Church Discipline

This coming Sunday, we will be hearing the famous passage in Matthew 18 in which Jesus lays out his instructions for conflict resolution. According to our congregation’s constitution, prior to any disciplinary action against a member, reconciliation and repentance must be attempted as outlined in the gospel, proceeding through these successive steps as each one becomes necessary:

a) Private counsel and admonition by the pastor,

b) Censure and admonition by the pastor in the presence of two or three witnesses,

c) Written referral of the matter by the Congregation Council to the vice president of the synod, who will refer it to a consultation panel drawn from the Consultation Committee of the synod, and

d) Written referral of the matter by the consultation panel to the Committee on Discipline of the synod, which can impose one of the following sanctions:

a. suspension from the privileges of congregation membership for a designated period of time;

b. suspension from the privileges of congregation membership until the pastor and Congregation Council receive evidence, satisfactory to them, of repentance and amendment of life;

c. termination of membership in the congregation; or

d. termination of membership in the congregation and exclusion from the church property and from all congregation activities.

Harsh, no? However, only four behaviors are specified as requiring the discipline of a church member: Persistent and public denial of the Christian faith; Willful criminal conduct grossly unbecoming of a member of the Church of Christ; Continual and intentional interference with the ministry of the congregation; or, Repeated harassment or defamation of one’s fellow members. In contrast, for a rostered leader, there are 20 behaviors that can get a pastor barred from ministry, including some kind of funny ones, like violating copyright, plagiarism, encouraging a congregation to leave the ELCA, or “willfully ignoring church policies and procedures”!

Do this proportion of 20:4 mean that pastors are five times as wicked as other people? No. It’s just that ministry is hard, so clear boundaries and standards are necessary. Knowing what the expectations are and how to hold our leaders accountable is healthy. Ultimately, we name behaviors in order to have benchmarks for bringing people back into the fold when it becomes safe to do so. After all, Jesus said that even those who must be excluded for a time are still like the tax collectors - beloved of Jesus. As we begin our new school year, I’d love to hear from you what you think goes into making a healthy and safe community.

With love, Pastor Chelsea