full image - Repost: Local Church Overseers - The Buck Stops Here or Does It? (from Reddit.com, Local Church Overseers - The Buck Stops Here or Does It?)
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By state law, every non-profit organization collecting income and hiring employees must be incorporated in the state in which they operate. Incorporation usually requires filing paperwork, identifying a name under which to operate, providing a list of corporation board members, and adopting a set of by-laws which guide operations and decision making. In addition, organizations are required to file for an IRS Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).In the Network, these local corporation boards are generally the identified Overseers, commonly called Elders in most churches. The Board of Overseers consists of the Lead Pastor as President, and several other members and they may include other paid staff pastors and non-staff Overseers. In 2018 after Jeff Miller and City Lights left the Network, all Network churches adopted a new set of by-laws using the same language. Since all local church by-laws appear to be the same, let’s look at Bluesky Church’s 2018 by-laws to learn more about the Overseers.The Board of Overseers consists of the President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, and any others chosen by the President and ratified by the board.Overseers are chosen by the Lead Pastor and must be approved by the Network Area Coach (a Network Leadership Team member) Overseers serve under the President of the Board, who is also to function as the Lead Pastor of the church.The Board is the governing body of the church and is responsible for matters of administration/finances (i.e., financing & budgets, buying or leasing of facility, maintenance, contract negotiations, etc.), beliefs/doctrine, leadership/hiring staff, and church discipline when necessary.Boards must include at least two non-paid members but there is no language that prohibits boards from having a majority of paid staff pastors and this appears to be the case in some Network churches.Board members may serve indefinitely. The boards can remove the Lead Pastor BUT, that decision must be unanimous and approved by the Network Leadership Team. If there is not unanimous approval, then the Network Leadership Team makes the final decision. There is also a set of Network by-laws also adopted in 2018. However, the Network as a legal entity is in question as there is no evidence that it exists as a corporation on file in any state and operating with a federal EIN. The Network currently operates under the guise of Joshua Church’s corporation and FEIN. The language of the Network by-laws is interesting regarding its relationship with local churches in that the Network Leadership Team holds the final decision making power over local churches. According to the local church by-laws, these Overseers have legal and spiritual responsibility for the local churches. Which brings me to the main point - The local church Boards of Overseers hold responsibility for what is happening right now. If a local pastor or church is having difficulties with staff or publicity (i.e., Sandor and Christland, Scott and High Rock, Justin and Foundation, South Grove asking for an investigation), then the decisions made ultimately rest with the Board of Overseers. But there are two problems in these situations: 1. The Lead Pastors appoint their Overseers so they tend to be yes men and involve potential conflicts of interest. This sort of conflict of interest was evident when Greg Darling and Mike Morgan, two Overseers at Vine, won the day by voting to keep Vine Church in the Network in spite of concerns by others. 2. The ability of Overseers to take action regarding the Lead Pastor or affiliation with the Network is also hampered by the Network by-laws and consolidation of power by the Network Leadership Team consisting of Steve Morgan, Sandor Paull, James Chidester, Tony Ranvestal, and Luke Williams. I’m convinced that if a group of local Overseers stepped up and decided to take action such as removing a Lead Pastor or taking their church out of the Network, they could make these decisions and challenge the legality of the Network by-laws and systems. Would this ever happen? Perhaps not given the conflicts of interest and Network oversight. But if some rose up and decided to make a hard decision to protect the church and people, it could be successful. Unfortunately, there have been a number of local Overseers who have resigned over the past year or two which resulted in even more consolidation of power as Lead Pastors choose new Overseers who would not confront them and ask questions. Who are these Boards of Overseers? That’s hard to tell. Ten months ago, a post on reddit asked about the Boards of Overseers and some people populated a list of potential men who are serving. The problem is that Network churches don’t publish lists or contact information for Overseers like most churches do so it’s difficult to know who they are. Legally, the Overseers are responsible for the local churches. That includes spiritual oversight and liability for risk management. These men need to step up and take a stand for God’s people and the churches.
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