"Code of Ethics"

Church Ministries Board Member

Introduction

Welcome to membership on the local Seventh-day Adventist Church Ministries Board! You have accepted an important responsibility. This board has been charged by the members of the local Seventh-day Adventist Church with the ministries operation of the church.

With such an important responsibility, persons selected must individually portray in their personal and corporate life qualities of spirituality, fairness and good judgment. You have been chosen because your church believes you exemplify these qualities.

*Any mention of “The Church Board” is understood to mean “Church Ministries Board” in this document.

Assumptions

As you begin functioning as a member of a local Seventh-day Adventist Church Board, you should know that your church assumes:

1. That you are accepting this responsibility willingly. Only willing members can effectively perform the services that will be necessary.
2. That you are a loyal and faithful member of this Seventh-day Adventist congregation.
3. That you are faithful in your stewardship responsibilities in terms of time, talent, and financial means.
4. That you will seek the Lord for divine guidance and courage to make necessary decisions.
5. That you will be ethical and professional in handling the information and decisions you will confront. You should be loyal to God, loyal to the pastor, and loyal to the members.
6. That you will put the interests of the church above any personal interest, for only thus can selfless service be rendered to the church and to Jesus, the Lord of the Church.
7. That you will always remember the church’s mission in making decisions.

Suggestions for Effectiveness

1. Commitment. A deep, genuine commitment to the Lord Jesus is the most important part of our work on this board. Our minds are to be the link through which God communicates His will to his church. Please spend time in earnest prayer before coming to each board meeting, so that your mind and spirit are in tune with the Divine.

2. Participation. In his book, Guidelines for Committee and Board Members, Dr. Robert Firth states: “No doubt there are places where silence is golden, but not on a committee. A committee member who sits through a meeting without saying something to aid the discussion is a useless committee member. The committee meetings is a place to exchange ideas, to create new ones, to hammer ideas into solutions, or to set a course of action.” page 48. However, Dr Firth balances things by cautioning against going to the other extreme: “There are those who talk a great deal at committee meetings and say virtually nothing. They might call such talking participation, but few others would. Participation assumes the making of a worthwhile contribution to the discussion.” Don’t be afraid to speak your conviction or disagree with others. This includes disagreeing with anyone, including the pastor. We are only as strong as our willingness to express opinions and convictions. We are all equal on this church board. Every voice carries equal weight. Every vote has equal weight. Some have a wider range of knowledge, but that should not stop you from expressing your own conviction. Don’t be afraid to reveal your ignorance. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Don’t hold back an idea or motion because you are afraid you will be voted down. Realize now that you will win some and lose some on this board. That’s democracy. Don’t let a loss in support of your idea discourage you.

3. Information. Decisions are only as good as the information on which they are based. Insist on adequate information before you vote. It is much better to postpone a decision than to rush into something with only partial, incomplete facts. The pastoral staff will do everything possible to give you ALL the information available—even if it hurts. You have a right to any information you wish. Nothing is off limits to you! As a group, or personally, the pastoral staff and board chairman will make available anything you ask for—except confidential, personal information.

4. Respect and Trust. It is necessary to have an attitude of mutual respect and trust. Each member of this board was chosen because you have become known in your church for certain traits of leadership and areas of expertise. Unless we respect and trust one another, there will not be the free and open exchange that is necessary to good decision-making. If you have doubts and questions about the integrity or sincerity of any member of the board, including pastors, express it. Ask questions. Clear the air. This will make our work a joy as friendships develop. We are not adversaries, but teammates trying to win for God.

5. Honesty. Please don’t play games or seek to manipulate. Avoid hidden agendas. This can destroy trust. Be honest, straightforward, and direct.

6. Decision Making. Vote with your head, not your heart. Make decisions based on facts, needs, and careful thinking, rather than on emotional reactions or past experience. Avoid preconceived ideas or assumptions based on a bad experience or accumulated problems through the years. Above all, keep in mind the mission of the church in all your decisions.

7. Cultural Sensitivity. Filter all discussion and decisions through the viewpoint of diverse ethnic groups. Respect the historical background and special needs of others.

