Is Congregational Voting Biblical?
For most of us, voting is a common experience. Many vote for our government representatives and, if we are involved in civic groups, we may vote in them as well. Voting is a means by which we express self-determination. “We the people” have the privilege and duty to help choose our future directions.
Voting is also how most congregations make their most important decisions. In Episcopal-style churches, the congregation votes on large purchases and on who will serve in various leadership positions. In “representational” churches, such as Presbyterian and American Lutheran, the congregation vote on leadership appointments, large purchases, and other membership matters. Independent churches such as Congregational, Baptist, or Bible churches vote on budgets, leadership appointments, large purchases, committee appointments, doctrinal changes, and membership matters. Voting is a common practice in most congregations, granting members a voice in the church’s affairs and decision making.1
It is widely assumed that voting in church is biblical, or if not biblical, a matter of freedom. Many believe it provides safety for the congregation and is a good way to build consensus in the church. In fact, have you ever read anything to the contrary? I struggle to think of anything in print that calls into question a practice so commonplace in our churches. It’s not like anyone is debating the practice voting in our churches, or even our synods, assemblies, presbyteries, conventions, conferences, etc.
Just as we vote in church we also claim to follow the Bible. Our doctrinal statements and constitutions are up front about this. Most churches claim something similar to the following:
This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life.2
But we all know it is one thing to claim that our church accepts the Bible as authoritative over “proclamation, faith and life,” and another to live it out. That excellent statement you just read comes from a Lutheran denomination that debated and voted at their 2009 convention to ordain openly homosexual men and women to the office of elder. That was a truly sad event. Claiming the Bible led them, they voted against the Bible.
My recent book, [amazon 1453831274], examines the matter of voting in the light of Scripture, because neither Paul nor his protégé Titus led churches or appointed leaders with votes. The difference is surprising since this is how we who live 2,000 years later would have expected an apostle and his protégé to lead churches. So it’s worth repeating. Paul and Titus didn’t use votes in church. The reason is deftly simple. They were serving God’s redeemed people, not an agenda. Titus was on Crete as a shepherd with a heart of compassion for hassled and distressed sheep. He came to build the church, not coalitions.
So like the Lutheran statement says, we profess Scripture’s authority over our faith and practice. That being the case let’s take the opportunity in this chapter and the next to apply Scripture to the practice of church voting. It’s a major part of church practice and affects everybody, even those who don’t participate. I start with an awkward lunch I had once with an area pastor.
“We vote as often as Jesus and the apostles taught us to.”
Several years ago the pastor of a medium sized Baptist church (GARBC) and I got into a discussion about voting and its role in church. Like many Baptist churches, his holds firmly to the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. Indeed, the very first declaration in their doctrinal statement is this: “We believe that the Holy Bible is…the only, absolute, infallible rule for all human conduct, creeds, and opinions.” That put us on the same page, theologically speaking.
While talking over coffee he shared they were going through some dark days with congregational infighting and distrust of the leadership. Within the past few weeks, he and the other elders had been out voted by the congregation at the annual meeting, and people were leaving.
He went on to explain that he and his fellow elders thought they had prepared themselves for a small amount of conflict at the meeting. They had their talking points down and believed they were ready to lead the congregation into a building project. However, the church meeting turned sour when budget issues and the building project were raised. Some members were upset about friends who had recently left the church with unresolved complaints about the leadership. My pastor friend had been chosen as the elder to address that issue, and he tried to explain the situation to everybody’s satisfaction. But instead his answers only led to more questions.
He was confronted with a Catch-22 situation: either give detailed answers to the church about private matters, or explain his unwillingness to share details and leave the voting members dissatisfied and possibly upset enough to vote down the budget. To his own regret, he admitted that he went too far trying to satisfy the people in the hopes of getting the vote passed. He felt he shared too much in explaining the problems of the people who had left and how the elders viewed it. His indiscretion also hurt the subsequent vote. The meeting ended with a series of votes defeating the proposals laid before the congregation by the elders. The pastor told me that people were now distancing themselves from the elders, that distrust was increasing, and folks were leaving.
