Quick Answer
Nearly every church in America governs itself under one of three systems, and they answer "who decides" in incompatible ways. Before asking how your church should run a vote, establish which of these you are.
| Polity | Where authority sits | Typical traditions | What members vote on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Congregational | The gathered members | Baptist, most non-denominational, Congregational/UCC, Assemblies of God, many Bible churches | Nearly everything: calling a pastor, budget, property, bylaws, officers |
| Presbyterian | Elected elders, in graded courts | Presbyterian (PCUSA, PCA, EPC), Reformed, some Methodist bodies in part | Elect elders and deacons; call a pastor subject to presbytery approval; usually the budget |
| Episcopal | Bishops, with councils | Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Orthodox, United Methodist in structure | Elect parish/vestry councils and delegates; clergy are appointed or assigned, not called by members |
The practical consequence: a Baptist congregation votes to call its pastor and the vote is the decision. A United Methodist congregation does not vote on who its pastor will be at all — the bishop appoints. A Presbyterian congregation votes to call a pastor, but the presbytery must concur. Same word, three different meanings.
If you are Baptist or independent, the detailed procedure is in Baptist church voting procedures. This article covers the map.
This article describes common practice across traditions in general terms. Denominational polity varies by body, by region, and by era, and individual congregations vary further. It is general information, not legal, canonical or denominational advice, and your own constitution, bylaws, book of order or canons govern.
Why This Determines Everything Else
Churches rarely split over what was decided. They split over whether the people who decided had the right to.
A congregation operating under presbyterian polity where members believe they hold congregational authority will produce a fight roughly once per pastor. So will an independent church whose bylaws quietly vest authority in a self-perpetuating elder board while the members assume they have a vote. The procedure question and the authority question look the same from inside the room, and only one of them is answerable by reading Robert's Rules.
So start here, in this order:
- 1Your articles of incorporation — what the civil law says your organization is
- 2Your constitution and bylaws — what your church said its own rules are
- 3Your denominational book of order, discipline, or canons, if you have one and are bound by it
- 4Parliamentary authority, usually Robert's Rules, filling the gaps
Most disputes are resolved at level two. Most churches read level four first.
Congregational Polity
Baptist, non-denominational, Congregational/UCC, Assemblies of God, many independent and Bible churches.
The congregation is the deciding body, and the local church is autonomous. Associations and conventions are cooperative and voluntary; they do not govern the local church. What is reserved to the members is set by the church's own constitution, and typically includes calling and dismissing a pastor, receiving and dismissing members, electing deacons and trustees, adopting the budget, buying or selling property, and amending the bylaws.
Who votes: members in good standing, defined locally. Age minimums, attendance or giving requirements, and whether presence at the meeting is required all vary by church.
The watch-out: the elder-led independent church. A great many non-denominational churches are congregational in name and functionally presbyterian in their bylaws, with a self-perpetuating elder board holding most authority and members voting on a short list. That is a legitimate arrangement. It becomes a problem when nobody told the members. Read your own bylaws before you assume.
Presbyterian Polity
Presbyterian bodies, Reformed churches, and others governed by elected elders sitting in graded assemblies.
Authority rests in elders — teaching and ruling — who sit as a session or consistory governing the local congregation, with appeal upward to presbytery, synod, and general assembly. The congregation elects its elders and deacons, and that election is real. What the congregation does not do is govern between elections.
What members typically vote on: electing elders and deacons, calling a pastor (usually subject to presbytery concurrence and often requiring a congregational meeting moderated by someone the presbytery appoints), the pastor's terms of call, purchase or sale of property, and dissolving the pastoral relationship.
What members typically do not vote on: ordinary governance, discipline, worship, and most spending, all of which belong to the session.
The watch-out: congregational meetings in presbyterian churches are usually governed by specific notice and moderation requirements in the book of order, and a meeting called the ordinary way may not be valid. Check the book, not just the bylaws.
Episcopal Polity
Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Orthodox, and — in structure — United Methodist.
Authority flows through bishops. Clergy are appointed or assigned rather than called by the congregation, and the congregation's role is genuine but bounded.
Roman Catholic parishes. The pastor is appointed by the bishop. Parish pastoral councils and finance councils are consultative — the finance council is required and its consultation is mandatory for certain acts, but the council does not govern. Elections to parish councils are real elections; they are not elections about who leads the parish.
Episcopal churches. The congregation elects a vestry and wardens at the annual meeting, and elects delegates to diocesan convention. When a rector is called, the vestry conducts the search and the bishop must consent. So there is a genuine election, but not a congregational vote on the rector.
United Methodist churches. Clergy are appointed by the bishop through the itinerant system, and the congregation does not vote on who its pastor will be. What the congregation does elect is the church council or administrative board and, importantly, the lay member of annual conference and delegates. Charge conference — presided over by the district superintendent — approves the pastor's compensation and elects officers. This is why "how do we vote for our pastor" is a question with no answer in a United Methodist church, and it surprises people who transfer in.
Lutheran churches. Practice sits between systems and varies by body. Many Lutheran congregations elect a congregation council and do call their own pastor, with the synod or district participating in the process. Read your own constitution; Lutheran congregational constitutions are often closely modelled on a denominational template and are unusually explicit.