8. Wounded Feelings. Sometimes those who have never served on a church board are surprised at the candor, openness, and willingness to disagree with a fellow board member. But that is one thing that makes boards effective. Effective members do not “wear their feelings on their sleeves.” They come up with ideas that they actually expect will probably be shot down rather rapidly. Each member tries not to become personally involved with his/her own ideas and opinions. They realize that the open discussion in the board will expose weakness in arguments and ideas. This results in better decisions than those any member might develop alone. Another sensitivity comes from those who feel, “They never use my ideas.” That isn’t true! Your ideas will undoubtedly stimulate the ideas of others, and thrown into the mix of all the ideas, yours will be a part of the overall development even though your idea may not be the exact version of the finished product.

9. Handling of Board Decisions. When a decision is reached that involves members of the church, do not assume you are free to communicate that information. The pastor or other person assigned by the board has the responsibility of disseminating that information. Example: Suppose the board votes to make a change in leadership of a ministry of the church. You tell a friend of yours, who tells a friend, who tells the person—and the pastor has not yet made contact. You can imagine how the person will feel, getting the information through an unofficial channel instead of the proper channel.

10. Confidentiality of Discussions. No member of the Church Board should be placed in the unenviable position of having a confidential statement he made in board come back to him on the telephone, street, office, or anywhere! The various viewpoints may be reported, but it is unethical to mention names. After all, that person may have been persuaded by discussion, and ended up voting differently than what he or she expressed to the group earlier in the discussion.

11. Ministry Representation. Some people are members of the board because they represent a specific ministry of the church, such as music ministry or children’s ministry. Such board members are expected to be fully informed about the ministry they represent and to make sure the board is fully informed of the way that ministry will be affected by any action or decision the board is considering. However, the members of the Church Board are expected to represent the best interests of the entire church, without making every decision based on the priority of what would be best for the specific ministry or group with which they might be identified. Try to see the big picture and make decisions on what is best for the church as a whole, rather than voting only the little picture. We will have a stronger church if each do so.

12. Support of the Majority Vote. Quoting again from Dr. Firth: “But once a committee has given its group judgment to a problem and decided on a solution by a democratic majority vote, the dissenting individuals no longer have the right to dissent. …The person who cannot do that has no business serving on the committee and is lacking in ethical values.” Dr. Firth is quite firm, and some even say he is being too hard. Consider the problem should a board member tell others: “I’m sorry the board decided the way it did. I certainly don’t agree and didn’t vote that way.” Immediately he has set himself up against the board. Loyalty involves support even though it may not have been our first choice for the board to vote the way it did.

Attendance

Attendance is very important at all board meetings. At times there will be valid reasons why you cannot attend. It that is the case, please notify the secretary or board chairman. We hope you will realize the importance of attendance and try your very best to be present at each meeting. If you are absent without notification for three consecutive meetings the board may vote to replace you.

Notice of Meetings

You will receive a notice of the next meeting one to four weeks in advance. At its first board meeting the board itself should establish a particular day of the month, such as the first Tuesday or second Thursday, when the board will meet—unless a different date is voted at one board meeting for the next board meeting.

Minutes

Minutes of each Church Board meeting will be handed out at each meeting. You should obtain a notebook for the purpose of keeping your minutes. At times the minutes will contain privileged information (such as a personnel problem). We do ask that you keep this book of minutes “for your eyes only.”

Budgets

A part of the work of the Church Board involves money. At each meeting we usually go through the financial statement pertaining to ministry, presented by the Finance Committee Chairman. At first the statement may seem strange and unfriendly unless you have an accounting background. In time, the statement will begin to make sense and you will be able to plot the financial course of the church.

Conflict of Interest

Even though most board members are not employees of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, every board member must avoid any conflict of interest that would result in personal favor or gain. An example of a conflict of interest would be encouraging and voting for the church to purchase a product or service from which you would profit, or voting for the church to discard or sell something below market value, that you might acquire and use to your advantage. Though our local church members may not sign a conflict of interest statement, they are encouraged to read the North American Division Policy Statement on conflict of interest.

Program Evaluation

A major function of the Support and Accountability and Church Ministries Board is to evaluate the programs of the church. Programs that are proving ineffective will be reviewed by the boards, and solutions will be sought. Those that continue to be ineffective will be discarded, while those proving effective will be encouraged and expanded. It is also the responsibility of the Church Boards to see areas of need and suggest and implement programs that will meet those needs.

Final Responsibility

In the final analysis, it is your responsibility as a board member to review all ministry operations of the local Seventh-day Adventist Church Board and to act on behalf of all the members. Given such an important assignment, your dedication to the church and this position is extremely important. As you vote on issues that affect this church its outreach, please do so knowing that the Holy Spirit is beside you ready to guide you.

