CHURCH ORGANIZATION

Principles and PracticeBy Rolan D. Monje

Lesson OutlinePRINCIPLES• The ‘Big Picture’ of church organization• Numerical growth in the NT• The Work of the Holy Spirit• Trends in the Work of the Spirit

PRACTICE• The Mature Church• Local church: Internal Organization• The Role of Elders• Local church: External Organization• Lessons from Church History• Conclusions

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PRINCIPLES

The Big Picture

• Church organization is NOT just about authority, structures, or power sharing.

• Church organization is about GOD’s plan • To glorify his name• To help Christians to grow• To call others to repentance

The Big Picture: God is a builder

We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. – Eph 2.20-22, NLT

The Big Picture: God uses us to build

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. – 1 Co 14.26 NIV

Early Christianity: numerical growth• Lk 6 12 apostles• Ac 1 120 disciples• 1 Co 15 500 brothers• Ac 2 3000 baptized• Ac 4 5000 men

God knew that Christianity would spread in an unprecedented way. As the church grew in numbers, so God shaped the organization of the church.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

• Acts 2: moved in Pentecost• Acts 4: led in evangelism• Acts 6: raised up Deacons• Acts 13: raised up missionaries, etc.

We see that the Spirit was constantly building up the early church in order to meet growing needs (mentioned more than 50x in Luke & Acts).

The Work of the Holy Spirit

• Today, the Holy Spirit works to mature the church and empower Christians through gifts.

• God does not show us exactly which gifts are to be used when, or what positions are to be created for a particular juncture. Yet, the pattern of the NT church gives us principles to work with.

Trends in the Work of the Spirit• Spiritual leaders are raised up to meet the needs

of the church (Ac 6, 11, 14).• The Spirit builds up and grants gifts to the whole

church, not just the leaders (1 Co 14 -16).• As churches mature, they move towards plural

leadership (Ac 11, 14, 15).• Oversight of churches moves from iterant

evangelists towards a group of elders (Ac 15, Ac 20, Titus 1). NT churches work towards this goal.

PRACTICE

The mature local church

CHARACTERISTICS• Rom 14.17 – general ability to direct, counsel,

and give advice to each other• Eph 4.11-12 – various gifts and abilities being

used• Heb 13.7, 17 – healthy submission to leaders• Acts 15.2,19-22 – unity and organization in

decision making

Local church: Internal Organization• Structures developed with age of the church• Dynamic (adjusting to situation), not static

• Acts 2: apostles• Acts 4,7: evangelists• Acts 6: deacons• Acts 11, 14, 15: elders• Acts 13: missionaries, prophets, teachers

Internal organization was based on the maturity, size, and situation of the church.

Evolving leadership positions• Apostles and prophets (no longer applicable today) – 1

Co 12.28, Ac 1.21-22• Evangelists – Eph 4.11, 2 Tim 4.1-5• Elders – Ac 20.17, 28; 1 Pe 5.1-4; Tit 1.5• Teachers/pastor-teachers – Ac 13.1, Eph 4.11• Deacons – Acts 6.1-6 (not by name, but by function)• Various workers – Ro 16.6, 9, 12• Many leadership positions – Heb 13.7, 17

Focus: The Role of Elders

• Oversight of the church (Tit 1.7, 1 Pe 5.1-4)• Leading/direction (1 Tim 5.17)• Decision-making (Acts 15.2, 22)• Stewardship (Ac 11.30)• Representation (Ac 20.17, 28)• Special care (Jam 5.13-15)• Teaching (1 Tim 3.2, Tit 1.9-11)• Preaching (1 Tim 5.17)• Protecting doctrine (Tit 1.9-11)

Elders qualities/qualifications• Elders (and similarly deacons) play such

important roles in the church, that Paul takes time to give qualifications for selection.

• These mature attributes are listed in 1 Tim 3.1-5 and Tit 1.4-9, and are to be aspired for by everyone, not just those desiring eldership.

• The idea for lifting up these qualities seems to be: As Elders are to be, all Christians are to be.

Elders as overseers and directors of the mature NT church• The main role of evangelists is to preach the word and

plant new churches. In Acts, they are presented more as itinerant preachers than church managers.

• Paul and Barnabas made sure that elders were appointed in churches (Ac 14.23, see also Tit 1.5).

• Even early on in Acts, the ones placed in charge of monetary donations were elders (Ac 11.30).

• When missionaries reported to churches, they approached elders, not evangelists or teachers. When apostles wanted to resolve issues, they did so by meeting elders (Ac 15.2, 4; 21.18)

• When Paul needed to speak with the leadership of Ephesus, he called for the elders. (Ac 20.20-28)

Local church: External Organization• In the NT church, local congregations had a healthy

interdependence—not complete dependence, not complete independence.

• This interdependence resulted in a ‘family setting’ among churches, a healthy cooperation among brethren.

• At various times, the NT churches emphasized the importance of Jerusalem, Antioch, or Rome. But these churches were never seen as ‘over’ other churches.

• Neither Peter nor Paul sought to have a single over-arching system of authority over churches. Instead they sought to align churches based on needs (e.g. Antioch church, helping Jerusalem church in Acts 11; reported to Rome in Rom 15)

Hierarchy in church history• In the NT church, local congregations had equal

concern and a healthy interdependence.• What served to destroy this pattern was the

emergence of bishops ‘ruling’ over other bishops. What evolved in the late first century was a setup where one bishop ruled a plurality of congregations, the opposite of the NT pattern where a plurality of bishops led a single congregation.

Hierarchy in church history• Leadership then became a matter of control. Bishops

from various cities fought for control over other cities (Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, etc).

• This jostling for position and power led to the corruption of the Roman church, and led to terms such as Country Bishop, Cardinal Bishop, and Universal Bishop.

• Church history is peppered with names of men who sought to rule the entire Roman church: John the faster, Gregory the Great, Boniface III, etc.

Lessons from history

• Eventually, departure from the NT pattern led to apostasy and spiritual decay.

• We need to learn our lessons from church history, especially with respect to authority and its abuse. History relates departures from the NT pattern. These serve to warn us today.

Denominational organization• Denominations have evolved several kinds of church

organization. All churches tend to lean towards one kind.

• Some have adapted an episcopalian form of organization: each local congregation is under the oversight of a bishop, and several local congregations are under one bishop.

• Some have adapted a presbyterian form in which local congregations are under the oversight of a group of leaders selected by the congregation.

CONCLUSIONS

• God loves His church so much and He is deeply concerned about her growth.

• The Spirit moves powerfully to mature the church: individually and collectively.

• Leadership structures dynamically develop and adjust according to the needs of the NT church.

• Mature churches are led by a plurality of elders, with other leadership roles being fulfilled by qualified and willing men.

• The details of church organization are worked out when we have a godly leadership composed of elders, evangelist, teachers, deacons, and other servants, working together for God and his church!

Let us strive to be the New Testament church that God has called us to be,

and glorify his name!