The Wayward Church: Church Governance – Part 1

Mainstream Protestant churches will claim Jesus is the head of the church, and the Bible is its authority. This statement is absolutely correct. The question then, is the church following what they say? Does the Bible, specifically the New Testament, give us a road map for church governments?

Church autonomy: Church autonomy (autonomy means self-law) is if the local church has authority over its own or if a higher organization rules over the church. Catholics are a good example of not having local church autonomy. Rome with the Pope has a governance set up where all church authority starts in Rome and comes down to local churches. Most Protestant churches are autonomous, where the local church makes the decisions, even though they may have an international convention (like the Southern Baptist Convention) who will publish advice and have general theological guidelines. Theological guidelines, such as Jesus is God, the Bible is the Word of God, can and do dictate whether a Church can belong to the denomination. Local Church membership in a national or international denomination is voluntary.

Biblically, Church autonomy is closer to the New Testament model of the church. Churches were started throughout Asia Minor by individuals such as the Apostle Paul. He would teach the people, then set the church up with elders, and move on to start another church. Now, these churches often looked to the Jerusalem Church and the Apostles for advice and guidance, but they were autonomous. The authority of the Apostles was recognized and respected, especially in their teachings. We see letters in our Bible written to the early churches addressing Elders and Overseers. These Elders and Overseers were the authority of the church.

Local Church Governance: What does local church authority look like today compared to the New Testament Churches? Sadly, many Protestant churches follow a business model for governance instead of a Biblical model. You have a pastor as the CEO. Under the pastor you have staff, such as an Assistant Pastor or two, Music Minister, Youth Leader, and possible more. Like a business, you often see committees that are over certain areas such as finances. Often you have a Deacon body. Even though a lot of Deacon bodies weld power in today’s churches, Biblically Deacons had no authority. They were the servants of the church.

Most Protestant churches today have a single leader, the pastor, who is a seminary graduate from the denominational seminary the church belongs to. The pastor is hired by the congregation after a vote, typically following the pastor search committee that recommended him to the congregation. The pastor then hires his staff, who are under his authority. The pastor can be fired by the membership or the deacons if they have a deacon body welding authority.

A corporation has a CEO, who is elected by a board of people that owns the majority of stock in the company. The CEO typically is a graduate from a top Ivy League school of business. He then hires his staff around him, with the boards blessing for CFO. Committees are formed to study quality, foreign investment, etc… Often, the inter working's of corporations and churches are eerily similar, with similar goals in mind, growing, and profits.  

So Biblically, what should the model for church authority look like? The first and primary is the Elders. Notice, Elders is plural. Elders are a group of men that are the shepherds (pastors), the overseers, and the teachers in the church. Let’s look at two verses that mention Elders, and notice, plural!

James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

Titus 1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

Some would argue the pastor and staff are the Elders. However, most of these churches have a system where the Senior Pastor is over the staff in authority. Elders are all on equal footing.

1 Peter 5:1 says, To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Notice Peter puts himself on equal footing with the Elders. In 1 Timothy 5:17 we see that at least some of the Elders are preachers and teachers. 1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

If a church wants to look like the early churches started by the Disciples of Jesus Christ, then they need to get rid of their business model of leadership. The ruling body should be a group of elders who meet the qualifications as spelled out in 1 Timothy. These elders should select a body of men as deacons, who will be the servants of the church. The elders care for the spiritual need of the flock (members) while the deacons see to the physical needs of the members. Members have no say in the governance of the church. The church is not a democracy. However, with that said, Elders are to care for their flock (members). Listening to the membership is important to being a good Elder.

In part 2, we will look at the next big problem in today’s churches, money. The church should be full of prophets, not profit (I use the word prophet as one who speaks for God using the Bible, not a fortune or future teller). Like leadership, profits in the church resemble the way a business is run. We will get more into that in The Wayward Church, Part 2.