Stuck In My Head
We installed 3 new elders at North Point in staff meeting this morning.
Something about that statement makes me think of placing 3 grown men permanently on some wall outside.
Anyways.
Andy read the first line from our church constitution.
An imperfect system filled with men and women of integrity will function far better than a perfect system filled with men and women who lack integrity.
I can’t think of a better way to run a church.
Thoughts?
Los
RAIN IT DOWN
Carlos-That is a powerful statement!!! Integrity separates the mediocre (and good) from being great. That goes for people as well as ministries.
Your blog makes me laugh man… thanks!
Coming from a Church void of “elders”, what exactly do the elders do? We ushers like to say that we “ush” so does that mean that elders “eld”?
Great quote from Andy…
John.
Andy is a smart fellow. I’d hug him, but I heard he has a whole team of body guards. I also heard he owns a private jet, three houses, and has a weekly lunch meeting with President Bush…so I might be misinformed.
Are the elders all dudes at Northpoint?
Whoa… what a great statement. You could unpack that one for days.
-Pat
Scott M.
I’m not a North Pointer, but I have heard all that stuff you said…but it was about Andy’s father, Charles. I too could be misinformed.
I love that statement! I would, however, be interested to know how those elders were chosen. I come from a pretty big church for our area and we still have an election, a popular vote. It feels a bit like sorority rush re-lived. How can you possibly know a person from a faith statement placed in a bulletin insert?????
easy on the RUMORS
We’ve been to Buckhead Church a few times now and we are loving it. From what I could gather so far, this statement is true. Love your blog!
Craig posted about Andy today on Swerve, he’s doing a series on Pastors who have influenced him; you should check it out. The quote that shred from Andy reminds me of the integrity part of this quote. The quote that I shared that stuck with me from Andy is:
What a great opportunity to serve under a pretty unique leadership situation. Soak it up. You’ll be learning some cool, life-long practices there. Keep us posted on things/insights you learn and experience.
Um. No. None of that is true.
I’ve run across a similar statement in my field of educational leadership. It’s true in just about any system, though, and maybe especially so in church leadership.
yeah yeah!
i’ve never heard it referred to as “installed” before. i’m not sure how i feel about that. we don’t have elders at WFC but we have deacons that are nominated and trained. we called it confirmation or ordination. are your elders all men at NP?
Yes, the 12 elders are all men (that’s where the “imperfect system” part comes in) and I believe there is an age requirement as well. Andy counts as an elder. A member wishing to nominate another member fills out a recommendation form and turns it in. They then give the elder application form to the recommended member to fill out and turn in. The election is done by 4 representative elders and 4 representative MTRs (Ministry Team Reps – volunteers representing the different ministries). It’s a 3 year on with at least 1 year off rotation.
I’m a nerd so I looked up the linguistic history of the word “integrity.” The English version of the word is not actually that old (circa 1450), but the Latin root is from a LONG time ago and means “soundness, wholeness.” It’s connected to the word “integer.” Integrity as a “moral” quality, that meaning got added on later. Anyway, “wholeness” as a quality for your church leaders, that’s pretty cool. Like the church system, they can’t be perfect, but they can be whole. Sinners… broken…healed by Christ…honest. Whole.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Andy wrote that himself. It oozes with Andy-wit.
That’s a good one. I like it a lot. I am curious what a perfect system looks like though?
I think Pastor Andy said, at WFX, that he doesn’t like to leave town so he probably wouldn’t use a private jet. A helicopter would be better; for those quick trips to Starbucks. Maybe Airwolf if he needed to take a long trip every once in a while. Anybody remember Airwolf?
What’s funny is that I heard that Carlos is the one with the private jet, 2 1/2 homes and meets weekly with VP Cheney.
Although I think Airwolf was superbad, I’d have to think long and hard about choosing it over Blue Thunder. Oh wait…no I wouldn’t. Stingfellow rocks!
About the Andy quote: I think it’s great. It is reminding me of a book I read a while back called “A Tale of Three Kings” by Gene Edwards. It’s a book, in narrative form, that teaches on brokenness, but I was highly impacted with some lessons on God ordained leadership.
Particularly on how poor leadership, if placed in the position of influence by God, can still be right and should be honored (i.e. the story of David waiting for God to remove Saul from leadership, not assuming and taking it despite the numerous opportunities). Leadership, before skill and integrity, first requires trust in God. Do we believe in a God who opperates in broken systems? I think we have to…He does somehow work in me.