I ask because not all churches do. I don’t know how other churches are run but in the C of E it is the Parochial Church Council (PCC) who makes the decisions concerning the running of the church and when necessary appointing new clergy. If there are a majority of traditional, nominal Christians on the PCC the church could become stagnant as they don’t like change and want things done as they have always been done. I suppose other churches have other ways of doing things.
After I became born again the vicar of the church I joined encouraged me to put my name forward for election to the PCC as he wanted there to be a majority of Spirit filled believers making the decisions, which we did. Many of the traditionalists weren’t too happy about the changes that were brought about such as mid week bible study groups in parishioners homes, a praise and worship service once a month instead of the usual evensong and also to incorporate a time of prayer for healing during services to name a couple of examples.
Our lovely vicar encouraged us to read books that would encourage us and build us up, books like ‘When The Spirit Comes’ and he took us to hear powerful preachers. And things really started to take off.
The other side of the coin, so to speak, was a church I heard of which had been lively and full of the Spirit until the vicar had to leave. Sadly the nominal Christians on the PCC were in the majority and decided that they didn’t want any more of ‘that Holy Spirit stuff’ so made sure they chose as their new vicar a man with similar thoughts. And guess what? That church stopped thriving and stopped growing.
That should serve as a warning to all of us who are Spirit filled to not shy away from serving our church communities in leadership or supportive roles. And we should never expect or encourage one person to make all the decisions. Let God back into his Church.
After I became born again the vicar of the church I joined encouraged me to put my name forward for election to the PCC as he wanted there to be a majority of Spirit filled believers making the decisions, which we did. Many of the traditionalists weren’t too happy about the changes that were brought about such as mid week bible study groups in parishioners homes, a praise and worship service once a month instead of the usual evensong and also to incorporate a time of prayer for healing during services to name a couple of examples.
Our lovely vicar encouraged us to read books that would encourage us and build us up, books like ‘When The Spirit Comes’ and he took us to hear powerful preachers. And things really started to take off.
The other side of the coin, so to speak, was a church I heard of which had been lively and full of the Spirit until the vicar had to leave. Sadly the nominal Christians on the PCC were in the majority and decided that they didn’t want any more of ‘that Holy Spirit stuff’ so made sure they chose as their new vicar a man with similar thoughts. And guess what? That church stopped thriving and stopped growing.
That should serve as a warning to all of us who are Spirit filled to not shy away from serving our church communities in leadership or supportive roles. And we should never expect or encourage one person to make all the decisions. Let God back into his Church.