Eventually I asked him how he felt the situation reflected the Bible’s teaching on church practice and voting. He fell silent. I suggested that votes aren’t really necessary in a healthy church, and can even bring disunity. He looked at me quizzically, because he believed they produced unity. It was then that I dropped what was, at least for him, a bomb. I told him that we don’t hold votes in our church. He again looked at me, completely taken back. He pushed back from the table, tilted his head to one side, and squinting his eyes looked at me with something close to disdain. He had never heard of a church that didn’t vote.
His reaction caught me off guard, so I explained our position this way: “We do church votes as often as Jesus and the apostles taught us to.” A wry smile crossed his face as he went through his mental concordance searching for every verse on church voting. He quickly admitted that neither Jesus nor His apostles ever taught Christians to vote, but claimed that voting in the church is a morally neutral practice. “Oh?” Given the agony his ministry was going through, now I was the one who pushed backed—tilting and squinting.
Taking the opportunity, I explained that there is only one reference to voting in the entire Bible, and that one reference is far from neutral. It is Paul’s vote that helped put Stephen, the first martyr, to death (Acts 26:10). His vote was murderous and resulted in the first martyrdom in church history. “If voting were morally neutral,” I asked him, “then why would Paul confess his vote as sinful?”
Of course there are such things as morally neutral practices, such as the time church should start on a Sunday morning, the color of the carpet, and a thousand other matters. Each local church is free to judge that for themselves. There is even a word for such neutral practices: adiaphora. But voting is not adiaphora since it allows for disunity in the body and can lead to apostasy.
I believe the church is built on the teachings of His apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20, 3:5), Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. Yet neither Christ nor a single apostle initiated a church vote, taught a church to vote, or encouraged a church vote. Not once, not ever. What shall we make of this? Were they stupid? Or worse, do we now know 2,000 years later a better way to make church decisions than our Lord and all of His apostles?
They certainly knew how to vote—all it takes is the raising of a hand. But they built every local church with godliness and unity. Under the pure and wise guidance of God they wrote inspired letters to churches that form the content of our faith. These teachings do, indeed, reflect what my friend’s Baptist church’s doctrinal statement says: “the only, absolute, infallible rule for all human conduct, creeds, and opinions.” If we believe that, and Scripture doesn’t teach us to vote, why do it? In fact, when apostles encountered churches that used practices like voting they revamped them so they would obey Scripture. This is the kind of thing that happened to Crete’s churches (Titus 1:5). Apostolic ministry to dysfunctional churches began at the level of polity, radically altering them from the top down in order to makes them healthy, unified, and safe.
My pastor friend didn’t stay much longer at that church. Sadly, things got progressively worse for all. The disunity eventually affected the leaders as well as the rest of the membership, and in sadness and distress, he moved far away to lead another church with the same voting polity.
Notes
1 For further information on church structure, see Frank S. Mead, Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 10th ed., (Nashville: Abingdon Press, revised 1995).
2 “Constitutions, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,” 19. Reference from online edition, current as of August 2009, (accessed November 11, 2009) at http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organiza….
Ted Bigelow Bio
Ted Bigelow earned the MDiv and ThM at The Master’s Seminary and has a doctorate in expository preaching from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He pastors Grace Church in Hartford, CT and has been married to Deena since 1987. They are blessed with 4 children who, by God’s mercy, love the Lord: Katie (20), Karryn (18), Daniel (15) and David (13).
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Greg Long, Ed.D. (SBTS)
Pastor of Adult Ministries
Grace Church, Des Moines, IA
Adjunct Instructor
School of Divinity
Liberty University
I also am not convinced that most commentators say this. Perhaps you could back that up.
Jeff Brown
You are right. It wasn’t God’s sovereign will, for it did not come to pass. The same is true of voting in church. It isn’t God’s revealed will in Scripture, and we are unwise to do it.
