Merkle is also wary of churches that give too much authority to one person. She pointed to the example of the now-defunct Mars Hill Church and the trouble it ran into by giving its pastor too much power.
A popular and influential pastor doesn’t have a more direct line to God than other people in the church, she said. And pastors, like anyone else, are still susceptible to human foibles.
“We can’t assume that giving all the power to one person who has a charismatic personality is a wise choice,” she said.
Scott Thumma, a sociologist of religion at Hartford Seminary, said most larger churches have an internal board of elders that governs the church and provides checks and balances to the senior pastor. Even so, he said, for the most part, the senior pastor, especially at megachurches, is in charge. The pastor’s authority can be tempered in some ways, he said, but they still have the final word.
“In the end, it’s the decision of that one person,” he said.
The transition team at Beach Church is moving forward with plans for the church’s future as a pastor-led church. They reject the idea that the elders can rescind the resignations and refer to them as “former elders.” In an email to church partners, they claim that in recent years, church elders amended bylaws to consolidate their power “to the detriment and dismay of both Pastor Elliott, the staff members and Partners of the church.”
But they do say some of the behavior of Elliott’s supporters was inappropriate.
“We have heard of some ugly things being said to the former elders in those early days, and those things were clearly uncalled for, unchristian and unwise, and we hope all who reacted in anger toward the elders have since repented and sought their forgiveness,” the transition team said in its email to church partners.
The church’s proposed new bylaws, according to a copy obtained by RNS, put most of the authority in the hands of the senior pastor, who would be “ultimately responsible for both the spiritual and the corporate health of the Church,” assisted by a Lead Team of other staff.
The elders would be replaced by a board of trustees dealing mainly with finances, policies and procedures, with no direct oversight of the pastor or staff. Oversight of the pastor would be placed into the hands of a group of outside pastors, known as overseers. The pastor of Beach Church, under the proposed bylaws, would be allowed to nominate the overseers, who would be confirmed by trustees.
“The Hallmarks of this bylaw structure is that it is multifaceted, balanced and self-correcting in case of moral, financial, theological or other abuses,” the transition team said in an email to church partners. “It grants a Biblically designated level of authority to the Pastor and Lead Team, with solid oversight and peer level observation and transparency.”
The new structure and bylaws have been approved by Elliott, transition team chair Darman Weaver told worshipers at a recent service. A vote on the new bylaws is scheduled for early September.
“We’ve sent the bylaws to pastor Todd,” Weaver told worshipers. “We’ve had Pastor Todd look over them. Pastor Todd is real good with the bylaws we’ve got in place.”
The elders who opposed Elliott’s return are considering legal action to stop the changes at Beach Church. But that would be a long and difficult process, said Dodge.
He sees what has happened at Beach Church as a warning to other churches. A church’s elders, he said, can never win a popularity contest with a pastor, especially one with a vocal group of followers.
Johnson said he wants the church to do the right thing, both legally and in the eyes of God. The conflict with Elliott and the fallout from the pastor’s resignation he said, has left the elders “broken.”
“And by that, I mean heartbroken.”
This article originally appeared at Religion News Service.
