According to Presbyterianism, the church is composed of God's people in the Old and New Testaments. He confirmed his decision in the weeks leading up to teaching the curriculum.
General Church Polity
For that reason, the discussion part of the class invited the participants to share their insights and experiences from their different church backgrounds.
Calvary Church Polity
During the class discussion section, an elder referred to Calvary's Constitution and Bylaws, stating that Calvary is, in fact, a "corporation." He added: “As such, Calvary must be governed by a board of directors, none of whom may be on staff at Calvary. If a Calvary employee takes a position on the board, it would create a serious conflict of interest.” These comments provided an opportunity to do more research in preparation for future classes.
The Terms Elder, Overseer, and Pastor
The Roles and Functions of Elder/Overseer/Pastor according
Another goal is "mature manhood" or literally "mature man." The third goal builds on mature manhood by emphasizing growth to "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." The ultimate goal, then, is perfect Christlikeness. During a class discussion, one of the elders commented that if the elders at Calvary are faithful to their duties of teaching, governing, and shepherding, then the church is doing well. At this point in the discussion, I presented the class with an article titled “What is the Nature of Pastoral Authority? – the Presbyterian view”. The article was written by Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The pastor's authority in Presbyterian polity is an authority shared by all the elders and exercised jointly through the session and other courts of the church. The nature of the pastor's formal authority is simply this: he has a voice and voice in each of these courts. These churches include Grace Community Church, led by John MacArthur; Bethlehem Church, formerly pastored by John Piper; Capitol Hill Church led by Pastor Mark Dever; and PCA.9 Objective.
Presbyterian Polity—
I commented that in Presbyterianism a general distinction is made between "teaching elders" and "ruling elders." Ruling elders often function as a church board, while pastors serve as directors of ministry programs.10 To counter this position, I argued that all elders should be able to teach as well as exercise leadership in the church (1 Tim 3:4-5).11 Moreover, Ephesians 4:11 presented evidence that “pastors and teachers” are two aspects of a single office of pastoral leadership.”12. However, Calvary Church policy proposes a clear distinction between teaching elders and ruling elders. While it is not wrong to have paid and unpaid elders in the church, it is not wise to have unequal authority in the church by creating a separate office.13 To conclude session 5, I argued that "pastor" is not an office special from the old man. .
Finn, "The Rule of Elders: The Presbyterian Angle on Church Leadership," in Shepherding God's Flock: Biblical Leadership in the New Testament and Beyond, ed. The discussion section of this class began with one of the elders referring to the Calvary Constitution. The elder read: "The government of the church, the conduct of its business, the administration of all its property, real and personal, the distribution of all funds, the supervision of its general work, its organizations, its ministries, and the affairs of branches. under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Session will be held." In other words, he was suggesting that although the Session is not compromised by staff pastors, it is still led by the Holy Spirit.
A Plea for Change and a Call for Unity
At the end of the session, the remaining questions were: (1) Are pastors at Calvary Church elders?; (2) If ministers are elders, why are they not in session? Perhaps some of the elders in the class would be open to extending this idea to the entire Session. All who lead Calvary recognize that the health of the Church depends heavily on the unity of the men serving on Session.
In doing so, this project also helped them not only gain biblical knowledge of the office of elder/pastor, but also a better understanding of Calvary's polity. Assessing the project's objectives served as a criterion for determining the success of the project. The success of the project was evaluated against three goals: (1) to assess current pastors and elders on their general understanding and core beliefs regarding church leadership and polity; (2) develop a curriculum for training leaders in a biblical church system; and (3) teach the curriculum to the current governing body of Calvary to enhance their knowledge of the leadership roles and polity of the Church.
Assess the Pastors and Elders
The goal of the project to help students gain a biblical understanding of church law was thus successfully achieved. Key components of this project included assessing leadership's understanding of canon law, developing and teaching the Understanding Canon Law curriculum, and measuring the change in knowledge after the curriculum was implemented. In total, 18 men participated in the survey, representing 41 percent of the leadership team, which consists of pastors, elders and deacons.