As with the other comments above, I have issues with saying “voting and congregational vote is the problem”. Consider the following questions from the example above:
1. What if the plan the pastoral staff was advocating wasn’t the will of God for the church?
2. The pastor said he had prepared for “a small amount of conflict” at the meeting. If he knew there was potential for conflict, why didn’t he try and get to those people before the meeting and head off the issues? In my experience as a pastor, waiting until the meeting to address people’s concerns is generally a bad idea. Early conflict, early resolution!If I remember, he was pensive about the situation, and realized it defied a quick resolution. But my memory is fuzzy on that one.
3. How well were the plans communicated to the congregation? Did they have all the info needed beforehand?The elders had diagrams and drawings up in the church, and it was being “talked up” by them.
4. Why was the timing such as it was? If they knew there was potential for conflict, why wasn’t there more preparation done before to try to have more unity or to allow dissenters to get out their frustrations and leave?I don’t know.
Thanks for your input.
Thanks for your thoughtful interaction, and especially, thoughtful use of Scripture. I’ve written in brief on Acts 6, 1 Cor. 5, and 2 Cor. 2:6 in my response to Aaron above. I give detailed answers in the book.
The problem wasn’t the act of voting. It is what the vote was to accomplish that was sinful. In addition, it wasn’t in a church context, but in a political context, probably of the Sanhedrin. So there is really no connection of this event to church polity.You are correct. Voting is not sinful itself, it just depends on the context. In Acts 26 (Saul’s murderous vote), it expressed sin. In our government, it expresses participation. In our churches, it expresses presumptuousness. God never tells us to do it, no apostle tells us to do it… and yet we do it. And then we find Bible references to support the act. And as I argue, we take them out of context to make them say something they don’t.
Acts 6:1-6 clearly implies voting. In fact, the clarity of that text means that “implies” may be way too weak of a word to describe what happened there. The congregation (You) was to select from among them (3000+) seven men.
You need to read the limitations in 6:3.
That means a group of 3000+ were to somehow select only 7. How do you do that without some sort of vote?
Luke says they “chose,” not voted. A choice can be done many ways.The apostles specifically did not appoint them.Bro, see Acts 6:6.This view essentially (or explicitly at times) says, “There are spiritual people among us who are equipped by the Spirit for decision making, and there are the rest of you (most of you) who just need to sit back and accept that we speak for God in this congregation.”Yuck, sounds like men who fail just about all the qualifications God demands of elders in Scripture. A biblical church wants only God’s voice in Scripture, not men’s voices, whether the elders, or the congregation, right?
[Susan R] My questions about voting have always revolved around the idea that every vote has the power to alter the course of a church’s direction, and therefore shouldn’t the prerequisites or qualifications that apply to elders and bishops apply to those who vote? IOW, why do young people have a church vote at 18 years old, or single/divorced women, or people who attend sporadically, or have the spiritual discernment of a rutabaga…? Did Biblical ‘voting’ involve the entire congregation, or just the elders?Great questions, Susan. Hmmm. “Biblical voting.” Its an oxymoron, since the Bible doesn’t teach it. But like Joel, thou art not far from the kingdom ;)
[Ted Bigelow]Ted, I don’t understand your logic at all. I don’t think you’re addressing Steve’s point, either. You immediately shift from God’s sovereign (decretive) will to His revealed will.[Steve]You are right. It wasn’t God’s sovereign will, for it did not come to pass. The same is true of voting in church. It isn’t God’s revealed will in Scripture, and we are unwise to do it.
As with the other comments above, I have issues with saying “voting and congregational vote is the problem”. Consider the following questions from the example above:
1. What if the plan the pastoral staff was advocating wasn’t the will of God for the church?
What Steve is saying is that you can’t decide if what congregation did was wrong simply because there was a bad outcome. You could say the same thing about any elder-rule decision. What if the elders decide the church should no longer preach from the Bible but rather from Quran? You wouldn’t say, “See, elder-rule is bad!”
