He speaks from his own sad experience. After the flap was finally settled, the vote on his raise came up, and was defeated. Local church officials said such contentious meetings are rare, to the extent that no pastors or other officials in Amarillo could even recall the levels of dissension Erich and Morphew described. They suggested several reasons for the change. Older forms of church government, involving the entire congregation, are disappearing as memberships grow.
Some churches have separate sessions for business, congregation and pastoral functions.
And in some churches, the pastor has such established authority that he can guide a meeting virtually without resistance. And, Sylvester said, consequences of annual meeting conflicts, when they do occur, are sometimes amusing, rather than serious, as illustrated by an anecdote he recalled that grew out of dissent at a church's annual budget meeting. This was at a typical budget meeting, where a lady opposed a decision of the church at large, and it led to a church split. She had a sign painted, placed where members would see it on their way to the church. She called a sign painter and told him what she wanted and where to put the sign.