Thursday, November 14th
A good friend of mine asked a great question about my post yesterday. Essentially he asked what is an elder, a deacon, and how do they relate to CCV’s Leadership Team. I thought I’d answer that question today. Here goes…
Elders
I and the ministry staff members at our church are considered the “elders” of the church and must meet the character qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We are considered “elders” in the sense that we are charged with the actual day to day spiritual leadership, oversight and nurturing of the congregation.
Leadership Team members must also meet the character criteria of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, but don’t serve in the actual caring and nurturing capacity. There’s a reason for that -- as the church grows the staff must increase to nurture and care for leaders who care for everyone, but you can’t have a governing board that continues to grow. Imagine making key ministry decisions in a room full of 89 people. The Leadership Team will always remain no larger than 7 people. There may come a time when we have 89 ministry staff members.
However, just because ministry staff other than me meet the “elder” character qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, that does not place them on the Leadership Team.
CCV’s Leadership Team members meet the qualifications of “elders” but delegate the day to day running of the church to me and the staff but retain the ultimate decision making on the budget within that team.
The Leadership Team oversees me as I oversee the staff.
Deacons
All home team leaders, lead VK teachers, student ministry coaches and any other ministry team leaders must meet the character qualifications for Deacons as set out in 1 Timothy 3.
Essentially any non-staff leader of people at CCV is considered a deacon.
Hope this helps Sean!
Brian
Elders, Deacons and CCV’s Leadership Team
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3 comments:
Brian,
Thanks for answering my questions, and yes it helps quite a bit.
Thanks again,
Sean
Brian,
Why not just use the Biblical terms and definations for these positions that are in the Bible already and structure CCV accordingly, instead of causing confusion with the term Board Member?
ie: Pastors, teachers, evangelistists, deacons, bishops, elders. etc. The angels of the churches in Revelation 2 & 3 "the Angelos" (in the Greek) a messenger, implied a Pastor, report directly to Jesus. That angel is the Pastor/Teacher of those specific churches in areas of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and, Loadiceans. The elders, deacons, bishops, evangelists, etc report the that Angel of that specific local church. A local church is not some form of democracy. It is a Theocracy with the Pastor/Teacher at its head who reports to Jesus.
The only way a Pastor/Teacher can forfeit their role is if they break a rule of 1 Tim 3 or Titus 1. The bishops, elders, deacons.etc determine if one of these qualifications has been compromised. These positions report to the Pastor/Teacher but also have the authority and the responsibility to oversee the Pastor/Teacher.
Whenever two or three gathered in my name and decide anything, it will be done in heaven. Matt 18: 18-20.
Dear Anonymous,
Honestly, I just can't follow your logic.
Which titles and definitions do you want me to use? The ones from the King James Bible? NIV? TNIV?
The Greek terms presbuteros and episkopos are the actual Greek words used in the New Testament. They can just as easy be translated "Leader" as they can pastor. Diakonos can just as easily be translated "ministry leader" as deacon.
The terms "elder" and "deacon" mean aboloutely nothing in 21st century English idiom. That's why we don't use them.
Also, how those offices were actually structured varied from congregation to congregation, and certainly have very fluid application today. How an "elder" would function in an American suburban megachurch would be very from how an "elder" would function in a rural southern town of 500.
Our titles are biblically sound as is our structure.
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