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Greg Long, Ed.D. (SBTS)
Pastor of Adult Ministries
Grace Church, Des Moines, IA
Adjunct Instructor
School of Divinity
Liberty University
The only evidence for votes in the NT is the congregation in the passages I give above.Larry, you are reading voting into these passages. They teach voting as much as they teach the use of lots in decision-making, which is to say, they don’t.
The NT, to my recollection, never speaks of an elder board, or of the interaction between elders.Check out 1 Tim. 4:14, and then read Acts 21:18-25.
As you can see above, Ted makes little attempt to connect his argument to Scripture in this article.Maybe Aaron will let me write some more?
His biblical references amount to Acts 26:10 which I would argue he misuses, Eph 2:20 and 3:5 which I would argue have to do with the foundation of the church not its operation,Larry, these verses teach that all things whatsoever that relate to the church, whether doctrinally, or practically, rest on the foundation of the NT apostles and prophets. The apostles (and NT prophets) taught churches how to act as churches. There are a lot of letters in the NT written by them to authoritatively teach churches how to act as churches.
Assuming Ted’s argument doesn’t hang on a narrow definition of “vote” such as filling out some secret ballot or punching a chad, it is hard to imagine how the will of the congregation would be made known apart from some sort of vote to ascertain consensus.It doesn’t. And Larry, the Lord is not interested in something you call “the will of the congregation.” He is interested in His will alone, and that we obey it, not compete with it by trying to figure out our own (Luke 17:10).
It would be interesting to know how Ted’s church selects deacons and how they practice church discipline. Those are the two explicit cases of Scripture which seem to require congregational action. How does he accomplish this congregational action in his church?
The NT describes in sufficient and full detail how these are to be done, and I take the time in my book - in the early chapters, to detail it out.
Thanks again, Larry.
What about Rick Warren? I listened to his tapes in the early 90’s repeatedly. Although I never bought his compete philosophy, I still argue that Warren was right about a number of things. I do not know if it made it to print, but Rick Warren clearly states that voting is bad; he says it brings disunity and makes for winners and losers. And he says this repeatedly.
Ouch, guilt by association!We vote rarely (in my view, as an accommodation to Western culture), but our officers are affirmed (no competition but members approve or disapprove) and if we spend more than an average week’s offering on a given project, the members also have to approve. So we minimize voting, but we still do it. Since the Bible does not forbid it, we are in the realm of wisdom and freedom. Still, I would argue, that wisdom says voting is bad for unity. But it is good for creating a sense of ownership, another big need.
Why not do this instead of voting – “If anyone in the congregation has a biblical reason for why we shouldn’t go ahead and do XYZ, would you kindly help us see it?
RE: leaders – they were never appointed by voting in the NT. So why is it a matter of freedom when the Scripture details how God does want it done – Titus 1:5-9….How important do you think a sense of ownership is? Is it important for the church to be “us,” or is it okay for the church to be “them,” as implied in the statement, “the church today needs to do….?” I try to encourage people to look in the mirror and say, “the church needs to do….”Bro, the church needs to look in the Scripture and see what God says about it what it should be. My opinion (or even yours) is worthless. Ownership actually is THE ISSUE. So, when you vote, who owns your church, Christ, or men? Since Christ doesn’t teach us to vote in church, we can only be presumptuous to claim we are doing His will, Or worse, we are acting arrogantly. What happens when they vote in a man into leadership who does not match up to the qualifications? Who owns it then? Not only have we acted presumptuously by voting on a matter God has not given us permission to vote, but we teach our congregation that even though God doesn’t say we should do it this way, we still do anyway. We teach them to look at their leaders as accountable to their voice in voting, not God’s voice in Scripture.
Thank you for your effort to formulate a Biblical response to this challenging question. I appreciate your desire to correct the errors of those who wish to be lords over God’s heritage (1 Pet 5:3, Matt 23:7-9). You rightly understand that the argument concerns the priesthood of the believer versus the mega-church governance models of Rick Warren and Willow Creek.
