“Oh no!” I hear you groan.  “I hate meetings!  All we do is talk and there’s no time to do anything.”

“Meetings create a forum for conflict and all kinds of nastiness, and I hate that.”

“Meetings are so tedious.  They drag on.”

“No-one listens to me anyhow.”

“Mrs. Smith holds the floor all the time.”

And so and so forth.  So why do we have them?

I understand the sentiment.  One of the most memorable meetings I ever attended was a parish council meeting in which several members rose to their feet and screamed at one another.  Suffice it to say, no one trusted one another and nothing constructive was achieved that day.  Over the years I have attend other far less dramatic, but nevertheless dysfunctional, church meetings.

Given meetings are so problematic, why do we persist in having them?

“We are a Pilgrim People always on the way towards a promised goal,” so says the statement of faith in Uniting in Worship: People’s Book, derived from the Basis of Union of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA).¹ We are not an army marching in formation taking orders from a series of commanding officers.  We are a community of Christians who believe that “every member has a ministry”.²

Ideally, we encourage every person to prayerfully ask God what their ministry should be both as an individual and as a community.  We have a system of governance that allows for everyone to have a say, to find room for their individual ministries, and to give their input into the communal ministry of the church.

At least that’s the theory.

If everyone gets a say, what does this mean for the local church?

On the face of it, it’s a recipe for chaos; everyone rushing off in different directions pursuing a whole lot of different objectives; everyone wanting their own way, with little cooperation.

How do we avoid the chaos?  Well, we talk to one another. We have meetings that enable or help the work of the church to function well. Unlike our Bible studies, choirs and soup kitchens (the work), these meetings consist of the governing committees, such as church councils, adult fellowship executives, and property and finance committees. Each of these provide a window into the workings of the church.  It’s like lifting the bonnet of a car and having a good look at the engine.  Attention to the engine enables the car to run better.  Meeting together in various councils and committees to share our plans and actions enables our church to run better.  That is the general idea.

I have been a member of the Uniting Church since its inception in 1977, and I have been part of some wonderful meetings.  I have also endured some horrible meetings where lovely Christian people of strong faith have torn one another to pieces.

Bad meetings were a terrible problem in the early church.  The Apostle Paul writes to the Galatians enjoining them to love one another.  He goes on to say, “But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.” Galatians 5:15. ³ This is a great description of the behaviour of some modern-day Christians when they meet together.  On the other hand, a well-run system of meetings is a joy to behold.  Paul and the other writers of the Epistles believed this was possible. They didn’t give up exhorting the new congregations to do better. We should heed those sentiments for our church today.

What can we do about helping our meetings to be cordial and productive rather than destructive?

How do we peacefully coordinate our various ministries?  This entails meeting together in a positive and peaceful manner. Importantly, it involves the Holy Spirit permeating every aspect of our life together and particularly our relationships, even in church meetings.

Of prime importance is the presence of the Holy Spirit within all our meetings to enable us to communicate well in a respectful and loving manner.  Here is an example which happened some time ago but is still relevant:

The Parish Council consisted of four churches spread over a fairly wide geographical area.  At the meetings, relationships were frosty and there were frequent arguments.  People sat with their own church group and many people did not know one another’s names.  Suffice it to say, not much was achieved.  Several members decided that the Holy Spirit needed to intervene.  The ministers were consulted, and they heartily agreed to a Parish Dinner to try and thaw out the situation.  The group met frequently for prayer in which they visualized the Holy Spirit descending on the gathering like tongues of flame.

The invitations were sent out and everyone turned up. At each small table there was a member from each church.  Over the meal, they chatted to one another and began to form cordial relationships.  The meeting was followed by a game in which all the members needed to find out about one another, e.g. names were exchanged, why and how each person came to be on the council, what they hoped the churches would achieve through meeting together.  After that, a plenary was held about the overall goals. Almost everyone enjoyed the experience. 

At the next Parish Council meeting there was a remarkable change in atmosphere.  Before the meeting began, people were sitting all over the place, not just in their own church group, and they were chatting happily with one another. Everything ran smoothly until, right at the end, one of the office bearers stood up and shouted at everyone.  The ministers were aghast and tried unsuccessfully to stop him.  “Old Nick at work”, muttered someone.  Thankfully, it was too late to undo the work of the Spirit.  Relationships had been formed and the Council never went back to its previous level of negativity.

To find out some practical ways of ensuring your church meetings run more smoothly, see future blogs under the “Church Culture” heading of my blog.

End Notes

1. Uniting in Worship: People’s Book, Statement of Faith, “We are a Pilgrim People”, Uniting Church Press Melbourne, p131.
2. How Our Church Works Together – Uniting Church Australia
3. Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Tyndall House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton Illinois.