Meetings That Work: A Guide To Effective Elders' Meetings

by Alexander Strauch

Many elders are tired of tedious, aimless, unproductive meetings. This guide is written to first, explain the great importance of the meeting of the leadership to prayerfully address the needs of the fellowship. Secondly, there is valuable suggestions to help elders, deacons or others in committees to achieve effective, quality meetings.

Genres: Leadership, Ecclesiology, Church, Nonfiction, Theology

96 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

About the author

1832-1893

Reviews

[Owen Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this very much. Like the other two books I’ve read by Strauch, this one will be an excellent future reference.

[H.b. Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every body of elders should read this book!

[Mwansa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Somewhere between three and four stars, but I am willing to round it off to four. The author brings forward a transformative thesis that I paraphrase as, imagine the transformative power of the gospel came to roost in meetings. Meetings are considered to be a waste of time by most people who have attended more than five of them. Christians should not give in to the fatalist mindset of the world but rather trust God and do what is right to make the most everything.

The book is primarily about elders meetings but the principles can be applied to all kinds of church meetings and further extrapolated outward to meetings in our vocations. At the end of the day, either the gospel has the power to transform EVERYTHING or it does not. It is that binary. And if it does have the power to transform then it can affect our meetings as well.

It is a book worth reading.

[Jonathan Klimek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexander Strauch in his book Meetings that Work provides very helpful, practical advice as to what Elders ought to be doing. Placing a lot of importance on the Elder’s Meetings, Strauch explains that there is a correlation between the health of the church and the effectiveness of Elders’ meetings; he explains that the Elders’ meeting is a microcosm of how the whole congregation should live and work (p. 8). It was helpful and very informative to understand that Elders meetings impact the spiritual health of the Church, build character, develop leadership skills, enhance group morale, provide accountability and train future leaders. And if they are not achieving this, then Strauch exhortation is that the elders need to refocus.
He explains that the meetings are not to be used to discuss deacon matters such as finances, building and planned dinners, instead they are to focus on people, prayer and the Word (p. 42). He explains the need to talk about new comers and the lost who need to be pursued. He exhorts elders to ensure that prayer is a major part of the meeting (p. 44); and the Word—specifically defining, clarifying, stating the Church’s foundational, nonnegotiable beliefs; its doctrinal distinctives, ministry priorities, direction, spiritual values, mission and vision (p. 47). He emphasizes the need for the Elder’s to maintain a Christlike attitude—His attitude of humility should permeate every meeting. Elders are to listen well and ask for clarification when needed, express opinions without being an “over-talker,” diligently help the group reach decisions and then accepting and following through on assignments.
Strauch’s practical advice is priceless: keeping records, having a well thought out agenda, minutes, summarizing accomplishments and preforming evaluations. His practical advice is so helpful, one example being that when two people arrive, immediately begin praying instead of waiting for all to arrive before starting.
A very helpful and practical book on the importance of elder’s meetings and how to run them effectively—every elder should read this book.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good.

[Eric Durso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff, nothing profound.

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, practical advice. I don't know much about Strauch, but he seems to be a strong two-office guy, which I think colors some of his emphases.

[RT · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only book I’ve read on the subject. My guess is that it’s probably as good as you’ll get. It’s extremely straight forward, to where as you read you find yourself agreeing due to common sense. Although, this agreement is obvious, this proves as a strength to the book. Strauch is not seeking to reinvent the wheel, he simply puts forward a biblical argument for elders meeting working effectively.
This book can be summed up in two word regarding elders’ meetings: intentional & important.
Strauch greatly stresses the importance effective, regular, and biblical meetings with the elders is for the overall health of the church. Additionally, he helpfully brings the reader back to Scripture (particularly the Proverbs) and encourages them to intentionally put forth effort to lovingly serve one another as a model of biblical leadership.

The accessibility of the book is pristine. Overall it’s about 80 clearly written pages with enough redundancy to effectively get the message across in a helpful way. It also avoids the unnecessary fluff and wasted words that are characteristic of so many books within this genre.

Though this book would serve any elder (or even a Christian who finds themselves in various forms of meeting seeking biblical principles to honor the Lord), it would serve greater those who either 1.) do not currently have effective meetings due to ignorance of their importance, ignorance of principles, or simply due to a lack of energy placed here, or 2.) are going into a new church setting and thus whereby having the leadership team read the book would lay the foundation to help set the tone moving forward.

One final note worth mentioning: although the book is a solid read once and done, it would be fruitful to return to every few years simply to be reminded of what faithful biblical meetings look like that honor Christ and impact positively the health of the church.

