one purpose. The honest way is to ask the givers.
6. A child. “A parent says that one of our youth helpers sent wrong messages to a girl of fourteen. I have spoken to him and he is sorry. We will handle this inside the family.” Nobody has told the authorities. The helper will be on duty again on Sunday. Best: vote no, and report it. This is the one case where you do not go step by step. The helper must stop his work at once. If nobody else reports it, you do. A board cannot vote this duty away. Protecting a child does not bring shame on the Lord’s name. Hiding harm does.
7. A prayer meeting. “I would like to begin a prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings, and I will lead it myself.” It costs nothing. Best: agree. This is the pastor’s own work of prayer. A good board supports it gladly. To look is not the same as to block.
8. The bank. “Only my wife and I sign the cheques, and the bank papers come to our house. To add signatures would say that we do not trust each other.” Nobody outside the pastor’s house has seen a bank paper this year. Best: ask questions. Suggest a second person, not a relative, to sign. Suggest that the bank papers go to the treasurer. Say that this protects the pastor. It does.
Why do the minutes matter? In the American state of North Carolina, as in many states, the law says this about a board member who was at the meeting. If his “no” is not written in the minutes, the law treats him as a person who agreed. Silence counts as a yes.
How were the first church officers chosen?
In Acts 6, the church in Jerusalem had a problem. Food was given out every day, and some widows were forgotten. The apostles were in charge of this.
The apostles did not tell the people to stop complaining. They agreed that there was a problem. They told the whole church to choose seven men:
Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
Acts 6:3 · World English Bible
In simple words: So, brothers, choose seven men from among you. People must speak well of them. They must be full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom. We will put them in charge of this work.
The church chose. All seven had Greek names. So it seems that the church took men from the same group that had been forgotten.
Paul says that deacons must be “not double-tongued” (1 Timothy 3:8) (they do not say one thing to one person and another thing to another) and “not greedy for money” (1 Timothy 3:8). He adds: “Let them also first be tested” (1 Timothy 3:10).
If people are tested for honesty before they get a work, then honesty will be needed in that work.
Polycarp, an early Christian bishop, called deacons
the servants of God and Christ, and not of men.
Polycarp
In simple words: servants of God and of Christ. They are not servants of men.
The church chose them. It chose them for a character that everyone could see. Their work was to repair something that the leaders had missed. And they were trusted with the money. It is not an office for saying yes.
“The Lord has shown me”
This is the hardest sentence for a board to answer. When someone says that a plan comes from God, a question about the numbers can feel like doubt in God.
But the Bible never puts a leader’s “message from God” above testing.
- 1 Kings 13. An old prophet told a man of God that an angel had spoken to him by the Lord’s word. The Bible adds: “He lied to him.” (1 Kings 13:18) The man believed him, and he lost his life.
- 1 Kings 22. Four hundred prophets agreed with the king. One prophet disagreed, and he was right. The king said of him: “I hate him” (1 Kings 22:8).
- Acts 15. Peter had seen a vision from God about the very question. But the church still decided only after a long discussion, with the whole church. Then they wrote: “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us” (Acts 15:28).
The Bible tells every Christian to test: “Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) The people of Berea were praised because they checked even the apostle Paul by the Scriptures (Acts 17:11).
The main idea
The board does not have to decide if God really spoke to the pastor. It cannot know that. It only has to decide about the plan. Does it agree with the Bible? Is it legal? Is it wise? Is it honest? If God is behind it, it will still stand after the questions.
What about the verse “Don’t touch my anointed ones!” (Psalm 105:15)? Read the psalm. It is about God, who protects his weak people from foreign kings. It is not about church boards that ask questions. And the prophet Nathan walked up to King David, the Lord’s anointed king, and said: “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7)
Anointed
Chosen by God for a special work. In the Old Testament, oil was put on the head of a new king or priest.
Fear God, not people
What is the first thing that the Bible asks of people who are put in charge of others? It is not skill. It is not loyalty. They must be “able men which fear God” (Exodus 18:21).
Moses told the judges of Israel:
you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s.
Deuteronomy 1:17 · World English Bible
In simple words: Listen to unimportant people and to important people in the same way. Do not be afraid of any person, because the judgment belongs to God.
“The fear of man proves to be a snare” (Proverbs 29:25). (A snare is a trap.) And think of the words “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) The apostles did not say this first to a ruler who did not know God. They said it to the religious leaders of Israel.
The pressures are real. The pastor has done much, and you are loyal to him. You fear that people will call you a critic. A relative works for the church. You have old friends on the board. You are afraid that the church will split. None of these changes the One to whom a board member must answer in the end.
What does the law say in the United States?
This is general information. It is not legal advice, and it is different in each state. But these things are broadly true.
- Board members have duties. In North Carolina a board member must act “in good faith”, that is, honestly. He must be as careful as an ordinary sensible person would be. He must act for the good of the church. Where money, property, workers and safety are concerned, these duties stay, even in a church.
