Warning – this blog entry concerns an agenda item for the Church of God International General Assembly in Orlando. It most likely will be of little interest to many readers. (-:
At the 2012 General Assembly of the Church of God in Orlando, I presented the following motion:
That we amend page 100, S21. STATE OVERSEERS, II. Qualifications, by adding the following as paragraph 6:
6. Must have at least 10 years experience as a local church pastor (This motion will not affect those under current appointment).
The motion was referred to a committee for recommendations to be brought back to the International General Council in 2014.
I offered the motion out of a concern for a practice in our church – that of appointing Regional Bishops who have “little to no” pastoral experience. Most of our Regional Bishops are being appointed from the ranks of state youth directors or denominational administrators. Therefore, the pastorate is dismissed as inconsequential for leaders of our church.
The “State Overseers Qualification Report” has been delivered to the registered delegates to the 2014 General Council. The report does not address the motion. Instead, the report dismisses “mere prequalifiers” as inadequate. I find this to be contrary to the Biblical mandate that “Bishops” must meet certain qualifications. The report presents the need to “return to an apostolic role were mentoring, coaching, and church planting is part of the vision and mission of the office.” This I applaud. It seems to me that this is quite close to the ministry of the pastor. If we are going to “return to an apostolic role” then it would seem that several years in the pastorate would be a primary qualification for a person who is to be appointed as bishop of churches and pastors.
According to our polity, the only “prequalifier” for the office of state/regional administrative bishop is to be an “ordained bishop,” the highest level of credentialed ministry in the Church of God. A former general overseer once told me that “the only qualification for state overseer in the Church of God is three votes from the executive committee.”
I suggest the Biblical “prequalifiers” are where we should begin – integrity, familial fidelity, honorable, beneficent, temperate, educated, and experienced (1 Timothy 3:1ff). See here.
Instead, it seems to me that the committee’s report and recommendations will continue the process of selecting leaders with little or no pastoral experience. This means that the gulf between the local church and denominational leadership will continue. There will be no return to an apostolic role for our leadership. Rather, the bureaucratization of the Church of God will be canonized.
The committee’s recommendations are in the General Council agenda. Let’s be prayerful and judicious in our deliberations.