In the pre-class survey, 8 of the 25 survey items yielded a mean score of 3.00 or higher (agree or strongly agree; see Table 1). In the pre-class survey, three of the survey items projected a mean score below 2.00. While the survey responses confirmed that the class participants had some understanding of the roles and functions of the elder/pastor and some knowledge of Calvary's management, responses to other survey items showed significant misconceptions regarding some of the topics to be addressed in the curriculum (see table 3).
Develop the Curriculum
Teach the Curriculum
Pastors and elders must share responsibility for teaching and governing in the church." The average score increased by .67. Furthermore, their comments provided much-needed qualitative information that was missed in the Church Overseer Assessment. In the class then were men who had the authority to make changes to Calvary's Constitution.
First, apart from the instructor, there were no pastors in the Understanding Church Law class. Nevertheless, all the pastors who were aware of the project unanimously agreed that (1) pastors at Calvary Church are not elders and (2) pastors should be included as voting members in the Session. The survey used in the project included twenty-five, four-point Likert scale questions and two multiple-choice questions.
Would Do Differently
September 21, 2022
There is therefore important evidence in the Bible that elders were widespread in the early church. 14. All these are the duties and responsibilities that a shepherd has for his flock.25 Richard confirms: “In this case the term (poimanate) seems to have a general meaning and presupposes the whole activity of those in positions. Paul's solemn admonition to the elders in this passage is in anticipation of what he sees soon to happen in the church -.
Because of the relatively few pagans in the church, the term was not commonly used. Only in two places in Scripture are elders directly addressed (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 5:2), and in each of these accounts they are assigned to shepherd the flock of God.46 The importance of the elders in the early church were seen in this responsibility. Paul's letter to the Ephesians provides the clear concept of unity in diversity in the church as the body of Christ.
September 28, 2022
To serve as overseers” (episkocountes) indicates another task of the elders; namely supervision of the church and. All offices are vital, and all contribute to the overall strength of the church.64 Churches therefore depend on faithful men to oversee and guide them to be strong, healthy. If the three persons of the Trinity are so committed to the welfare of the people, shouldn't we also be?"67.
The first goal is unity in faith and knowledge, which is defined as a common faith and knowledge of the Son of God.68 Paul clearly teaches that there is a unified and correct understanding of Christ and the central components of faith.69 Certainly, Christians should be united in the biblical truths that . The third goal builds on mature manhood by emphasizing growth to "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." The ultimate goal, then, is perfect Christlikeness.80 By emphasizing that the body of Christ must grow to maturity, Paul wants his readers to think about a church that would eventually reach the full height of Christ.81 This growth is necessary to resist the forces , which threaten the health and effectiveness of the church. Again, full maturity is characterized by the "unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God" and is achieved by accepting the various offices that he enumerates.82.
October 5, 2022
The decisions of the council of elders are authoritative regardless of the consensus of the church as a whole.84 In any case, the congregation elects the elders at the meeting.85. Allison, Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church, Foundations of Evangelical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway. Although this could refer to two types of gifted people, it is likely that Paul is speaking of two characteristics of the same person who is shepherd and teaching believers.
Certainly, Scripture indicates that overseers or elders must be able to teach (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:9).96 John Pohill agrees that the structure of the Greek suggests that pastors ("shepherds") and teachers appoint a single group of leaders who are responsible for teaching.97 MacArthur concludes: “Although. For the apostle Paul, teaching is of great importance, as it is a key function of the leader of the church. 103. Newton and Matt Schmucker, Elders in the Life of the Church: Rediscovering the Biblical Model for Church Leadership, 9 Marks (Grand Rapids: Kregel.
October 12, 2022
Bavinck adds: “The church as a community of saints is not autonomous; it is not free to decide whether or not it will organize itself or organize itself in this or that way, but is also bound in this respect by the Word of God and finds there the stated principles and lines it must follow in the government of his affairs.”118. Although the church has leaders, it is primarily a community in which there is equality of grace and discipleship.130 So the overarching ethics of any church leadership team must be mutual. Thompson, The Church According to Paul: Rediscovering the Community Conformed to Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker.
The Rule of Elders: A Presbyterian View of Church Leadership.” In Shepherding God's Flock: Biblical Leadership in the New Testament and Beyond, edited by Benjamin L. What is Congregational Polity?” In Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church Polity, edited by Daniel L. The Presbytery-Led Church: Presbyterian Church Government.” In Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church Polity, edited by Daniel L.
