Newton and Matt Schmucker, Elders in the Life of the Church: Rediscovering the Biblical Model of Church Leadership, rev. However, one is hard pressed to find this kind of organization of the church in the New Testament.
Results
My guess was that the foundation of the church was made up of lifelong Southern Baptists. A second useful series of questions in the personal experience section of the COS concerned participants' understanding of local church governance. This self-rating was compared to the biblical knowledge section of the COS to determine whether participants were adequately assessing their knowledge of elders and deacons.
Second, the figures indicating a greater understanding of the GBC's government must be understood in light of that of the congregation. Third, most of the participants felt that they have a strong understanding of both church government in. The second part of the COS presented a series of questions on a Likert scale related to the participant's biblical knowledge of elders and deacons.
Results
One such teaching approach was the use of a Baptist history quiz for lesson 6, and one reviewer pointed out the possibility that this quiz would be too difficult for the average Baptist. A second criticism was that the early chapters dealt with the concept of an "age-related issue" without defining what age-related issues were. However, this was more difficult to correct as the flow of the curriculum gradually revealed the nature and roles of elders in the church.
I didn't think it was practical to avoid mentioning the reality of age-related issues until those issues were fully addressed.
Results
Six active deacons attended each session with the exception of one deacon who was unable to attend session 2 and one deacon who was unable to attend session 5. This curriculum was designed to increase awareness and knowledge among the congregation of the biblical ministry of elders. This introductory material has been designed to help open the door to the possibility of transitioning through an initial awareness of biblical eldership.
The last session was titled “Baptists and Elders?” and had the main objective of revealing the historical presence of plural elders among the early Baptist churches. The success of this third objective was measured by entering the pre- and post-course total score scores into a t-test for the dependent samples formula. The average score rose from 80.3 to 100.2 and as a result of these findings the third goal was deemed successful.
Results
The flow of the ministry plan would be conditioned by finding unity in each setting to move on to the next group of people. The panel used a rubric to assess the content, scope, resources and implementation of the ministry's plan (see appendix 4). The evaluators did not have a strong understanding of how the church's resources or constraints applied to this draft ministry plan.
Thus, the purpose of the project was changed to develop a ministry plan to effectively make the transition, a process which will take many years to complete. In cohesion with the project goal, the project goals were appropriate for the development of a ministry plan and were effective. The project included four goals: (1) assessing knowledge of the biblical offices of elders and deacons among GBC members;. 2) conduct a six-session study on the roles and functions of elders; (3) increase knowledge among six ordained deacons in a small group setting; and (4) develop a ministry plan for GBC to transition to a plurality of elders.
Assess Knowledge
Fourth, the biblical data supports two separate offices in the local church, and the GBC would benefit from aligning her structure as closely as possible to the biblical model. After describing the qualifications for elders and deacons, Paul says, "I am writing these things to you, so that, if I delay, you may know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar of truth and support" (1 Tim 3,14-15). These first reasons for pursuing biblical eldership provided a strong basis for moving forward with the project.
The study confirmed my suspicion that the congregation did not have a strong understanding of the biblical offices, but also served as an encouragement, noting the church's high view of Scripture to provide guidance in leadership structure. A church member spoke to me after completing the survey to ask about the timing of future training as she was largely unable to provide informed answers. After the survey was administered, I was prepared for a potential push-back among church members who might not like the implications of such a survey.
Course Development and Evaluation
I wanted the curriculum to be broad enough to cover the scope of the project, but short enough to hold the attention of the participants. However, I was pleased with the flow of the curriculum and believe it was put in the best order possible. I had an initial concern that a potential weakness of the review process would be that the reviewers might not understand the intent of the curriculum as the first step in a multifaceted approach to transitioning the GBC to biblical aging.
Thus, in my opening remarks to the expert panel, I explained the nature of the course and indicated that this initial educational phase of the transition plan would be followed by a more detailed and robust study. Each reviewer also received a copy of the rubric and instructions for evaluating the lessons. Comments from the evaluation process, along with the actual teaching of the material, provided the necessary feedback for positive course revisions.
Teaching the Course
In addition to the group discussions and feedback that I personally received, the pre- and post-course surveys were a useful tool to measure the effectiveness of the. I was encouraged to see significant increases for specific questions, indicating a positive impact through the curriculum and a growing knowledge of parenting. All of these questions show significant increases in the participants' understanding of both the nature of a deacon and the role of a deacon, indicating that the sessions on titles and qualifications as well as the sessions on roles and functions were effective.
The questions that did not receive significant increases related to the sufficiency of the Bible to provide guidance on the structure of the church, as pre-course survey results were high on these questions, implying the goal COS results 1 confirmed.
Ministry Plan Development
Another strength of the project was the insight gained into the congregation's high view of the Bible and their areas where growth in knowledge of church governance is needed. This, in turn, demonstrates the willingness of the congregation to be taught and corrected by the Bible in the areas of church leadership. A third strength of the project was the educational awareness of the deacons who participated in the six-week study.
A fourth strength of the project was the reminder for me to lead with pastoral patience. The main weakness that affected some aspects of the project was the time management of the project goals. At the beginning of the survey I included some fill-in-the-blank questions to help with evaluation.
Would Do Differently
Congregational ruled, Deacon led
Congregational ruled, Pastor led
Congregational ruled, Pastor and Deacon led
Deacon ruled
Pastor ruled
Pastor and Deacon ruled
Long-standing questions and concerns regarding the salvation of the Gentiles precipitated the meeting of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. That the elders worked so closely with the apostles on the most important doctrinal issues shows the importance of the authority of the elders in the early church. In this line, Luke uses the same word for "elder" in Acts 14, but it is used to describe the older age of the prodigal son's brother.
Of the sixty-six uses of the word "elder" in the New Testament, twenty are used to refer to the leadership of the Christian church. Conclusion: The book of Acts provides a history of the church and describes Paul's act of establishing a plural eldership in his missionary journeys. The term "pastor" is a translation of the Greek word noun and appears only once in the New Testament.
Peter 5:1-2
And he gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers…” The word “shepherds” is sometimes translated as “shepherds”. However, there is a verb form of the word poimen (dupnik), which helps us understand how the role of the pastor was connected to the role of the elder. The earliest history of the church shows how the terms were understood. This creates a distinction between the office of elder and the office of deacon, indicating two offices in the structure of the church.
We cannot fully define elders without understanding who they are and what they do—qualifications help us with both of these things. A quick overview of these qualifications will give us a sense of the importance of the office. Do you think GBC deacons have fulfilled any of the duties you just listed?
Peter 5:1-5
When the book is finished, the deacons will reassess whether they feel comfortable engaging the congregation. At this meeting, a modified version of the invitation to work through the elderly curriculum is issued. At the end of the six weeks, a final session will be held to engage in dialogue with management.
Congregational Awareness: The congregation will be made aware of the possible transition to biblical eldership through a "fireside chat." A Fireside Chat is a tool. Once again, a slightly modified version of the deacon's initial awareness script will be presented to the congregation. After the end of the second semester of the Academy, a six-week sermon series will be held for seniors.
