Pattern of Church Organization

Ephesians 5:23 and Colossians 1:18 are two of the many passages that declare that Jesus is the Head of the universal body of Christ, the church.
While Christ stands as the Head, there is a great organizational structure He has ordained in the church which functions under Christ's authority(Colossians 3:17).
In Christianity today, many structures have been created which usually leads to confusion. However, Christianity has a specific pattern that must be followed if the church is to remain the one true body of Christ universally and locally (2Timothy 1:13).
In terms of leadership, God ordained that every local church be governed by elders (1Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9)
The New Testament uses three Greek words to describe these men who are to lead the local church

1. Presbuteros (Elder). It means an older man. The dignity of the work requires older, wiser, experienced men. A young person cannot be an elder according to the Bible!
2. Episkopos (Overseer). After the 2nd Century, these overseers were called Bishops. They are to perform the work of oversight over every soul.
3. Poimen (Shepherd or Pastor): This describes their work as those who are to feed the flock! Ephesians 4:11; 1Peter 2:25.

▪Note that Elder=Overseer=Pastor=Bishop. These terms refer to the same office. They are not separate positions to be filled in the church. They only describe the work they are to do.
Pay special attention to Acts 20:17-30.
Particularly verse 28 says " Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (EPISKOPOS), to feed (POIMEN) the church of God..."

Also, there are no titles such as Pope, Parish Priests, Archbishop, Reverend, Senior Apostle, etc in the Scripture. They were all coined by men and that's dangerous to the church!
The work of overseeing, feeding, shepherding, pastoring a congregation is given to elders. It is not given to any other individual or group of persons such as a conclave to do!
As an overseer, an elder is to:
▪Feed
▪Doctor
▪Protect
▪Guide
▪Care for and nurture the church

The type of leadership Jesus ordained in His church is servanthood leadership! (Luke 22:24-27; Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 10:45)

▪1Thessalonians 2:1-12 describes it in three striking terms:
1. A mother's nurture (v.7-8 ) This means an elder must be gentle, caring and always willing to share.
2. A Brother's Example (v. 1-6,9-10). It involves toil, hardship and constant labour. It must be done without a desire for praise or greed. Without hypocrisy or flattery!
3. A Father's Love (v.11-12). Elders must encourage the sheep, comfort them and urge them to do good works (Ephesians 3:20-21)

To learn more about the scriptural pattern for church organization, contact the church of Christ closest to you.

Written by Daniel Jimi and can be found on evangelismportal.org

Pattern of Church Organization II

Sequel to the earlier article on church organization, this one focuses on addressing some widely held misconceptions about the structure of leadership in the body of Christ.
Because it is impossible to exhaust the list of wrong doctrines about church organization, I will simply state what the revealed pattern is and hope that every truth seeker will be as noble as the Bereans by checking the scripture to see if these things are so (Acts 17:11)

▪ Local church autonomy (self-governance) is the pattern of New Testament church government. Acts 20:28; 1Peter 5:1-2
1. Elders are appointed over a particular flock. They are to be examples to, tend to and feed that flock.
2. Their oversight is only to the flock which is among them.

▪ Every church is under the Lordship of Christ
1. Elders cannot manufacture their own doctrine(teaching).
2. The source of authority is Christ who gives authority in His Word(New Testament) Revelation 3:7
3. This serves as a safety valve against full scale apostacy.

▪ A congregation without elders is incomplete(Titus 1:5).
1. Elders are to be ordained IN every city and not OVER every city.
2. This means cities that had more than one congregation were to have elders in each congregation in the city.

▪ Plurality is emphasized--there should be at least two elders in each congregation
1. There should not be a one man pastor or one man elder in the church (Acts 15:2,4,6,22; Philippians 1:1; 1Thessalonians 5:12-13; Acts 20:17; Hebrews 13:17; 1Timothy 5:17)
2. A conclave of elders are not to rule over multiple churches within a geographical location.

▪ Elders serve the congregation by watching over the body of Christ.
1. They are not to be bosses or assume power God never intended them to have.
2. They are responsible for the spiritual welfare of each member.
3. Each member is to follow their spiritual leaders and not cause hardships for them.

The doctrine of Christ must be followed concerning the organizational structure of the church. If you are in a church where this doctrine is not followed, you need to run for your life.
Repent and be baptized properly today so that you can begin to serve God acceptably (Galatians 3:26-28). Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8 ).

Written by Daniel Jimi and can be found on evangelismportal.org