At some point in your life, you will likely be asked to run a meeting. This may be for your Girl Scout or Trail Life troop, your student government body, a neighborhood association, or a board. Perhaps you manage an online discussion forum or serve on your local borough council. In the church, you may need to run (or chair) your annual congregational meeting, or the monthly deacon board meeting. If you are an elder, you may have opportunity to run (or moderate) your local session meeting, a presbytery meeting, or even Synod.

As the moderator, your job is to facilitate the interaction of the group as a whole. You are there not to impose your will on the body but rather to serve the group and make sure those who want to speak are heard. With larger, more formal bodies such as the United States Congress, the Canadian or British House of Commons, and, to a lesser extent, Reformed Presbyterian presbyteries and synods, parliamentary rules are followed closely. Such rules are necessary for, without them, public meetings can end in chaos. It was just that situation that led the engineering army officer, Henry Robert, to develop a set of guidelines for public meetings, as his first attempt at running a meeting was a disaster. In 1876 he published what has become known as Robert’s Rules of Order, which is now the standard for public meetings in the United States. The goal is to make sure that the minority is heard but the majority wins.

You don’t need to master Robert’s Rules to be an effective moderator. You do need to know some basic principles, such as how motions are made and perhaps amended, and what motions take precedence; but most deliberative bodies have parliamentarians available to give assistance, counsel, and leadership if you need help when discussions get bogged down. Much of what is useful to know can be learned simply by attending public meetings and watching how the procedures work. When your presbytery is meeting nearby, go for an afternoon or evening. Not only will you learn things about what’s happening in the churches in your presbytery, you’ll also pick up some pointers about how to run a meeting.

The moderator of presbytery or Synod is chosen from among the elders present. He is expected to run the meeting so the needed business gets done in an efficient and effective manner. To that end, a moderator needs to be fair and flexible, yet firm. When a matter is before a presbytery or synod, often two sides or perspectives exist and so debate commences. Both sides want to be heard. They need to take turns. The moderator is there to be sure this happens. He recognizes members of the assembly who want to speak, and they may speak only after being given permission. The moderator should be sure that speakers alternate between those in favor of the motion being debated and those opposed. That’s fair. When there is no further need for debate, the moderator calls for the vote.

Occasionally during debate, some speakers may become intemperate. Anger sometimes flares up, and things are stated that ought not to be said. Moderators moderate such behavior. They may need to caution a speaker. Or perhaps a speaker strays from the topic at hand. The moderator will need to remind him to speak to the motion. Here is where firmness is required. But such encouragements also call for gentleness, kindness, and patience.

Sometimes a moderator’s decision might be challenged. Maybe he ruled someone’s motion out of order—that what was being suggested at the moment was not proper. A moderator should never take a challenge personally. He’s there to serve the body. If a decision needs to be revisited or changed, that’s okay. Moderators make mistakes. No moderator should take himself too seriously, but instead maintain his sense of humor. That goes a long way to sustaining rapport and keeping things lighter, even when the matters at hand are serious.

You can be an effective moderator. Even if only somewhat knowledgeable about procedure, be always impartial, fair, and firm. Finally, take a cue from the popular musical Hamilton, and “talk less, smile more.”