So, I woke up at 4:30am with everything hurting - EEK! Indeed, the trampoline adventure is trying to do me in. I did have a migraine yesterday afternoon, but it was controlled by bedtime. I didn't wake up with a migraine, but everything else hurts. So, I got up, took some meds, did some laundry, and will do dishes as soon as the washer is finished using as much hot water as it is going to (ah, the joys of limited hot water and no dishwasher!).
P has been doing some reading about Biblical eldership and he asked me to read a booklet that he and the rest of the elders were reading. After finishing the booklet, he ordered the book. A little background: our church is an Evangelical Free Church which means that the denomination does not require a certain governing structure for individual churches (from what I understand). Our church is an elder led church. That is, there is a board of elders that provides the spiritual leadership for the church. The Senior Pastor previously has been part of the elder board, along with the pastor of maturity and ministry and the pastor of worship, but was also the "supervisor" (if you will) of the other pastors. The church council provides the administrative leadership - budget, buildings, stuff like that. We are currently without a Senior Pastor, although our pastor to senior high students is the candidate for whom we will be voting next week. So, the elders have recently been discussing eldership and church leadership.
The booklet to which I am referring is Biblical Eldership by Alexander Strauch. Here are some of the points which he makes:
1. Biblical eldership is pastoral leadership. Elders are not executives of a church nor are they assistants to the pastors. They are to protect the flock (congregation) from false teaching (Acts 20:17,28-31). They are also to be able to teach (feed the flock) (1 Tim. 3:2). Elders are to lead the flock. They bear responsibility for the church's practical needs (James 5:14 tells the congregation to call the elders to pray for those who are ill) including praying for the members, visiting those who are ill, providing counsel to those who need it. Elders work hard and sacrifice. Strauch takes the modern church members to task on this point: he argues that people are willing to let others be responsible for their spiritual needs instead of being committed to becoming true disciples of Jesus.
2. Biblical eldership is shared leadership. This is an interesting concept for those of us reared in the modern American church. Strauch argues that leadership of the church belongs to a group of elders, not just to the paid staff. In fact, the paid staff are those who are "uniquely gifted at preaching and teaching." Strauch also argues for "first-among-equals" leadership. That is, elders who are gifted at leading may be the ones that stand out and are the "up front" leaders. But, this is not to take away the leadership of the full group of elders. Strauch uses the examples of Peter among the disciples and Paul and Barnabas as examples of "first-among-equals" leadership. The elders who do most of the teaching and preaching are not superior to the rest of the elders.
3. Elders are to be male. Although there is a little voice inside that tries to tell me that this is sexist, it is clear from Scripture that it is biblical. There are examples in the New Testament of women acting in the role of deacon (although some will argue that deacons should be men, as well), there are no examples of women as elders. Strauch points out that, as men should be the spiritual head at home, they should be the spiritual leaders of the local church.
4. Elders are to be qualified. There are a number of places in the New Testament in which Paul discusses the requirements to be an elder. While an elder does not have to have a seminary education, he must be well-grounded in Scripture. The office of elder is not something that is earned by lots of years going to church. Spiritual depth and true discipleship are required.
5. Elders must have excellent moral and spiritual character. An elder is to be "above reproach". Elders are to be self-controlled. An elder must not be a new believer - he must have been a Christian for long enough to develop some maturity. (Besides, Satan loves to attack church leadership. Elders need maturity to repel such attacks. This is my comment, not Strauch's.)
6. Elders must possess three requirements.
a. Able to manage his family and household. I know that some churches require that an elder's children all be believers (Titus 1:6). Does that mean that a man can't be an elder until his children are all old enough to be believers? I don't know and Strauch doesn't bring this up.
b. Able to provide a model for others to follow. I think this falls under excellent moral and spiritual character.
c. Able to teach and defend the faith.
7. Elders must have Spirit-given motivation for the task. 1 Tim. 3:1 says that it is a good thing for a man to aspire to be an elder. Men who are elders must be called by God. "Shepherding God's people through this sin-weary world is far too difficult a task - fraught with too many problems, dangers, and demands - to be entrusted to someone who lacks the will and desire to do the work effectively." (Strauch, p.26)
Strauch spends some time discussing the importance of servant leadership of elders. He then finishes the booklet with Scriptural evidence for the pastoral leadership by a plurality of elders. Basically, he argues that the local church should be led by a group of elders, among whom are the "pastors". In some churches with this model of leadership, the "pastor" is not called Pastor or Senior Pastor, but Lead Pastor or Teaching Elder.
So, I'm interested in seeing what others think about this. Is this model of leadership THE way to govern a local church, or is it just one of several viable models? How do other churches handle leadership? I'm also curious what people think about an elder having to have believing children. And, what about the "husband of one wife" requirement - does this mean an elder can have never been divorced, have never been divorced since he became a Christian, or just not be a polygamist?
Strauch makes some excellent points and they are well-supported.
Well, I think the dishes are calling to be washed. Better get going. I'm sure I'm going to need to nap this afternoon, so I'd better get done what I can now!
3 comments:
In regards to your questions:
1) Should it be a requirement for an elder's child(ren) to accept Christ before being appointed? Our response is no----why should a parent be held responsible for an individual's free will. God doesn't force anyone to accept His son as their Savior---it's all part of the free will He gives us. You can't control every little thing a person does, especially when it comes to salvation. We think it's more important to look at a person's godly character, possibly their testimony and things of that nature rather than the "exterior surface".
2)And about the "one wife requirement"---well, you can imagine how we feel about this one. We think that Paul is referring to polygamy in that scripture simply because back during those days, polygamy was being practiced regularly. Again, we don't think God is wanting to "punish" someone just because they've been divorced. If for example adultry has been committed, how can the one spouse (who didn't commit the adultry) be held responsible for the other spouses actions? Simple----they shouldn't. You can't control what another person is doing because again, it's all part of our free will. A spouse could do everything possible to make a marriage work and it still falls apart if the other spouse isn't willing to work at it.
3)What about women as leaders of the church: We feel that scripture makes it clear that the spiritual leader of the household is the man so therefore the spiritual leader of the church (Senior Pastor or whatever you want to call him) should be a male. Everyone else, can be female. We go to a Southern Baptist church and have a female ordained minister on staff (very good friend of ours). The thing to remember about the male/female leadership is the culture that was present back during Biblical times. I'm not a scholar on this subject (although W is and could surely provide much more info). But from what we understand, women during Biblical times weren't the spiritual head of anything but held other important spiritual roles, as demonstrated by Jesus' teachings and actions. That's why we feel the spiritual head should be male but any of the other important spiritual roles could be held by a female.
4)Church leadership: Our main question is "What process does your church go through to elect the elders?" That's really an important factor when considering the responsibilities of church leadership, specifically elders or deacons. The congregation is ultimately responsible for keeping the pastor, church, elders, and all church members in-line with Christ's principles and teachings. The elders should be a representative of the congregation and voted/approved by the congregation. K grew up in a church where this was not the case (they were appointed by the Senior Pastor) and 20 years later, the church is reaping the "rewards" of a church that is agenda-driven by the Senior Pastor (now called the Senior Teacher). The church is totally deviating from its founding principles (K's grandparents help found the church years ago).
Excellent points. It's clear you've thought about this issue. I have some comments:
1. Titus 1:6-7 states: "An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient." We have to deal with this verse when considering elders. If their children are too young to believe but the man still meets the requirements for elder, should be be appointed. If they have children who are old enough to believe, but choose not to, then there is a question of the man's influence on his family. Certainly, if the children are "wild and disobedient" there is concern about the elder's ability to manage his family. I also read this that elders should be evaluated on how they manage their families at home - I don't think there is any evidence to say that a man cannot be an elder because of the choices that his adult children make.
2. Absolutely. Paul is referring to a man not being a polygamist - not an unheard of practice in those days!
3. Women as leaders is such a difficult concept. 1 Cor 14:35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 1 Tim 2:12-13
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. I have always thought of these verses as being culturally based - that is, we are not bound to every detail because we live in a completely different culture. But, how do we know? There are really smart people who have studied this, some of whom interpret it literally, others culturally. EEK! It is possible to have a woman in a paid position in a church who is not an elder. From what I can tell, elders should be men.
And, here's something to just make you shake your head in dismay: 1 Cor 11:5-7 "And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head-it is just as though her head were shaved. 6 If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head." So, does this mean that women should wear head coverings (as some churches teach)? Does it mean that we should not cut our hair (as some churches teach)? Is it an instruction for women to be modest - in appearance and action? I just don't know. BTW, my lack of cutting my hair lately is not because of conviction by the passage, but because I'm trying to economize and just have a friend trim the ends!!
4. I'm not sure that I agree with the concept that the congregation is responsible for the church staff and elders. Scripture seems to say that the elders are responsible for the church. What is more confusing is that Paul tells Titus to appoint elders - and doesn't mention anything about the congregation's role: Titus 1:5
"The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you." This is a new idea for me since I grew up Southern Baptist in churches with congregational style governance. That being said, having just one elder (the pastor or whomever) choose the other elders is dangerous. After all, we are all sinful people and this really tempts someone to consolidate power. I'm still not sure what I think about how elders are to be chosen - probably a good way to be Scriptural and stay out of trouble is to have the elders choose new elders, but have them approved by the congregation.
Whew! This stuff is deep and hard to think about. And, I may be wrong. This is just my thinking based on what I've been reading lately. BTW, just because our church is going through this process, I have no expectation that the rest of the Christian world will be convicted to re-evaluate their church structure right now - i.e. just because the Holy Spirit is working in me and our church about this issue, I have no expectation that it's an issue for others. So, I'm interested in what people think, but I'm not trying to convince anyone to change anything.
Blessings
Wow. We have a lot in common!
These are some issues I struggle with as well.
I have always attended elder-led congregations, although each church has varied slightly on how exactly that is handled out (how elders are chosen, duties, whether or not they serve terms or indefinitely, etc.)
I'm like you. There's a part of me that wants to rebel against church leaders being male, but I have never found an argument against it that I felt aligned with scripture (and goodness knows I've tried).
I wish I had more time to comment, because each of the issues you've raised has come up in at least one of the churches I've belonged to (only four, due to moves - I didn't want to make it sound as if we change churches regularly).
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