Your primary job is to guide the process (not content) of conversations that take place on the floor of the classis meeting and, secondarily, to promote engagement in all of the meeting delegates. Classis meetings are designed to be deliberative in nature rather than representative, and you are a key player in ensuring that ethos for classis meetings. 

Guidelines: 

1. The classis meeting agenda from the previous meeting of your classis, archived by your classis' stated clerk, will be a good starting point or roadmap for your work.
2. Your respect for the process and your deference to each of the delegates will set a helpful tone for the meeting. 
3. You focus on the sequence of steps in each classis meeting conversation, so delegates can focus on the content of the conversation. While you don’t need to be a master of Robert’s Rules, you do need to know enough to keep distractions from the conversation to a minimum. 
4. Aim your guidance at the once-in-a-lifetime delegate. How can you help him or her to participate in a meaningful way? What are ways to build engagement between classis delegates and those presenting on the floor of classis?
5. Efficiency is both a blessing and a curse. Consider carefully which agenda items will be blessed by efficiency, which ones cursed by efficiency. 
6. Set a good tempo for the meeting, one that gives delegates the ability to remain fresh throughout the meeting. When you call breaks, do so by naming a specific return time (“resuming at 10:05” not “in 10 minutes”).
7. At the beginning of the meeting introduce all of the guests at the meeting, and identify their reason for attending. This small step builds trust within the group.
8. You are not leading alone. You have support people (see The Chairperson’s Team).