HOW TO PREVENT CHURCH SPLITS
Atty. Gerry T.
Galacio[mailto:gtgalacio@yahoo.com]
Published in www.GlobalMissiology.org ¡§Spiritual Dynamic¡¨ April, 2010.
(Note: Jump to ¡§Biblical,
relational and practical ways to prevent church splits¡¨)
Baptist churches in the Philippines, just like in other parts of the world,
have suffered splits. Over the years, I have counseled several pastors whose
churches have been split. For examples, a pastor from a city east of Metro
Manila had his church taken away from him by his best friend, the associate
pastor, who spread lies and rumors against him. A young pastor from a province
south of Metro Manila asked me for advice for over a year as to the brewing
problems in his church. The Sunday after he expelled the rebellious officers
and members of his church, the members loyal to him and the expelled members
nearly had a violent conflict. I was told that, besides their Bibles, both
sides in the conflict carried wooden clubs (¡§pamalo¡¨ in the vernacular).
My childhood church was split in 1981 and that event has been a defining
moment in my life.
Church splits take place for a variety of reasons: a clash of personalities,
theological or doctrinal grounds, financial mismanagement, immorality, etc.
Some church splits have taken place over very trivial things like a piano
bench that split the Holy Creek Baptist Church in 1999.
Church splits are ¡§intra-corporate disputes¡¨
under the jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Court; exceptions
Please take note that with Baptist churches in the
- The Marian Guinn case: Improper use of church discipline
- Supreme Court ruling on termination or expulsion of church members
- SEC registration of churches
- Registering a local Baptist church with the SEC either as corporation sole or religious society or aggregate
- Sample Constitutions and by-laws which local churches can use instead of the SEC-issued forms
(If your church or Bible school wants to have a free
lecture-seminar on these topics, please e-mail me at gtgalacio@yahoo.com.)
However, if a church has been split over issues involving (1) theological or
doctrinal matters; (2) membership; or (3) property disputes, the
- Watson v. Jones, 13 Wall. 679 (1872) - Court ruled that church membership disputes are beyond the bounds of civil courts.
- United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944) - Court ruled that religious teachings cannot be prosecuted for fraud. The beliefs of one person may seem preposterous to another, but religious liberty demands the ¡§widest toleration of conflicting views.¡¨ Ruling protects against trials for heresy.
- Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church, 393 U.S. 440 (1969) - Court ruled that property disputes that turn on questions of church doctrine are outside the bounds of civil courts.
- Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595 (1979) - Court ruled that questions of church property disputes are outside the bounds of civil courts.
The decisions of the
Autonomy of local Baptist churches: a problem
in resolving church conflicts
One interesting case decided by the Philippine Supreme Court
is ¡§Fonacier vs. Court of Appeals 96 Phil 417¡¨ which involved the 1955
dispute between the top two officials of the Aglipayan Church. Even though the
dispute involved properties of the church and who the official leader was, the
Supreme Court, citing the case of Watson vs. Jones, ruled that the courts
had jurisdiction since the contending parties did not have a higher body within
the said church which could resolve the issue.
The US Supreme Court in the cases I enumerated above has ruled that church
conflicts involving doctrines, membership or property disputes anchored on
doctrinal issues are beyond the jurisdiction of secular courts and should be
resolved within the church itself. This is not a problem with hierarchical
churches since they have a layer of officers or bodies that can resolve or
mediate the conflicts in lower levels of the hierarchy. But what about Baptist
churches which are independent of each other? One Biblical distinctive of
Baptists is the autonomy of the local church.
When the conflict involves a mission work, then the mother church can of course
assert its authority. But when the conflict involves for example, two opposing
groups within the church, they do not have a higher body to which they can ask
for help to mediate or settle the problem. The remedy then for the contending
parties regrettably becomes filing a petition with the Regional Trial Court to
resolve an intra-corporate dispute.
I will write later on a post about how, with the consent of all the contending
parties, a group of pastors or deacons chosen randomly like in the system used
by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) can act as a body that
will mediate, conciliate or arbitrate the conflict. This can possibly prevent
the violation of the Biblical admonition about church members taking each other
to court.
Biblical, relational and practical ways of
preventing church splits
Thabiti Anyabwile is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand
Cayman in the
How to prevent a church split, Part I
Early warning signs of a church split:
Growing numbers of cliques and factions
Low concern for the church
Self-interests dominate group interests
Isolated and absent members
Lack of humility
Mixed allegiance to the pastor(s)/elders
Low emphasis on the Word of God
How to prevent a church split, Part II
¡§To prevent church splits, we must regain the centrality of
the local church in our preaching and practice. We must lay heavy biblical
emphasis on the centrality of the people of God throughout redemptive history
and in contemporary Christian life. We must preach and emphasize the fact that
the church is central to God¡¦s affections, self-identification, and eternal
plan. It must, therefore, be central to ours.¡¨
The Church: The
The Church: Central to Jesus¡¦ Self-Identity
The Church: Central to God¡¦s Plan of Redemption
How to prevent a church split, Part III
¡§Every church split, by definition, involves people who are
alienated in their affections toward one another. The splits occur when this
alienation is hardened and seemingly intractable. But the roots of the split
extend back to that time when everyone seemed to be getting along (meaning
there were no obvious conflicts) but really didn¡¦t know one another. That
period is the calm before the storm. Introduce an offense, teach something that
crosses someone¡¦s pet sin or tender spot, and what appeared to be placid water
begins to foam and roil until a major storm approaches the shores of the
church.
¡§As pastors I think it¡¦s our duty to act while things are calm, to take a
preventative step before these conditions for a split are aggravated. And, so
far, I think one of the best antidotes to a split are wide, healthy, and
spiritually encouraging relationships in the body.¡¨
Hospitality
Discipleship
Modeling
Sentinels and Watchmen
How to prevent a church split, Part IV
A ¡§daily dereliction¡¨ of the Word of God leads to the
unraveling of the church. When, where and how does this ¡§daily dereliction¡¨
occur?
Preaching
Counseling
Decision-making
Pastor¡¦s Personal Life
How to prevent a church split, Part V
¡§If we are to prevent church splits one thing we must do is
make sure that the natural affections and authority that accrue to the teaching
office is dispersed among the leadership of the church. We must find obvious,
subtle, and effective ways to attach the allegiance of the people to the church
and the leadership as a whole. Four things come to mind.¡¨
Teaching
Comments
Submission
Leading
Ptr. Thabiti concludes his series with these wise and
challenging words: ¡§Pastors must lead. There is a danger of being overly
passive in the face of situations and decisions that require clear thinking and
charting a course. In those cases we must lead.¡¨ Later on he says that ¡§pastors
must not be afraid to lead the church toward a split in order to prevent a
split¡¨. This sounds wholly contrary to what his whole series is all about. But
you have to read his concluding article in its entirety to understand what he
means.
To Ptr. Thabiti¡¦s wise words, I can add my own caveat about church splits: ¡§Do
not ever be lulled into that complacent and overly-confident attitude that your
church can never be split.¡¨
Originally published at the link below, used by permissions of the author.
http://baptist-rp.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-prevent-church-splits.html