Thanks for the excellent editorial “It’s Important to Know the Rules.” As an administrator, I especially appreciate this. When interviewing with committees I have often said that my desire is to lead a church to do things “decently and in order.” Constitutions, bylaws, priesthood of believers, policy and procedure manuals and following visionary leadership of a pastor such as Gary Fenton are all part of the same God ordained institution the local church. When I did my certification as a Fellow in Church Business Administration for NACBA my project was titled “Constitution and By-laws — Relevant Guide or Ignored Dinosaur.” Your editorial was certainly timely in light of the many instances of young ministers follow the team paradigm thinking it does not also have a place for guidelines and rules. I like the concept of teams instead of committees since it is a more positive word and one that rings of the priesthood of believers, but much of the work is still the same.
Keep up the good work with The Alabama Baptist. I join countless others in Alabama who pray that our state paper may continue with journalistic integrity, not another promotional piece, as it seems some power brokers want.
Rodney Van Dyke
Birmingham, Ala.
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