Resource Materials

The following resources are recommended for your ministry. You can purchase these by calling AdventSource (800-328-0525), the Adventist Book Center (800-765-6955) or your local Christian bookstore.

Radical Disciples for Revolutionary Churches, by Russell Burrill. The author explores what it takes to produce church members who want to be participants, not spectators, and proposes a major change in how to “do evangelism.”

Revolution in the Church, by Russell Burrill. Believing that both pastors and laity have strayed far from their biblically assigned roles, the author proposes a radical change in how Adventists “do church.”

Revolutionized Church of the 21st Century, by Russell Burill. Experience the explosive power of a church built on relationships.

Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual. All operating policies and procedures as voted by the General Conference.

The Power of Vision, by George Barna. Discover how developing a shared vision can ignite your board, pastors and church members.

The Epic, Pt. 14

The Church Ministries and Accountability Boards met for the first time in joint session on March 2, 2008. The most significant item of business Pastor DeSilva presented at that meeting was a document he termed a “Code of Ethics.” He asserted that there had been “a lot of unethical behavior lately,” and that this document was intended to remedy this “problem.” Some portions of this document were relatively innocuous; others were extremely disturbing. (See the following posts, “Code of Ethics” and “Code of Ethics Analysis.”) Pastor DeSilva read through it, then opened the floor for discussion.

One of the elders raised his hand. Upon being recognized he paused, prefaced his comments with the statement, “You probably don’t want to hear what I have to say,” and paused again.

Rather than encouraging him to continue, Pastor DeSilva callously responded, “You’re probably right,” and acknowledged the next hand. The slighted elder collected his belongings and quietly left the room. This action was met with a ripple of surprise among the assembled church leaders.

Pastor DeSilva, realizing his rudeness but unwilling to acknowledge it, tried to “play it off” as being misbehavior on the part of the elder. He made a sanctimonious speech about how anyone who had an issue with something that was being discussed had an obligation to work through it within the meeting rather than walking out. He then “generously” declared that in light of the elder’s many years of service that he would go the extra mile and try to talk with him about what was bothering him. Pastor DeSilva decided that the “Code of Ethics” should be tabled until the next Ministry Board meeting so that he could have an opportunity to talk with the elder before it was voted.

Next: Two Faces

Religious

Advice from the Spirit of Prophesy, Pt. 10

"In order for a man to become a successful minister, something more than book knowledge is essential. The laborer for souls needs integrity, intelligence, industry, energy, and tact. All these are highly essential for the success of a minister of Christ. No man with these qualifications can be inferior, but will have commanding influence. Unless the laborer in God's cause can gain the confidence of those for whom he is laboring, he can do but little good" (Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 3, p. 553).

"Angels work harmoniously. Perfect order characterizes all their movements. The more closely we imitate the harmony and order of the angelic host, the more successful will be the efforts of these heavenly agents in our behalf. If we see no necessity for harmonious action, and are disorderly, undisciplined, and disorganized in our course of action, angels, who are thoroughly organized and move in perfect order, cannot work for us successfully. They turn away in grief, for they are not authorized to bless confusion, distraction, and disorganization. All who desire the cooperation of the heavenly messengers, must work in unison with them. Those who have the unction from on high, will in all their efforts encourage order, discipline, and union of action, and then the angels of God can co-operate with them. But never, never will these heavenly messengers place their indorsement upon irregularity, disorganization, and disorder" (Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 1, pp. 649, 650).

Advice from the Spirit of Prophesy, Pt. 9

"I saw that this door at which the enemy comes in to perplex and trouble the flock can be shut. I inquired of the angel how it could be closed. He said, "The church must flee to God's Word and become established upon gospel order, which has been overlooked and neglected." This is indispensably necessary in order to bring the church into the unity of the faith" (Early Writings, p.100).

"The principle for which the disciples stood so fearlessly when, in answer to the command not to speak any more in the name of Jesus, they declared, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye," [ACTS 4:19.] is the same that the adherents of the gospel struggled to maintain in the days of the Reformation. When in 1529 the German princes assembled at the Diet of Spires, there was presented the emperor's decree restricting religious liberty, and prohibiting all further dissemination of the reformed doctrines. It seemed that the hope of the world was about to be crushed out. Would the princes accept the decree? Should the light of the gospel be shut out from the multitudes still in darkness? Mighty issues for the world were at stake. Those who had accepted the reformed faith met together, and their unanimous decision was, "Let us reject this decree. In matters of conscience the majority has no power." [D'AUBIGNE: "HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION," BOOK 13, CHAP. 5.]