[Ben Zornes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brief book, but full of solid advice on how leaders, in particular church leaders should think about, run, and organize meetings. Strauch's books Biblical Eldership and The New Testament Deacon were both immensely helpful, and this short book helps get into the nitty gritty of how church leaders should run their meetings. It should not be taken for granted that meetings are important and yet prone to getting encumbered with all sorts of gunk in the gears. Strauch seeks to encourage the implementation of habits that will help keep important matters (prayer and the word for elders; mercy ministry for deacons) front and center, and yet make sure that other matters are well-tended to. If you've grown discouraged at how most meetings seem to meander into the ether of pointless dialogue, this might just be a spark to get things back on track. Really helpful.

[Kenneth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a list of 17 items aimed at reminding elders they are stewards of God's church and therefore must have productive elder meetings for the glory of God. The advice is very practical, though I suspect any church that needs the advice in this book has an eldership filled with unqualified men, in which case a different book would likely be more appropriate.

1. Don't underestimate the significance of elder meetings
2. Demonstrate Christlike attitude and conduct
3. Take personal responsibility for meeting success
4. Don't manipulate; rather, speak truth in love
5. Get facts before making judgement
6. Maintain confidentiality
7. Communicate effectively
8. Be concerned about people
9. Prioritize prayer
10. Focus on God's word
11. Strive for effective group facilitation
12. Follow a well-thought-out agenda
13. Summarize accomplishments and assignments
14. Keep good records
15. Delegate
16. Self-evaluate
17. Make meetings count (for the glory of God)

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was really helpful. The author makes the case at the beginning of the book that elder meetings matter because it effects the entire life of the congregation. That being said, any improvements we can make in the way we do business should result in blessing the congregation through improved care, better decisions, more prayer, and greater unity among the elders. I thought this would be a great book to walk through with elders (or, given the nature of the principles, deacons too).

[Sean Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strauch Stripes #1
First book I have read from this geezer and it is immensely pragmatic, it is soaked in scripture and it is based in solid Biblical gospel grounding.
It is fair more than meetings and has much good to say.
Warmly recommended for those going into eldership, running meetings and for those who want to know about leading.
A great little resource.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done

This short book is a great introduction to a quality elder meeting. I highly recommend for all elders and pastors. Deacons and ministers would benefit from this read as well.

[Andy Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author gives a lot of tips on how to make elder meetings effective, along with some basic principles for their purpose. He has good ideas, but the book kind of comes off as a long list. Good for getting some ideas for making your meetings more effective or efficient.

[Luke Gorsett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple and clear

Not just helpful for organizing meetings but essential reading for interpersonal relationships within the team. Covers Biblical ground on the importance of elder meetings as well as how to get better. My whole team is reading it this spring.

[John Leffler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer on getting meetings to work

Alex S provides a good outline to making elders meeting in your church be more than “business as usual”. Much scripture is used. Sometimes over done. This is not a Robert’s Rules kind of book.

[Curtis Cutler]

Great read. Spirit lead practicality.

Great way to learn how to focus on the matters at hand. This book would be great for those who are current elders and those being raised up and aspire for the office.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, easy read with some very practical ideas for improving elders’ meetings. Nothing exciting, but extremely useful for those looking to reevaluate their meetings or new elders.

[Sean McGowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful.

[Logan Thune · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing revolutionary, but still really good.

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for leadership teams

[James Harmeling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strauch writes succinctly and clearly. That is his gift to the church regarding his forte, leadership. This short book is a good follow up to his work on Biblical Eldership. He attempts to limit his focus to meetings, but he cannot resist delving into other aspects of elder responsibility. This only makes sense seeing that he drives home the point to the reader of the importance of the elder meetings. I particularly enjoyed his emphasis on prayer and assigning one of the elders the role of prayer coordinator. This heightens the importance of this activity. This is a good little volume to be reread on a consistent basis for both accountability and inspiration.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a lot of people this book would be a 'yawner' -- but if you serve on an elder board or any team for your church or Christian organization, it's a must read. Strauch manages to be thoroughly biblical and practical. We're already implementing several principles Strauch suggests.

[Toby Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our congregation is just transitioning to an elder-led system of church government. As the senior pastor, I found the practicality of this book helpful in thinking through how to launch our rhythm of regular elder meetings in the right direction.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book on effective elders meeting. Strauch has great content that can be used to make meetings better. My only complaint was that it wasn't formatted well - could have used some sub division in the section section with the tips. Practical and useful!

[Sean Higgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and practical. Not always impressed with the use of verses to prove points at times, but still an important compliment to Strauch's book on Biblical Eldership.

[Ben Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very basic book whose advice boils down to "have a clear agenda and stick to it."

[Peter J Goeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very basic, but basics is good. Anything Strauch writes is gold. Really appreciated the focus of this book. Definitely not exhaustive. Meant as a guideline more than anything else.

[Felipe Sabino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelentes conselhos. Leitura obrigatória para todo presbítero!