Under the original bylaws, the deacons had significant authority both in the church and in the eyes of the state as the Board of Directors of the nonprofit Chapel Hill Bible Church. Their chair, vice-chair, and secretary, along with the church treasurer, whom they appointed, were the corporate officers of the church. They could enter into contracts on behalf of the church and represent the church in any civil legal proceedings.
Under the new bylaws, the Board of Elders now assume these responsibilities in addition to control of finances.
How might this authority have been a check in the past? In a hypothetical situation in which the elder board had voted to use NDAs, the Board of Deacons could have indicated that they would not support the use of NDAs because their belief was that the enforcing an NDA would have required them to “take a brother to court,” and they may have believed that would be in violation of Scripture.
In the past, there were times when there was healthy “iron sharpening iron” as the deacon board and board of elders, each operating in their own sphere of authority, worked to come to agreement.
