5

Going back to Area 51, I raised the issue: Merge Christianity proposals (now deleted by Robert Cartaino). The proposal was to merge:

  • Christianity
  • Evangelical Christianity
  • Catholicism
  • Biblical Hermeneutics (added for completeness, I'm not re-opening that here)
  • Christian Worship Leading and Service Design

The first three are thriving here, I think. But what about, Christian Worship Leading and Service Design. The reason I ask is that I have a question close to this subject and want to know if it is on topic here.

So, e.g. is this on topic: How many people can a full time minister have in their congregation before requiring more staff?

5
  • You don't mean, "How to run a parish finance council" right?
    – Peter Turner Mod
    Commented Jan 17, 2012 at 15:53
  • @PeterTurner: not that vague but I do mean that topic. Eg are a pastor's travel expenses typically reimbursed by the church? Not a great example... :) But my example in the question is one I genuinely want to ask.
    – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE
    Commented Jan 17, 2012 at 16:24
  • @Wikis There are tax implications to covering a pastor's travel expenses. If he wants to write them off, he can, or he can have the church reimburse him and let the church write it off. Usually, its a matter of choice for the pastor, unique to his situation.
    – Affable Geek
    Commented Jan 17, 2012 at 20:04
  • @AffableGeek: thanks, but that was just an example. I'll wait a bit to see if others want to chip in, otherwise I'll post my question and see what happens. Personally, I think these kind of questions could be very useful.
    – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE
    Commented Jan 17, 2012 at 20:13
  • I know, just thought I'd help :)
    – Affable Geek
    Commented Jan 17, 2012 at 20:54

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
6

As a functioning pastor, I will tell you that the best "practical stuff" is theological in nature. While there's probably less theology in the question, "How much lead time do I need before a baptism to get the baptismal pool up to a comfortable temperature?" the question, "How much time do I need to prepare a candidate for baptism?" certainly is theological in nature.

Ultimately, the best advice I ever got in seminary was, "Run the church however you want - just be able to provide a good theological basis for it."

The 'practical' questions of how to do worship, etc... are perfectly on target in my estimation.

1
  • I'm accepting, but I wonder why your answer got +4 and my question got +2/-2. I thought they were in agreement?
    – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE
    Commented Jan 18, 2012 at 16:14
3

I think you're on area51 to know that they argument "I can't ask it anywhere else" doesn't mean you can ask it here.

However, I really wish we could ask questions like the one you asked as a test case. The problem with it is that you don't offer enough details about your situation and if you did offer more details it would shrink down to be too localized.

However, however, I think what you need to edit in there are the specific goals for your congregation. Not just 'to serve' but to minister to their needs. I have no idea what Protestant ministers do, but I'd imagine it's quite a bit and it comes in spurts. So maybe the question could be, "as a minister, how do I know if I'm being stretched too thin". Then you're asking in a more direct way for an application of your doctrine to the situation.

0

I would think many (if not most) Church Management questions would be candidates for closing as "Too Localized." I'm sure that travel expenses are handled differently in the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver than they are in a Protestant church in Florida.

1
  • 1
    Just because something is localized, doesn't mean its too localized.
    – wax eagle Mod
    Commented Jan 20, 2012 at 18:26

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .