New Testament Church Governance

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The following article was originally written by the then Senior Pastor of Clayton Church of Christ, David Brownless, in April 2003. At the time, the church had established a Rules Review Committee to help develop a new governance structure for the church. The following reproduction is timely given 2015 has been a tumultuous year for the church in relation to a number of governance issues. In a number of areas, I have also edited the text to enhance readability whilst retaining the original meaning.

Introduction

I feel quite reluctant to write this paper for a number of reasons. The fact is that the New Testament provided limited information on any universal form of church governance. Indeed it is my (David Brownless) opinion that what we can see in the New Testament is an evolving system of church governance which was still evolving up until the close of the “Canon” of Scripture in the fourth century AD, and which has continued to evolve into many different forms across the Christian Church ever since. Nevertheless we do need to try discerning as many broad principles as possible from Scripture.

I need to start by making a few general statements to set the context:

  1. Jesus left no system for the governance of the church. If Jesus was explicit in the delineation of roles and responsibilities amongst the disciples/apostles, the Gospels make no mention of this.
  2. The early church was Jewish; therefore the cultural and social norms of the day did effect how it structured itself.
  3. Nearly all that we know about church governance comes from the pen of the Apostle Paul whose letters were written to individual churches and not intended for universal distribution.. Peter whose letters were addressed to the Jewish “Diaspora” has a few points. Luke the author of Acts and associate of Paul adds a few interesting observations.
  4. Little is said about how the various officers mentioned carried out their duties.
  5. It is highly unlikely that the New Testament church knew anything of he democratic processes and culture we take for granted in today’s modern society, which is in itself a product of the last 300-400 years of Western Civilisation.

All the above should be kept in mind lest we become too dogmatic and set our views so hard in concrete that the Holy Spirit cannot guide the Church into the changing world of the 21st century,

The NT Offices

1. Apostles

The Greek word “Apostlos” means “one who is sent”. Jesus chose, ordained (set apart and commissioned) the first twelve to be sent into the world as His ambassadors. (Luke 6:13) The question that arises here is did Christ intend these to be the only Apostles for all time? Certainly the early church did not believe so. 24 people are named as such, including one woman:

  1. Simon Peter (Matthew 10:2)
  2. Andrew, brother of Simon Peter [1] (Matthew 10:2)
  3. James, son of Zebedee (Matthew 10:2)
  4. John, son of Zebedee/brother of James [3] (Matthew 10:2)
  5. Philip (Matthew 10:3)
  6. Bartholomew, brother of Philip [5] (Matthew 10:3)
  7. James, son of Alphaeus (Luke 6:16)
  8. Judas, son of Alphaeus/brother of James [7] (Luke 6:16)
  9. Matthew, son of Alphaeus/perhaps brother to James [7] & Judas [8] (Mark 2:14 & Luke 6:15)
  10. Thomas (Matthew 10:3)
  11. Simon Zelotes, brother of James [7] & Judas [8] according to tradition (Luke 6:15)
  12. Judas Iscariot (Matthew 10:4)
  13. Matthias (Acts 1:26)
  14. Barnabas (1 Corinthians 9:5-6, Acts 13:1-3, Acts 14:4 & Galatians 2:9)
  15. Andronicus (Romans 16:7)
  16. Junia (Romains 16:7)
  17. Apollos (1 Corinthians 4:6-9)
  18. James, the Lord’s brother (Galatians 1:19, Galatians 2:6 & James 1:1)
  19. Silas (1 Thessalonians 1:1 & 1 Thessalonians 2:6)
  20. Timothy (1 Thessalonians 1:1 & 1 Thessalonians 2:6)
  21. Titus (2 Corinthians 8:23)
  22. Epapahroditus (Philippians 2:25)
  23. Paul (Galationas 1:1 & Galatians 2:8)
  24. Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3:1)

Paul lists Apostleship among God’s gifts to the Church in Ephesians 4:11.