- You may trust your pastor, but not further than what you know. The law lets board members depend on others. It does not let them do this when they know something that makes the trust wrong.
- If the pastor is paid too much, board members may have to pay. Under the national tax law, a board member who knows that a payment is too high and says yes may have to pay 10% of the extra amount himself, up to $20,000.
- Nobody can vote on some duties. In North Carolina, any person who thinks that a child is being abused must report it. A board vote cannot cancel that.
The courts stay out of church teaching, and they will not choose a church’s pastor. So for many decisions, the board is the only check that exists. Also, churches do not have to send in the public money reports that other charities send. So the people who give usually cannot see the numbers. They trust that the board has looked.
The member with no voice
A widow has been a member for thirty years. She asks the treasurer why the building fund has become smaller. The next Sunday there is a sermon about people who make trouble. On Tuesday she gets a letter. The pastor has removed her from membership, “with the full support of the board”. The board had agreed by text message. She is asked not to talk about it.
Fair treatment has some simple parts. Which of them did she get?
| A part of fair treatment | Did she get it? |
|---|---|
| Someone told her exactly what she was accused of. | No |
| Someone spoke to her in private first (Matthew 18:15). | No |
| Two or three witnesses proved it (Deuteronomy 19:15). | No |
| She was heard before the decision (John 7:51). | No |
| The decision was made by someone with nothing to gain or lose. | No |
| The board looked into the matter before it gave its support. | No |
The Bible tells us to speak for people who cannot speak for themselves: “Open your mouth for the mute” (Proverbs 31:8). Remember why the first deacons were chosen. Some widows were forgotten. A board is often the only group that can hear a person like her.
The givers who are not in the room
Paul collected money for poor Christians in Jerusalem. He let the givers choose who carried it (1 Corinthians 16:3). He travelled with a man whom the churches had chosen. And he said why:
We are avoiding this, that any man should blame us concerning this abundance which is administered by us.
2 Corinthians 8:20 · World English Bible
In simple words: We are careful, so that nobody can blame us about this large gift that we are looking after.
When people give money for one purpose, such as a roof fund, the church should use it for that purpose, if the givers do not agree to a change. “The Lord told me to use it for something else” is not the agreement of the givers.
Safe rules protect the honest pastor
- Two people count the offering.
- Two people sign each cheque.
- The bank papers go to someone outside the pastor’s family.
- The pastor leaves the room when his pay is decided.
- Board members serve for a fixed number of years.
- Anyone can speak about a worry and is not punished for it.
- Someone from outside checks the accounts.
These rules can feel like a lack of trust. They are the opposite. They let an honest pastor be seen to be honest. In the Old Testament, the king’s writer and the high priest counted the temple money together (2 Kings 12:10).
Ask first. Then ask for the papers. Get advice. Vote no, and have it written in the minutes. Take it to the people that the church’s rules name. If a child or a crime is involved, report it to the authorities at once, not step by step. And if nothing helps, leave the board and say why, in writing.
What is really proved?
| The claim | What the evidence shows |
|---|---|
| The whole church chose the first church officers in Acts 6. | Proved. The plan pleased everyone, and they chose (Acts 6:5). |
| A board’s work is to agree with the pastor’s plan and not to look into it. | Not proved. Acts 6, 1 Timothy 3:10 and Acts 15 all point the other way. So does the law. |
| A board can test a plan and leave open the question, “Did God speak to the pastor?” | Proved. The plan is public. The message is private. Test the plan by the Bible, the law, the facts, and who gains from it. |
| “Don’t touch my anointed ones” forbids a board to ask its pastor questions. | Not proved. Psalm 105 is about God, who protects his people from foreign kings. Nathan told King David, “You are the man!” |
| Safe rules, like two signatures, protect an honest pastor as well as the church. | Proved. Paul wanted it so, so that nobody could blame him. |
- Support your pastor gladly in preaching, prayer and care. This page does not question that.
- But look before you say amen to anything about money, property, people or safety. Test the plan, not the man.
- Do not be afraid of any person. The judgment belongs to God. That includes the judgment of the member who has no voice.
Check it yourself
- Read Acts 6:1-7. Five minutes. Why were the seven chosen, and who chose them?
- Read 1 Timothy 3:8-13. Five minutes. What must a deacon be?
- Read 1 Kings 13 and 1 Kings 22:1-28. Fifteen minutes. Two stories about messages that people said were from God.
- Read 2 Corinthians 8:16-24. Five minutes. How Paul handled other people’s money.
- Ask about your own church. Who counts the offering? Who signs the cheques? Who sees the bank papers? Who decides the pastor’s pay?
The Bible words on this page come from the World English Bible. It is a modern translation, and anyone may copy it. The quick version and the full dossier use the King James Version, which is older and harder to read. The words are different, but the meaning is the same.
Want to read more?
The quick version says the same things in ordinary English and adds short exercises. The full dossier gives all the evidence and names every source.
Read the quick version → Read the full dossier →