Sunday night the church had a men’s meeting following services. I always get a little nervous before a meeting like this because you never know what might happen. When you meet with the elders, you pretty much have an idea how each one will feel on a given subject but with a group of people this large, you just never know. We have all heard the horror stories of men’s meetings going bad, I once read a newspaper article chronicling the story of one church’s men’s meeting that ended up in a fistfight and people going to jail! Although I have never seen a meeting go wrong like that, and pray that I never will, I have seen people get pretty upset and men leave with hurt feelings that took months to repair. The men’s meeting Sunday night was an example of how Christians should act when we meet together. One of our elders, Terry Bryant, led the meeting and did a fantastic job of relaying information from the elders. Terry also made sure everyone in attendance had a chance to speak. During the course of the meeting there were many great suggestion made and even some thoughts on how to improve some existing ministries. The best part of the meeting which was constant through the entire hour was all the praise and “pats on the back” given to various people for their efforts in working for the Lord. In my opinion, we do not encourage each other as we should. Some people are better at this than others are but we all have the ability and we should not be shy about doing it. All in all this was a very beneficial meeting. The men left with a clearer vision of where the church is heading and people left the meeting feeling appreciated for their efforts.
Some questions I have and would appreciate your thoughts on is, why do we have men only meetings? Do some of you have congregational meetings? Are there any reasons (biblically) why we do not invite women into the meeting? If there are not biblical reasons why, then are we acting properly toward women when we do not invite them? I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
Psalm 46 – Derek: Meditating on the Way
3 days ago
4 comments:
Hey brother,
You did an outstanding job on the sermon a couple of weeks ago when I visited - I was very impressed!
Just a quick comment - We have a congregational meal and meeting once a year here at Chisholm Hills. It is a chance for everyone to voice an opinion or share an idea or just give encouragement to our existing programs. There is nothing biblically wrong with inviting the women! We have bible classes where men lead in the teaching and women are able to make a comment. If we can do it in a bible class, we can surely do the same when we are discussing other ideas about ministry. Just a quick thoght - Have a great day - I continue to have a great love for you, your family and the Wayensboro Church. May God continue to bless you richly.
your brother
charles
ps. www.chisholmhillschurch.org
Thanks Charles! I agree, there is nothing biblically wrong with it. I wonder though, are we wrong when we exclude them by having men's only meetings?
I don't see any problem with women attending a congregational meeting. In churches with elders, congregational meetings are usually used as informational meetings, brainstorming, and encouragement. I do not know if it would be wrong to exclude women, but it seems unwise. They could benefit from hearing the information, giving input during brainstorming sessions, and receiving encouragement because of their work for the Lord. I can't think of a good reason to exclude them, unless you are in a culture in which the practice would be disruptive (and I seriously doubt that's the case in Tennessee:). I love it that you are blogging much more frequently now!
Great thoughts Terry, as always. I am trying to post no less than twice each week but my goal is three. I will be on vacation starting tomorrow through monday so I may post or may not. If I can I'll post some pics from Disney World.