The functions of an Apostle were:

  1. Regional leadership. Paul regarded Himself as the Apostle to the Gentiles and Peter as to the Jews (Galatians 2:7-8)
  2. Sorting out local disputes (this seems to have been the purpose of 1 Corinthians)
  3. To be with Him, to preach, to heal, to cast out demons (Mark 3:14-15)
  4. To appoint Elders (Titus 1:5)
  5. To share with the Elders in the general council of the church, making decisions binding on the whole church. (Acts 15 contains five references to Elders and Apostles making up this church council)
  6. Some were itinerate evangelists and church planters, but by no means all.

Generally the role of Apostle ceased at the end of the first century. There are some moves to restore the gift of the Apostles to the church today. There is one movement documented by C. Peter Wagner who writes about a revolution taking place in the Church-an extraordinary work of God that is changing the shape of Christianity around the world. This New Apostolic Reformation is a grassroots phenomenon in which God is raising up alliances of non-denominational churches and leaders worldwide to help fulfill the last awesome push for the Great Commission. Wagner identifies and examines present-day apostolic church networks that are bound together not by doctrine or tradition, but by shared passion for local and worldwide evangelism, energetic worship, fervent prayer and church planting. Book Depository link.

My personal belief is the Church should make use of those God has gifted to lead in this way.

2. Prophets

From the greek word “Prophetes”, is means “One who openly speaks forth, a proclaims of a divine message”. In Old Testament times, prophets seemed to have exercised a strong leadership role in the royal courts and among the people. For example, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Daniel, etc… However, this is not so in the New Testament. The office of Prophet should be distinguished from the words of prophecy (exhortation and encouragement) which all believers may bring through the enablement of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:29-33). The office and gift of Prophets to the church us also seen in Ephesians 4:11.

In the New Testament, only one person other than Jesus was mentioned as being a “Prophet” = Agabus (Acts 11:28 & Acts 21:10). Seeing that the gift is listed as one of the “gift ministries” to the church it does seem a pity that it has been generally neglected through the ages.

3. Evangelist

The greek “Euangelstes” means “A messenger of good news”, and is the result of combining two root words – “angelos” = messenger and “euangelion” = a preacher of the Gospel. Similar to prophets, we should clearly differentiate between the office of an evangelist and the proclamation of the good news or witness which every believer is to be involved in. Refer to Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:19-20. Only one person was identified as an evangelist in the New Testament – Philip (Acts 21:8) and Timothy is urged by Paul to pursue the work of an evangelist.

Generally there were no appointments of Evangelists in the church from the end of the first century until more recently in the 19th century. Though many have taken Paul’s advice and done the work of an evangelist. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries many churches appointed evangelists. Some of these people were powerfully effective but the downside of this was that many Christians then left the work of evangelism exclusively to these appointed people. It is my opinion that there is still some place for the office of evangelist but in the 21st century one-to-one witness seems to be the most effective.

4. Pastors and Teachers

The greek “poison” means “a shepherd, one who tends herds or flocks, not merely one who feeds them. One reference in Ephesians 4:11 is metaphorical of the role “Christian” pastors. Pastors guide as well as feed the flock. The greek word for teacher is “didaskolos” and  the Old Testament equivalent would be “Rabbi”, a title applied to Christ Himself, as well as Nicodemus, Paul, Timothy and various others.

The early church was modelled on a small group/house church movement, where each church met in a home and each had its own Pastor. Confusingly, a number of Elders were also referred to as “overseers”, “bishops” or “pastors” of the Church. The interchangeability of these titles occurs in 1 Peter 5:1-2. Further, in Ephesians 4:11, Paul links Pastors and Teachers together. It is certainly very helpful for a pastor to be a teacher, and as a leader as well, but it is equally obvious that not all pastors possess the gift of teaching and even fewer leadership. However, in this age of multiple staff within a church, it is my belief that this lack of all gifts is not as important, since all gifts should be covered by the team as a whole. The role and position of Pastors seems to have existed in all periods of church history. Though the title “Pastor” has not always been used, modern day titles of equivalence include “priest”, “minister”, “bishop”, “vicar”, “reverend”, etc…

5. Elders

Originating from the greek “presbuteros”, the literal translation is “an older person, used also of persons of senior rank”. The Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament explains it as an adjective, the comparative degree of presbus, and old man, an elder, is used:

