How does the new structure work?

How does the new structure work? Actually, it doesn't.

The Borden Report specified that the Takoma Park Church was to adopt a "staff-led structure," the details of which would be anounced by the Potomac Conference. What got presented, however, wasn't a "staff-led structure" in a strict sense of the term. A staff-led structure is a mega-church invention. Mega-churches are run by having all ministries led by paid employees. This staff deals with all church operations. All operational decisions for the church are made executively by the chief pastor. The only involvement of the lay members is in an "accountability board" which does the hiring, paying, and firing of these employees, and this board is typically in the back pocket of the pastor.

This is the system Paul Borden specified that we should have, but it's not exactly what we got.

The system recommended by Elder Ray Pichette as a representative of the Potomac Conference replaces the traditional Church Board with two other boards, the Support and Accountability Board and the Church Ministries Board. The tasks of the Accountability Board (which were not spelled out in writing until well after the vote adopting this system) are to 1) develop and maintain a Church Operations Manual, 2) review the vision goals of the Church Ministry Board and hold the Senior Pastor accountable, 3) ministry audit (develop and maintain an instrument to evaluate each program for a missional focus), and 4) human relations (responsible for hiring of all paid personnel). The Accountability Board is composed of 7 members, one of which is the senior pastor. Pastor DeSilva only wanted 5 members, including himself, but he inadvertently left the door open for nominating committee to overrule him on that, which it did, and he was not pleased. The details of that story will be coming up in The Epic. The only qualification required of the lay Accountability Board members is that neither they nor any member of their immediate family be a member of the Church Ministries Board. This Board is chaired by one of its lay members, who is specifically selected for that task.

The duties of the Church Ministries Board are 1) worship planning, 2) responsible for developing a yearly calendar of events and celebrations, 3) develop Mission and Vision, 4) leadership development, 5) responsible for keeping the church missionally focused, and 6) develop long and short term vision goals. This board is composed of all the church leadership positions within the dashed lines on the organizational charts (see The Epic, Pt. 4). The senior pastor is the chairman of this Board, and is the only link between the two boards.

In terms of hierarchy, the senior pastor and Ministries Board are supposed to report to, and be held accountable by, the Accountability Board. According to the charts, the Accountability Board then reports to the Business Meeting. In other words, the next highest authority in the congregation after the Business Meeting is a group of six lay people who don't lead any ministry (and the senior pastor).

The difference between this new system and the one prescribed by the Church Manual is striking. According to the Manual, the authority directly below the Business Meeting is the Church Board. The duties of the Church Board include, but are not limited to, 1) spiritual nurture, 2) evangelism in all its phases, 3) maintainance of doctrinal purity, 4) upholding Christian standards, 5) recommending changes in church membership, 6) church finances, 7) protection and care of church properties, 8) coordination of church departments. You'll notice that none of these tasks appear in the lists of duties for our two new boards. It could be argued that some of the same intent is present, just stated differently, but even allowing for some interpretation in that regard there are still substantial gaps. And how are these gaps filled? By executive decision of the chief pastor, as is the intent of a staff-led structure.

This concentration of power with the pastoral staff, and particularly the senior pastor, is increased by the fact that the two new boards do not (and cannot) in reality function as they are described on paper. The Accountability Board doesn't funtion as it is supposed to for four reasons. First, it has no power with which to hold anyone accountable. In a true staff-led system it would be responsible for the hiring, paying, and firing of staff. In the Adventist church, pastors and hired, paid, and fired by the conference. The local church has no say in any of that, and therefore no leverage of any kind with which to hold the pastor accountable. It also has no leverage over any of the lay leaders, because they are volunteers, not paid employees. Second, the Acountability Board has no realistic power to hold the pastor accountable because the pastor is a member of that board! To expect that board to make impartial judgements of the job performance of someone who is a member of the board is like putting a defendent on their own jury and expecting an impartial verdict. It just doesn't work. Third, the Accountability Board has no power because its voice is the senior pastor. No other member of the board is permitted to report its activities to anyone. Going back to the previous analogy, not only is the defendant a member of the jury, he's the foreman! Fourth, the Accountability Board has no power because it does not meet. In the eight months it has been in existence it has only met once, when it approved a pastoral recommendation for a new business manager. In short, the Accountability Board accomplishes nothing other than being a rubber stamp for the pastoral agenda.

The Ministry Board doesn't work as it is supposed to because Pastor DeSilva won't let it. He maintains a stranglehold on both the agenda and the discussions in order to produce the outcome he desires. This board is used as a forum in which to announce decisions and plans already made by the pastoral staff, not as a venue for ministry leaders to dialogue and produce new ideas. The results have so far been dismal. Also, as with the Accountability Board, the senior pastor is the only person officially permitted to speak to anyone about the actions taken by the Ministry Board.

To summarize, this new structure tears the previous structure into little pieces which cannot effectively function on their own, leaving a wake of confusion and disorder. This state of disarray has allowed our senior pastor, as the only constant through this change, to step in and assume kingly power.

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