For those seeking an anti-dote against “back-door popery”, AH Strong provides some helpful remarks about historic Baptist church governance in volume 3 of his Systematic Theology.
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matt 20:25-27) .
[Mike Harding] There is a basis for voting members into a church, “added to the church,” and voting disorderly brethren out (Matt 18 and 1 Cor 5).Mike, as I briefly explain to Aaron above, those verses don’t teach voting. For more info, it’s in the book. They simply don’t say what you claim, bro.
It is necessary to vote on major financial issues such as church budgets, land purchases, major projects. A handful of people simply does not have the right to spend millions of dollars of other peoples’ money without some kind of approval. How is a church to accept a pastor without voting? Do six men secretly agree to it in a room and then next Sunday the new pastor shows up? The appointment by Paul and Timothy of elders may have been the arrangement of a vote or possibly a direct appointment. Paul, however, was an apostle and Timothy was Paul’s apostolic representative. There are no apostles today!
A thing is “right” or not based on Scripture, for God defines what is right or wrong. Since God doesn’t tell us to vote, but does instead teach us how the church is to be run in Scripture, who are we to claim we should do it another way (i.e., voting)?No accountability to the congregation, however, would be just as dangerous as having the congregation actually managing the church.
I agree. However, the accountability votes provide to a church minimizes the accountability God wants them to have. The accountability God wants every congregation to have of their leaders is the full corpus of the Bible. Voting exchanges the priesthood of the believer for a political right. God wants every member of my church to have total authority over me by the use of Scripture, which is really His authority. I don’t want to minimize them! I want to maximize them for the glory of Christ and the advancement of the church.I don’t recommend teenagers and children having the right to vote.Good point. But God doesn’t recommend anybody vote in church.
[Charlie] I’m curious if anyone practices household voting? Each household gets one vote.Hi Charlie - no doubt, some do. But not with Scriptural directive, or example.
In the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, which I was raised in — and perhaps in other confessional Lutheran church bodies — only over men over age 21 (in my home church; 18 in others) may attend the business meetings or vote.Hi Paul,
The practice is based on 1 Cor. 14:34, 35.
Several years I spoke with the then president of WELS. He was very helpful, and very clear on their “male only” voting stance (as well as “closed communion). Women only started voting in churches in the later half of the 20th century, so the practice is quite recent in church history.
[Pastor Harold] 10-2 against going into the Promise Land. Majority rules in a democracy. Who’s idea was that???Indeed, advocates of majority rule need to ask themselves, “how often in Scripture is the majority obeying God?”
[Aaron Blumer] Ok, two random thoughts.Just left 2 weeks in South Africa, and am in Malawi for ministry until next week. Glorious time here :)
One, I wonder where Ted is today. I’m sure he’ll be dropping by as soon as he has opportunity… and will have a bit of catching up to do. I know the feeling.
I think it’s the extreme implementations of each polity that tend to give each a bad reputation to different groups. I suspect that where there are wise, godly leaders, the various polities tend to have roughly the same results… because the leaders are winning “the people” over to their vision anyway or, failing that, don’t push their agenda. No point in dragging a church along kicking and screaming. They need to truly “buy” the idea, regardless of whether there are votes.Bro, the issue isn’t what works, or not, but what God says, right. And He is so abundantly clear and singular on this matter.
[Larry] But even if we limit votes to spiritually mature people, what criteria do we use for that? Ted’s (and others) define this as being elected to eldership. But I know of no practical way and no biblical instruction by which one would be qualified to be a part of the congregation other than a credible profession of faith illustrated by believer’s baptism.I don’t advocate voting for elders since we have the word of God, but if there were a criteria for voting, it would be the elder qualifications, since they are God’s “stewards” - Titus 1:7. But a steward is not a representative.
Men who meet people’s qualifications and are elected are their representatives. But men who meet God’s requirements are His stewards. And the two are not the same thing. Not by a mile. One is accountable to those who elect, the other is accountable to Him who qualifies.
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