"This principle we in our day are firmly to maintain. The banner of truth and religious liberty held aloft by the founders of the gospel church and by God's witnesses during the centuries that have passed since then, has, in this last conflict, been committed to our hands. The responsibility for this great gift rests with those whom God has blessed with a knowledge of His word. We are to receive this word as supreme authority" (Gospel Workers, p. 389).

The Epic, Pt. 13

When the nominating committee resumed its work after the January business meeting one of the members promptly brought up the matter of how many people ought to be on the Support and Accountability Board. Up to that point in the nominating process Pastor DeSilva had told the nominating committee that the Accountability Board was supposed to have five members, period. However, he had just told the business meeting that the precise number was up to the nominating committee. There were several members of the nominating committee who had been present at the business meeting and thought the arguments for a larger Accountability Board made a lot of sense.

There was an extensive discussion of the matter in which Pastor DeSilva tried very hard to talk the committee out of increasing the number. When it became clear from the comments around the table that many favored increasing the number the discussion turned to whether there should be two additional members or three. Pastor DeSilva spoke up once again to insist that there could not be three more because that would make the total number of members even and create a potential problem with tied votes. [This was faulty reasoning because the senior pastor was supposed to be only an ex officio member of the committee—in other words, he was only supposed to be able to vote if there was a tie. If there were an odd number of members not counting the ex officio pastor there would be very little likelihood of there ever being a tie in the first place. With an even number of regular members, however, the chance of the pastor being an active voter to break ties would increase substantially.] The matter was finally put to a vote and the nominating committee decided that the Accountability Board should have seven members.

When the outcome of the vote was announced Pastor DeSilva was heard to mutter under his breath, “That’s too many!”

The nominating committee presented its report at the end of February 2008. In the rush to have the nominating process over numerous positions were left vacant on the theory that they would immediately be taken up by the standing nominating committee. This did not happen. It would be months before the standing nominating committee would make any report, and when it did it was only to add three more members to the finance committee. (Interestingly, these additions happened after the longtime head of the finance committee, who opposed the governance change, was told there were no more vacancies. The former chairman had relinquished the position temporarily to be an interim paid bookkeeper for the church between regular employees, which had made him temporarily ineligible for election during the regular nominating process, but he had quit the job before the three additional committee members were recommended by the standing nominating committee.) To this day the standing nominating committee has not made any recommendations on any of the remaining vacant positions, including the entire roster of Sabbath School Superintendents.

Next: Codified

Religious

The Epic, Pt 12

The first business meeting of the new year was held on January 28, 2008. It was announced by Pastor DeSilva as a purely informational meeting to explain the new governance system to any who had questions. He specifically stated in his official verbal announcements that there would be no votes of any kind taken at the meeting, but it was evident to us that that was not truly his intent.

There was a relatively popular member of the congregation whom Pastor DeSilva disliked. He had managed to find evidence of some legitimate wrongdoing on the part of the popular individual and was determined to disfellowship the individual while no one was looking. The information came to us from multiple reliable sources that Pastor DeSilva’s intent was to hold an official meeting during bad January weather without any strong agenda to draw a crowd so that he could have the room to himself with just a few hand-picked followers who would vote the way he wanted. That way he could do the dirty deed without any fuss or notice. We should note at this point that none of the Church Manual-stipulated reclamation efforts had been made with this individual prior to this attempt at disfellowshipment.

When we heard of this dastardly plot we launched a “get out the vote” campaign. It was successful; the room was packed. Pastor DeSilva, seeing his secret, easy vote go up in smoke, didn’t bring up the proposed disfellowshipment. Instead we had a prolonged discussion about the nuances of the new governance system.

Pastor DeSilva had another new chart to issue (included below) and discussion centered around the duties and membership of the two new “boards.” When questioned about the number of people to be on the Support and Accountability Board, Pastor DeSilva stated that there would be five. The questioner expressed concern that it would not be possible to find in only five individuals all the skills required to perform the duties listed for the Accountability Board. Several other meeting attendees seconded this concern. Pastor DeSilva, never one to defend an unpopular position against a fair majority, attempted to brush off the critique by saying that the exact number of members would be determined by the nominating committee.

Next: Feet to the Fire

Religious