GATHERED: THE CHURCH MEETING

Church Meetings were amazing for the way people had an equal say.


In Congregationalism, each church was autonomous. Decisions for the local congregation were made each month in the Church Meeting, where every member had an equal voice.

We were taught to speak our truth about any issue raised, then to listen courteously as others spoke. In this way, Congregationalists believed, the Holy Spirit would guide the church meeting, and the will of God would be found.

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In four participants, their memories of Church Meeting ranged from the practical to the mystical:

My father always went. It was held in the John Mair hall. It was cold. Stan Latimer played the organ for the doxology. (“Praise God from whom all blessings flow / Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.”) We opened with prayer. We met monthly.

Perhaps we did not fully recognize its importance until it was no longer part of our religious experience after 1977.

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Church meeting were the heart of Congregationalism. I remember the Sunday School superintendent saying “With respect, Mr Chairman,” or “Point of order, Mr Chairman.” We listened carefully to each others’ opinions and respected them, even though they differed from our own.

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The effort we took in our Congregational meetings to arrive at consensus was always a strong feature of church life. There was the sense that we could all remain “friends” and have different, strong opinions in a meeting. We could separate people from issues in our regard for them.

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There was almost a sacredness in the Church Meeting when we would consider Christ in our midst and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance on ordinary everyday matters affecting the church. The Church Meeting provided my first understanding of listening for this guidance. How is it given? Not by consensus. There is a gut feeling, then a head feeling. You ask, “Is this a way forward?” It may not seem the logical way, but you know deep down in your heart that this is how God is speaking. You know that you may not have the strength to do what is needed, but you know that God is there. An urging—a small push—never something big and extreme.

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The loss of the Church Meeting in the Uniting Church was a source of grief to former Congregationalists.

The Church Meeting is lost. That gift to the Uniting Church has been lost through the new way of governance. I don’t feel now that we listen enough. We listen to economic reasons and can be convinced against our better judgement that this is the way things should be. Ownership of the local area is lost. Small presbyteries have become huge ones. Those without e-mails are left out; we have lost the continuity of communication. People won’t go to Presbytery Meeting because they are held too far away. They will become little power groups because people are not meeting together.

A former Congregational minister who is now outside the Church believed that the Uniting Church could still use the Congregational Church Meeting.

The regular Church Members’ Meeting is the key to Congregationalism. This is the nurturing ground for what we have always called responsible churchmanship. Unfortunately, this was not properly understood in the deliberations leading to the formation of the Uniting Church. Yes, the congregational meeting has been included in the polity of the Uniting Church, but its theological significance has not been grasped. In most UCA churches it simply becomes an annual event to receive annual reports and elect officers. There is nothing, however, in UCA polity to prevent local churches using the church members’ meeting in a regular and comprehensive way.

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