11 signs of a family-run church

[steve-in-kville]

Funny but often not funny to those terrorized by the gossips. Small towns and small parishes have their own problems.

I had to think of this over the holiday weekend as we attended gatherings and such. There's always that one relative that knows everything about everyone... but rarely has it right

[Bootstrap]

I attended a church that had a few families that were very active in many parts of the church. I didn’t see any signs that they were ‘running’ the church but I can see how quickly that could change if the family was a little power hungry.

In our church, one extended family does more than their share of the work, but they are very deferential to the rest of the congregation. They have invited others into leadership and taken a servant role, and that has worked pretty well.

I was once part of a Mennonite church that had really strong dynamics like the ones mentioned in the OP. At a church council meeting, we would discuss something, it was clear we had consensus to make a decision, then someone would say something like "well, there may be other people who aren't here who might have an opinion about that", and we would not make the decision. Those "other people" were part of the family that formed the core of the church, even if they weren't in formal leadership. So the official leadership and the real leadership were sometimes at odds. I don't think people noticed this if they weren't part of the formal leadership, but I found it frustrating.

[MaxPC]

Funny but often not funny to those terrorized by the gossips. Small towns and small parishes have their own problems.

I had to think of this over the holiday weekend as we attended gatherings and such. There's always that one relative that knows everything about everyone... but rarely has it right

Indeed!

[Chris]

We need another thread on a "specific business run church" similar to this. I've seen churches dominated by 1 or 2 company staff. Business owner runs most of the vote and barely anybody counter votes in bros meetings. That said, I'm sure others have better examples than me with more specifics so I won't start that thread.

[steve-in-kville]

We need another thread on a "specific business run church" similar to this. I've seen churches dominated by 1 or 2 company staff. Business owner runs most of the vote and barely anybody counter votes in bros meetings. That said, I'm sure others have better examples than me with more specifics so I won't start that thread.

Men that would be called "big wheels"?