—Ben Arbour
[Editor’s Note: In the midst of writing a book on the same topic, Ben Arbour has agreed to offer us a series, Pastors and Practice, arguing that Christ is our true model for pastoral ministry. Throughout his argument, Ben will explain how Christ’s example should affect the governing of the church and the ministry of pastors.]
As Chris and PJ have said, much of the material that is being posted here is part of a book I'm working on. In that book, I spend quite a bit of time and space recapitulating the biblical and theological arguments favoring multiple-elder leadership in a local church. However, because there is already so much literature out there on this subject, and because Chris and PJ both agree that the New Testament teaches this, I won't offer such arguments here. For those interested in additional reading on that subject, it won’t be hard to find a plethora of material supporting the conclusions I presuppose here. [Read our discussion: "ELDERS" and "MULTIPLE"]
In this post, I want to focus on what I see as a major disconnect between the form and the function of a local church’s multiple-elder leadership as perceived by typical members. My point is quite simple. If a church has multiple elders (as it should), and if elders/pastors/shepherds/bishops/overseers are all the same thing (as the New Testament makes clear), then no one person should be identified as “the pastor” of a church1.
Suppose Joe Christian has been a member of your church (XYZ Church) for many years, and understands as well as anyone the goings-on of XYZ church, including the leadership structure. Now consider the following casual conversation between Joe Christian and his new co-worker.
Joe: “So last week you told me that you’ve been looking for a church since you guys moved down here a couple months ago. Find anything yet?”
Co-worker: “Nah, nothing spectacular. We’ve visited a few places, but the people haven’t exactly been warm, and the preaching has been less than biblical to say the least. So, we’re still looking. Where did you say that you guys worship?”
Joe: “Glad you asked. I’ve been meaning to invite you guys to come with us. We go to XYZ Church, and love it. We have rich, rewarding relationships and the preaching is quite strong—you’ll love it.”
Co-worker: “Yeah! I’ve heard of XYZ Church. Remind me … who is the pastor there?”
Here is where things get tricky. How should Joe Christian respond? Did you notice how the question was asked? (“Who is the pastor?”—a question which clearly implies that there is only one.) This question gets asked all the time, and it’s actually a great indicator to see if a church really is led by a plurality of elders in function and not just in form.
If Joe Christian responds, “Oh, Bob Smith is our pastor,” then he reveals that his understanding of the church is that there is only one elder, even if on paper the church is led by multiple elders. It would be wonderful if Joe Christian responds, “Well, there are lots of pastors at our church. Bob Smith does the majority of the preaching, but we try to follow the New Testament model of church leadership, which we believe teaches that…” Such an answer would not only allow him to explain a more biblical model of church leadership to his co-worker, but it would also reveal that the polity structure at XYZ isn’t just a formality. Instead, it is actually making a difference in how people in the pew understand church leadership.
To put it bluntly, if one person gets the credit for being “the pastor” of a church, when asked, then it doesn’t matter what that church thinks it’s doing with regard to leadership structures. Unless it’s obvious to regular church members, multiple-elder leadership may be right on paper (constitution, by-laws, etc.), but not in the hearts and minds of those for whom elders must give an account. That is to say, just because a church has the right form in place does not necessarily mean that such a church is functioning the right way.
I’m sure this gives us all a lot to think about. In the next post I’ll get even more specific as to why I think this is so problematic.
If you attend a multiple-elder church, how likely are you to think of it as having just one pastor? If you do not attend a multiple-elder church, what differences would you expect to see if you did?
1 This ought to be true even if a church chooses to use a senior pastor model of leadership in conjunction with multiple-elder polity structures.
5 comments:
I just want to say that I SO appreciate my senior pastor in this regard. He's fairly high profile around town and internationally known, yet he always introduces himself as "one of the pastors here..." I'd say, though, that even while he makes clear to us the limits of his role at our church, and the strengths and positions and functions of the other pastors and the elder board, most people would consider him "the" pastor. And I wonder if when people ask "Who is the pastor" they don't simply just want to know who's the primary preacher, which is why even in a multiple-elder church the response is usually just that one name.
Sharon—that's a good example. I think your comment about what people are really asking is insightful as well. One of the points Ben started to touch on in this post, and will continue to hit on in the future, is how we can start to point people in the right direction by answering carefully.
In a lot of churches, too, the idea of multiple elders is still pretty foreign. Colorado Springs is a good deal more diverse than Oklahoma in terms of church polities; in Norman there's a grand total of one PCA church, for example. Most Southern Baptist churches remain on the one-pastor lots-of-governing-deacons model, which (as we've written) we disagree with. In that context, the question is far more loaded than it might be in areas with broader representations of church government.
Thanks, Chris, for the comment. Your response to Sharon is exactly what I wanted to write.
Sharon, I understand and appreciate your point. In fact, the reality that you've pointed to is exactly what I'd like to see change.
More and more I see how much the way we say things affects people's long-term impressions. You're right. This is goofy, but I remember when I first ran into "the" pastor at my childhood church, and I told my family, "I feel like I just met a celebrity."
One of the reasons we chose Fellowship Church in College Station is that they had elders that really functioned as a team, as can be seen on the pastors page of the website (http://www.fellowshipbcs.org/AboutUs/OurPastorsStaff.aspx). The three pastors are elders, and the deacons serve the church instead of governing the church. Each deacon teaches on Sunday morning at least once a year and the elders share the rest of the teaching responsibilities. I have never before been involved in a church where so many different men invested so much in serving and leading the church.
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