Honest question
Would you trust an online vote to decide your community's annual budget?
What Nearly Every Tradition Shares
Whatever the polity, four procedural requirements show up almost everywhere, and defects in them account for most disputed church decisions.
Notice. A called meeting requires advance notice, usually announced publicly and often on two consecutive Sundays, and frequently in writing as well. Notice defects are the single most common reason a church decision gets reopened.
A defined electorate. Whoever votes, the list of who may vote has to be settled before the vote rather than during it. Membership rolls that have not been reviewed in a decade are the practical version of this problem, and they matter because quorum and percentage thresholds are usually calculated from the roll. A church whose bylaws require two-thirds of the membership rather than of those present may be arithmetically unable to pass anything.
A stated motion. The exact words being voted on, stated before the vote and recorded after it. "We voted to move forward with the building" is not a record.
A ballot for anything contested. Written and secret, with tellers, for pastoral calls, officer elections, and anything close. This is not squeamishness; it lets people vote honestly without their neighbours watching.
Where Online Voting Fits, and Where It Does Not
Churches across every tradition now run some votes electronically, most often to reach homebound and elderly members, members who work Sundays, students, and military families.
Two rules of thumb:
Check whether your documents contemplate it at all. Many church constitutions assume voting in person, on the theology that the gathered body acts together. If yours does not authorize absentee or electronic ballots, adding them requires an amendment first — not an announcement that this year we are trying something new. In connectional traditions the denominational book may also speak to it.
Do not lose the meeting. The strongest objection to online-only voting in congregational polity is a good one: the meeting is where members hear one another, and a ballot emailed to people who never gathered is not congregational deliberation. Churches that do this well hold the meeting and open the ballot to those who genuinely cannot attend.
Practical mechanics, including secrecy and recording the result in the minutes, are in how to hold a church vote and the church board election process.
FAQ
Q: What are the three types of church government?
Congregational, where the gathered members decide; presbyterian, where elected elders govern in graded assemblies; and episcopal, where authority flows through bishops. Most American churches fall into one of the three, and it determines who votes on what.
Q: Do church members vote for their pastor?
It depends entirely on polity. Congregational churches call their own pastor by a members' vote. Presbyterian congregations vote to call, subject to presbytery concurrence. United Methodist, Catholic, Episcopal and Orthodox congregations do not vote on who their clergy will be — clergy are appointed or assigned, though Episcopal vestries conduct a rector search with the bishop's consent.
Q: Who can vote in a church business meeting?
Members in good standing, as defined by your constitution and bylaws, and in connectional traditions by the denominational book as well. Age minimums, attendance requirements, and whether presence is required all vary.
Q: What does a church council or vestry actually decide?
It varies by tradition. A congregational church's board usually administers what the congregation has decided. A presbyterian session governs. A Catholic parish council is consultative. An Episcopal vestry holds real temporal authority and elects wardens.
Q: Is the pastor a voting member of the church council?
Usually yes where the pastor is a member of the church, and many churches have a custom or rule of abstaining on matters concerning the pastor's own salary, tenure or family. In connectional traditions the pastor often chairs the body by office.
Q: What is the difference between deacons and trustees?
In many congregational churches deacons hold a spiritual and servant office while trustees hold a legal office that signs deeds and represents the corporation. Some churches combine them. Check the articles of incorporation, since state law often requires trustees to exist.
Q: Can a church vote electronically?
Only if the governing documents allow it, and in connectional traditions only if the denominational book does too. Churches that want remote participation normally amend the constitution first, then run the ballot.
Q: What if our bylaws contradict our denomination's book of order?
Get advice, quickly. In connectional traditions the denominational standard usually prevails on matters it covers, and civil courts generally defer to a hierarchical church's own determinations on questions of governance and doctrine. This is a question for counsel familiar with your tradition.
The Bottom Line
Ask what kind of church you are before you ask how to run the vote. The answer determines whether the congregation is deciding, advising, or electing the people who will decide — and every procedural question after that follows from it.
Then do the four things every tradition shares: give real notice, settle who may vote before the vote, state the motion in the words being voted on, and take a secret ballot on anything that matters.
Where your documents allow members who cannot attend to participate, vote.direct sends each member on your roll a private ballot, keeps identity separable from choice, and returns a timestamped tally for the minutes. Church votes start at $4.99 and cover up to 50 members.
Working out whether your documents permit what you are planning? Call or text (512) 222-8191, or email [email protected] with the clause. We will read it with you, and we will tell you when the answer is no.
This article is general information, not legal advice. We recommend you do your own research and confirm anything you plan to act on. Where this article states law, the section is cited so you can read the primary source yourself rather than take our word for it — that is what the citations are for. Election requirements also turn on your own governing documents, which we have not seen, and statutes are amended. For advice about your community, consult a qualified attorney licensed in your state.
We work hard to verify every citation against the primary source, but laws change and errors happen. If you spot an inaccuracy, email [email protected] and we will correct it. See our editorial standards for how these pages are researched and checked.
