by Phil Andrews
It seems like an age ago but a couple of years back we had a discussion at our Church Meetings which seemed to go on forever (the discussion, not the meetings).
It wasn’t about the meaning of life. It wasn’t about the concept of eternity or the nature of Heaven or the true path to salvation.
It wasn’t even about the role of the Church in the 21st century, in an age of technology and of groundbreaking innovation.
No, it was about whether or not we should reduce the quorum at Church Meetings from eight to six.
Hitherto, we had had a rule that unless a minimum of eight Church members were physically present at a meeting we couldn‘t vote upon matters which were important to the everyday running of the Church. This quorum was not imposed upon us by Scripture or even by the Congregational Federation, but by ourselves. It was an arbitrary figure, agreed upon by others who came before us at a time when our membership was much larger than, sadly, it is today.
The consequence was that we had lots of meetings which weren’t officially meetings, where the six or seven people gathered were not considered capable of taking decisions about which brand of paint to buy to decorate the walls, so it was left to three or four deacons (who had usually all been present at the inquorate meeting which was unable to take decisions) to decide instead. Either that or the job was pushed back and didn’t get done.
Dispensing with a tradition
It took an awful long time, and a lot of tentative persuasion, to convince everybody that we should reduce our self-imposed quorum from eight to six. It was a slippery slope. We were dispensing with a tradition. Things would never be the same again.
But we did it. Eventually.
Now, usually, we are able to fulfil the quorum. Not just because we’ve reduced the number from eight to six but because, with God’s help, we are in a healthier position with our membership. In September we were pleased to accept Rayne into membership, not long ago also Mary and Anne. Hopefully soon there will be others.
With God’s help the fortunes of this Church would seem to have experienced an uptick. Not a massive uptick, but a modest uptick – for which nevertheless we are truly grateful.
I spoke in Church about the notion of building, of developing, of gaining strength progressively by setting ourselves realistic targets and challenging ourselves to meet them. But we also need to be mindful of our limitations, and work within them.
Let us give thanks to God for the work we have done and ask His blessing for our continued work as a Church.