  1. of age, whether of the elder of two person, Luke 15:25, or more, John 8:9, “the eldest,” or of a person advanced in life, a senior, Acts 2:17. In Hebrews 2:2, the “elders” are the forefathers in Israel, so in Matthew 15:2 or Mark 7:3-5. The feminine of the adjective is used of elder women in the churches, 1 Timothy 5:2, not in respect of position but in seniority of age.
  2. of range or positions of responsibilities:
    1. among Gentiles, as in the Septuagint of Genesis 50:7; Numbers 22:7
    2. in the Jewish nation:
      1. firstly, those who were the heads or leaders of the tribes and families,a s of the 70 who assisted Moses (Numbers 2:16, Deuteronomy 27:1), and those assembled by Solomon
      2. secondly, members of the Sanhedrin, consisting of the chief priests, elders and scribes, learned in Jewish Law (Matthew 16:21 & Matthew 26:47)
      3. thirdly, those who managed public affairs in the various cities (Luke 7:3)
    3. in the Christian churches, those who, being raised up and qualified by the work of the Holy Spirit, were appointed to have the spiritual care of, and to exercise oversight over the churches. To these the term bishops, episkopoi, or overseers, is applied (Acts 20:17, Acts 20:28, Titus 1:5 and Titus 1:7), the latter term indicating the nature of their work, presbuteroi their maturity of spiritual experience.

The Divine arrangement seen throughout the New Testament was for a plurality of these to be appointed in each church. Refer to Acts 14:23, Acts 20:17, Philippians 1:1, 1 Timothy 5:17 and Titus 1:5.

In the Old Testament leadership by the Elders appeared very early at the time of Moses under the urging of Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, However the dominant leadership which was exercised in the Nation of Israel for almost 1000 years was that of Kings and Prophets. It was not until the inter-testament period from 400BC to the time of Christ that Eldership arose as the dominant leadership in Judaism. During this period, which also was reinforced by the Maccabees (second century BC) local Synagogues were established with each led by Rabbis and local Elders. The national leadership centring on the temple at Jerusalem was also established during this period and consisted of a council made up of the High Priest and Elders. This became known s the Sanhedrin. Although the basic meaning of the word Elder means an older person – male or female – it could also refer to someone who possessed a deep level of spiritual maturity. Many scholars believe that Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin while he was still a young man and that in this capacity he was among those who “approved” the execution of Stephen the first martyr (Acts 7:58 – Acts 8:1). Most importantly, to understand first century Church Eldership requires the we study the government of the Jewish Synagogue and Temple Eldership because the Church arose out of it

In 2 Peter 5:1-2 we have the clearest New Testament description of the role of Elders:

To the elders among you, I appeal s a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve;

This list of gifts is not exhaustive but is included here to illustrate that persons in the church should minister according to their giftedness as given by the Spirit and recognised by the church leadership and not according to gender, custom, or personal desire. Given the variety of  roles outlined, this group of people would needed to share and distribute a wide variety of gifts amongst themselves. Romans 12:8 directed leadership as being able to provide oversight, mercy to be able to exercise pastoral care. Prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:10) to receive and give spiritual insight. Teaching (Ephesians 4:11) to feed the flock. Words of wisdom and knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8) to guide the flock. We also find the Elders mentioned together with the Apostles making up the delegates to the First Universal Church Council meeting at Jerusalem (Acts 15). It is interesting to read this account and see that there had already been, after 20 years, a significant change in the leadership of the church. Jesus appears to have appointed Peter as the first leader of His Church (Matthew 16:18), but by this time Peter seems to have either resigned or been replaced by James, the brother of the Lord, who alone makes the decision about what needed to be done following council’s discussion. Acts 15:19-21.

6. Deacons

The greek word “daikonos” means “a servant, an attendant rendering free service”. The office of a Deacon does not appear in the Old Testament and neither does the New Testament prove a detailed job description. All we have to go on is the title “servant” and a passage in Acts 6:1-7, though the title “diakonos” does not appear in the passage. The passage says that seven men were “chosen” to “wait on tables”, that is to distribute food to the needy Greek widows. However, this could not have been the only task, otherwise deacons would have quickly gone out of existence. The fact that Paul lists strong qualifications for them to serve (1 Timothy 3:8-10) shows that there must have been many responsibilities for Deacons to perform.

