How your church can discern God’s voice together

Is it really possible for churches to reach a consensus on big decisions? Yes, says Peter Wilkinson. Writing from personal experience, Peter explains how every Christian can help discern the will of God for their congregation

What does decision-making look like in your church?

In some, leadership proposes oven-ready solutions for the rest of the congregation to accept, willingly or grudgingly. In others, a vote is used to discover what most people would prefer. In others, some blend of the two prevails.

I believe the locus of decision-making responsibility should not sit only with the pastor and/or the leaders. When it comes to making decisions sin a church, the biblical picture is one where authority sometimes resides with the congregation (Acts 6:3); sometimes with the elders (Hebrews 13:7); sometimes with a perceptive individual (Paul against Peter, Galatians 2:11); sometimes with a prophet (Acts 11:28); sometimes with the immediacy of God’s word to a gathering (Acts 13:1-3); and sometimes with the considered mind of leaders and people in harmony with the mind of the spirit (Acts 15:28).

Whatever denomination you are a part of, the Lord is the head of the Church. As the head, he will always have the wisest opinion on what we should do. Surely, therefore, we should eschew purely human approaches to decision-making and set our joint sights on determining his will for our congregations together.

But how?