Church regulations

[Zemog]

I started attention church in 2016 and have questions about rules and regulations.  Please see below.

1. Members are required to sit towards the front.

2. Members are required to park in certain areas.

3. Strong emphasis on serving.

4. Certain serving sections schedule without checking for availability.  You are required to secure replacement if not able to make it.

5. Weekly Huddle's for people that serve an our prior to service.

6. Several procedures to follow.

I'm just trying to understand if this is normal.  Do most churches operate in a similar manner?

[dhchristian]

17 hours ago, Zemog said:

I started attention church in 2016 and have questions about rules and regulations.  Please see below.

1. Members are required to sit towards the front.

2. Members are required to park in certain areas.

3. Strong emphasis on serving.

4. Certain serving sections schedule without checking for availability.  You are required to secure replacement if not able to make it.

5. Weekly Huddle's for people that serve an our prior to service.

6. Several procedures to follow.

I'm just trying to understand if this is normal.  Do most churches operate in a similar manner?

1 Some churches ask this of the members so that visitors do not feel intimidated and are forced to sit in the front rows of the church.

2 Again, same thing here, leave the closer and better spots for visitors I am guessing is the motive?

3 This can cross the line into a religious spirit if they are placing a burden on members to serve. There is however nothing wrong with encouraging this as this is a part of church ministry. You should be willingly serving, not coercively serving.

4 This to me is problematic. Not for religious reasons but for convenience. Again, you should not serve because of coercion, but willingly.

5 "weekly Huddle"? Are they Praying? Are they Planning? Again nothing wrong with this so long as it is not done coercively but willingly. I Know some churches that have people in a 6Am on a Sunday morning just praying, and they are led to do that. Choirs, and musical groups practice beforehand as well.

 Is this Normal? It is not out of the ordinary, but it can be once they start to overemphasize this as legalism and or coercively forcing people to do this. Sometimes volunteers do not step forward, and there is a need to ask and encourage people to get involved. I see no problem with that. They may want to work on how tactfully they do this instead signing people up without asking. 

[dhchristian]

17 hours ago, Zemog said:

I started attention church in 2016 and have questions about rules and regulations. 

BTW, Welcome to Worthy Forums, seeing as your a newbie. You will need to introduce yourself in the welcome section and  post a couple of times there before you can reply here.

[Zemog]

Thank you for the reply I agree with your points.  I managed to chat with my sister and brother in law.  They have been attending church a lot longer and their replies matched up well with your advise.  The only one's they seemed to question were 4 and 5.  Let me attempt to explain further. 

Serving Ministry
This particular serving ministry schedules randomly it's a cleaning ministry and its on Saturdays.  We questioned them about not asking for availability and were told that the crew was too large to schedule based on availability. 

Weekly Huddles
I guess the weekly huddles fall under planning. I have been thinking about this and we do have new people coming and going, so maybe that's why. For me the info tends to be generic they touch base on our regular duties and then everyone goes off to meet with the team leads.

Growth
A year ago the Church secured permanent facilities.  Previously we were in a small retail space.  Since then I have noticed many changes.  We seem to have more regulations and they seem stricter.  Perhaps It's just a matter of me getting comfortable.

Switching Churches
I have been thinking about switching to another church.  The biggest reason is because of distance we moved further away and I would like to attend closer to home.  However, I'm trying to understand the normal church process as it pertains to rules and regulations.

Thank you and God bless.

[Neighbor]

20 minutes ago, Zemog said:

However, I'm trying to understand the normal church process as it pertains to rules and regulations.

Might try to think of it as guidance and opportunity

[LonerAndy]

On 2/4/2020 at 9:54 PM, Zemog said:

I started attention church in 2016 and have questions about rules and regulations.  Please see below.

1. Members are required to sit towards the front.

2. Members are required to park in certain areas.

3. Strong emphasis on serving.

4. Certain serving sections schedule without checking for availability.  You are required to secure replacement if not able to make it.

5. Weekly Huddle's for people that serve an our prior to service.

6. Several procedures to follow.

I'm just trying to understand if this is normal.  Do most churches operate in a similar manner?

Different churches all have different rules.

1.  Sitting towards the front, is simply a matter of how it feels to the pastor.   It would be hard to explain this, unless you have actually been in front of a group of people before.  To have everyone sitting in the back, and the front dozen rows empty, it makes you feel like the place is empty, and you are speaking to no one.  It's a very lonely and hopeless feeling.    I can see why a pastor would request people sitting in the front.