There was one reference to a female Deacon in the bible, namely Phoebe in Romans 16:1. This was an interesting fact considering Paul had written to Timothy saying “Deacons should be the husband of one wife.” (1 Timothy 3:12). From the fourth century AD to the late 16th/early 17th century the title “Deacon” and any function as such was reserved to those who served the priests as helpers and a kind of apprenticeship. This practice changed with the emergence of the Ana Baptists, who began to raise the Diaconate to be a leadership body within the church. This apprenticeship model remains in operation in the Anglican and Catholic churches.

Ministry Leadership Evolutions

From what has been described above, it should be obvious that Jesus gave the early church freedom to develop its own patterns of leadership and ministry. Further changes and adaptations were taking place throughout the period. It is interesting to observe that the same cannot be said about matters of faith. There is still “no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus is still the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) There is still, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:5-6.  Indeed, artefacts like the Nicene Creed are testament to the fact that in spite of the evolving leadership and governance structures, the wider community of faith were able to unite in the theology of Christ.

Issues like females in ministry or leadership were largely cultural. This is a huge topic that deserves its own dedicated exploration, so a few points to consider. The role of women throughout society was at the time restricted by many factors, chief of these being custom and education. The early church was Jewish and as such, the Synagogue was the place of religious teaching and, in those days, restricted to boys only. Most girls could not even read or write. There were no female leaders in Judaism since the return from Babylon though there had been before the Exile.In the Greek/Roman world, there was little difference; only a very few among the wealthy educated their daughters. That the church changed its mind about women in leadership may be possible when we consider the Phoebe, who was not the husband of one wife, did become a Deacon, and Juni an Apostle.

Early Church & Democracy

The way in which we understand democracy today makes it highly unlikely that the early church form of democracy and governance are familiar and similar concepts. The first century world knew nothing of popular election. Neither did Judaism, which was governed by hereditary priesthood and an eldership chosen by Elders. Jesus after prayer chose the Apostles. Later the disciples gathered in the Upper Room, Jerusalem to choose a new Apostle to replace Judas Iscariot. The method of decision making was by lot, not by ballot – Acts 1:15. This was probably either drawing straws or by dice since both practices were common in those times. Jesus appointed Paul directly through the Road to Damascus encounter. How the other ten Apostles were chosen remains an unknown. The first missionaries to the Gentiles were chosen by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the Leaders of the church in Antioch. These leaders in this instance were prophets and teachers. How the six in Acts were chosen also remains an unsolvable mystery. We do know from Titus 1:5 that, at least in some cases, Elders were chosen by Apostles.

Does this mean that the democracy we know has no place in the life of the modern church? By no means, we live in a modern democratic society – at least here in Australia. Throughout the bible, both Old and New Testaments we see that when God wanted to do something through His people, He raised up a leader from amongst them. The leader had a significant role in raising up other leaders. Since the whole church membership is not at the same level of spiritual maturity, it would seem that the mature leadership of the Church should always have some right of approval of those nominated for leadership positions.

All “Ministers” but Different Functions

That God called all people to serve is obvious in Scripture, but that all are not equipped for the same tasks is also clear. This is seen clearly in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth – 1 Corinthians 12:27-31:

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire greater gifts.

My appeal is for ministry on the basis of giftedness.

Conclusion

The overwhelming weight of evident in the Scriptures is for local church governance to be in the hands of the Elders. This would normally include the Senior Pastor or Shepherd who should be accountable tot the Eldership, and they in a sense to him – mutual accountability. It is also appropriate to legislate that in some decisions the Elders board be accountable to the membership. I also believe that the church needs other leaders, including deacons some of whom may be heads of various departments. I believer that we need to remain fairly flexible in this structure of governance. We cannot say that every department leader should be a deacon. However, some, especially in the roles of service should be encouraged to fulfil the role of a deacon officially.

The details of how a church implements this governance structure is not so important as the principle of ministry according to the giftedness and efficiency of operations. The benefits of a slimmer more Biblical model help to ensure optimal governance. I believe the proposed Church Rules provide sufficient checks and balances to satisfy most members of the church.