[Mins] Question about Nomination of Office Bearers

Wed Mar 20 14:20:24 UTC 2013

Hi Jack,

I don't often get time to read all those emails, but now that the election
is behind me I have a bit more time!

I think it is important to realise that members of the congregation actually
can not "nominate" a person for eldership.  Only the session can do that.
Members of the congregation can only suggest names to the session of people
they believe are suitable to serve as elders /deacons, and then the session
can chose to nominate them or not.

Before formally nominating a person (i.e announcing their name to the
congregation) the person being considered for nomination is visited by their
section elder or the minister to talk about what is involved, and whether
there are any things which the session might not be aware of, which would
preclude the person from serving as an elder/deacon. 

Sometimes, congregation members suggest names of people who may think that
they are suitable for nomination, but the session may be aware of things
which would make it wrong or unwise, and therefore not pursue the
suggestion.    The reason may be one that the session would deem
inappropriate to share with the person who suggested the name.  

If the ordinary member of the congregation approaches a person, wanting to
nominate them for elder, many a suitable person would be too modest and say
no.  But if the elder or pastor approaches a person and informs them that
the whole session is of the view that they have the necessary gifting and
maturity etc, then the "call" would be much stronger, and not so easily
declined.

I think the method that I have outlined above has been widely used in our
churches (certainly in the churches I have served) and has worked well .

Every blessing on your ministry'

Peter

Rev Peter Abetz MLA

(Associate Pastor)

67 Froudist Circle

Southern River 6110

Phone:  Home +61 (0)8 9456 2712

Electorate Office: +61 (0)8 9256 4900

Mobile:  0409 076 155

E-mail:  pabetz at crca.org.au

Grace Christian Reformed Church

Current place of worship:

Seveth Day Adventist Church

Wendling Rd

North Beach WA 6020

Worship times:  Sundays:  8:30 am & 10.30 am

Website:  www.gracecrc.org.au

From: mins-bounces at crca.org.au [mailto:mins-bounces at crca.org.au] On Behalf
Of mins at crca.org.au
Sent: Monday, 18 March 2013 11:36 AM
To: mins at crca.org.au
Subject: Re: [Mins] Question about Nomination of Office Bearers

Hi Jack,

It just so happens that we have just gone through the nomination process
too, so this is fresh in our memories! We do what you do, as well as the two
suggested amendments. 

The reasoning behind the first point is that it just seems like good manners
for a nominator to get the nominee's consent before their names will be put
before Session and discussed (and possibly dissected!). It also potentially
saves time: there seems no point discussing a nominee at length and
eventually accepting their nomination, only to them have them refuse to
accept it themselves when they are informed of it.

The reasoning behind the second point is that: if the nominee doesn't know
they've been nominated, of course, there's no point in telling them they
were and then rejected. But if they do know they've been nominated, it is
much better that they find out in person from an elder than merely by the
fact that their name isn't on the voting slip. This also provides pastoral
opportunities, i.e. to explain to someone who might think they are
leadership material why they are not, which might have broader impacts in
the church.

Anyway, that's just my two cents' worth!

Cheers,

Des Smith, CRC Kingston

On 18/03/13 2:08 PM, "mins at crca.org.au" <mins at crca.org.au> wrote:

Hi Everyone,

In Launceston Session we have always followed what I thought was fairly
standard procedure when it comes to nominating office bearers, that is we
call for nominations from the congregation, we receive some names in reply,
we add some extra names of our own, we consider them carefully and
prayerfully, we come up with a list of candidates and then we announce this
to the congregation. It has recently been suggested that we do a couple of
things differently, namely:

1) That it should be specified that nominators should always gain permission
from the person they wish to nominate before putting their name forward to
Session.
2) That if someone is nominated and Session decide not to put them up for
election, that Session should go back to the nominator and the nominee and
explain why their nomination was rejected.

We are wondering if anyone has any experience, thoughts or wisdom for us on
this matter?

Yours in Christ, Jack Kapinga.

  _____  

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