2.  Required parking?   That is odd.

3.  Every good church has an emphasis on serving.   This is normal, and good.

4.  Depends on what that means.   I can see that certain positions of service, simply have to be covered.  So whether this is crazy or not, what the rational is.

5.  Weekly huddles for servers, one hour prior to service?   That is not normal, but then it's also not bad either.

6 Not sure what this refers to.

It sounds to me like this church may have a unique type of faith they practice.   It's neither bad, nor fantastic.  It's just they have a rather special style of worship.

I think what I would do in your position, is try it out for a period of 12 months.   I myself have done this.  Just work at it for a year, and after a year, re-evaluate where you are.  If you determine this isn't the thing for you, be gracious and caring, but move on to another church.

At a minimum, do it for 6 months.  You just don't want to be a person who bounces around from one church to the next.

[Coliseum]

On 2/4/2020 at 9:54 PM, Zemog said:

I started attention church in 2016 and have questions about rules and regulations.  Please see below.

1. Members are required to sit towards the front.

2. Members are required to park in certain areas.

3. Strong emphasis on serving.

4. Certain serving sections schedule without checking for availability.  You are required to secure replacement if not able to make it.

5. Weekly Huddle's for people that serve an our prior to service.

6. Several procedures to follow.

I'm just trying to understand if this is normal.  Do most churches operate in a similar manner?

Sometimes we get away from the idea of what a real church looks like. Jesus said this is the church: "For where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in their midst." Matthew 18:20

The church is not a building. The church is a relationship between God and His people. Out of convenience, people meet at different locations to experience those relationships. Because there are certain maintenance and procedural requirements the building must meet, rules are developed for the benefit of everyone attending.  If the rules benefit the whole Body, it is common to follow them. 

Praying to God first is a great way to learn His will for you and where He wants you to be. 

[Prycejosh1987]

On 2/5/2020 at 2:54 AM, Zemog said:

I started attention church in 2016 and have questions about rules and regulations.  Please see below.

1. Members are required to sit towards the front.

2. Members are required to park in certain areas.

3. Strong emphasis on serving.

4. Certain serving sections schedule without checking for availability.  You are required to secure replacement if not able to make it.

5. Weekly Huddle's for people that serve an our prior to service.

6. Several procedures to follow.

I'm just trying to understand if this is normal.  Do most churches operate in a similar manner?

Seems good to me, but that depends on the size of your church and the location.

[missmuffet]

On 2/4/2020 at 6:54 PM, Zemog said:

I started attention church in 2016 and have questions about rules and regulations.  Please see below.

1. Members are required to sit towards the front.

2. Members are required to park in certain areas.

3. Strong emphasis on serving.

4. Certain serving sections schedule without checking for availability.  You are required to secure replacement if not able to make it.

5. Weekly Huddle's for people that serve an our prior to service.

6. Several procedures to follow.

I'm just trying to understand if this is normal.  Do most churches operate in a similar manner?

It sounds controlling to me. Does God care about these rules?....no. 

[ravindran]

1. Members are required to sit towards the front.

We don't practice this in our Church. The nursery is behind the doors at the back of Church. So mostly parents with little kids sit towards end rows. People with kids in general try to sit a little behind to be not disruptive and taken them to bathroom breaks easily. People who like to move up to the altar during worship pick up front rows. We have lot of helpers through the service who keep track of open spots and help visitors of latecomers to open spots quickly.

2. Members are required to park in certain areas.

This is the first time I am hearing! I can understand if parking is limited or need more space for visitors. In my previous Church it was not a rule. But anyone fit enough will have to park on the street. Leave the limited on-site parking to old people, families with kids and visitors.

3. Strong emphasis on serving.

Same at my Church. No one is forced, but strongly encouraged to serve. Which I totally agree. Church is not just a place to receive, but also give. We are the Church!

4. Certain serving sections schedule without checking for availability.  You are required to secure replacement if not able to make it.

We have planning software. Schedule is put few weeks ahead. People go in and accept or reject based on availability. There are times when people get assigned back to back weeks by mistake. No big deal. If you are able, just do it. If not talk to the respective people.

5. Weekly Huddle's for people that serve an our prior to service.

No idea what this is. We have something called life group. Age appropriate families would meet once a month to do some practical Bible study. For examples, parents with little kids would focus on topics around raising Godly families. It also allows families to get closer, people to grow spiritually and pray for one another.

6. Several procedures to follow.

We also have other procedures.

 

Bottom line - Every Church will have guidances and procedures (which you ought to follow). If you have problem with them, talk to leadership. I am sure you would have Board or Deacons? They should address these.