All to Him I Owe

Church Government

 Church polity is the term used to describe the method with which a church is governed. A quick survey of churches reveals multiple forms and methods of church polity being used. Some of those methods have proven to be successful while others have caused great harm. Surprisingly the Bible is relatively quiet on the exact details of polity. However we must not confuse the silence of details with an absence of principles that can help us establish a proper polity.

 General Principles of Polity

 1.) The New Testament church operated with a “plurality of leadership.” The responsibilities of the church did not fall to just one individual. The church grows both spiritually and numerically when it is producing new leaders and giving new leaders responsibility. (Acts 6, 20; II Timothy 2:2)

 2.) The New Testament does support the concept of a “pastor-lead leadership team.” (Acts 20:28; Hebrews 13:7, 17)

3.) The New Testament does support the concept of a “congregationally-approved leadership team.” (Acts 6:3)

4.) The New Testament emphasizes the character of individuals more than their abilities. (I Timothy 3; Titus  2)

5.) The job description of leaders within the church differs from church to church based upon the church’s needs and the leader’s gifts and talents.

 As I close this post I want to highlight this last principle. Every deacon elected in our church will come to the table of leadership with a different set of gifts and abilities. He will probably come with a very unique burden for areas within our church that he has a passion for. With these things in mind, I believe we will find the details of what are deacons do changing from person to person every time our selection of men changes.

Though they will have a general description of what they do, specifically they will have individual areas that they alone are doing.

These are exciting days.

P.Ron