It wasn’t more than a few centuries beyond the first disciples’ generation that the church began to lose track of what scripture called for in individual church leadership. Like the world’s leadership, which Jesus spoke against in Matthew 20, Mark 9, and Luke 22. It is in man’s nature to have hierarchies and to lord over one another. Jesus, however, said, “Not so with you”. Leadership is one of servanthood. Yet, it is still spiritual authority that Jesus demonstrated and has given elders/ overseers/ pastors as Hebrews 13:17 indicates that the leaders’ manner of rule is to watch over your souls.

Unfortunately, when the institutional church began to take shape in the 4th century and subsequent centuries the hierarchy became one of lording over one another until the severity reached the level of leaders who began to put to death those who disagreed with their leadership. Much of this leadership ended up with one man being in the ultimate place of authority, which is contrary to scripture which recognizes only one head of the church; Jesus Christ. This hierarchal style of leadership is pervasive in most denominations. The Catholic Church as well as most Protestant denominations (and non-denominational churches included with them) have also set up a leadership structure that isn’t too far removed. For example, many Protestant churches have “Senior” or “Lead” pastors that have the ability to override associate pastors, elders, and deacons (certainly not all churches are set up this way, but, unfortunately, many are). This is so common that most Christians have accepted it as the true model for Christian leadership. But what does the Bible have to say about church leadership?

First, as we know from Jesus’ words (as mentioned earlier in this page), the manner of leadership is one of being a servant, not one of lording over others. Yet, though Jesus was the servant of all, there is no question that He exercised authority over the disciples and continues in the position as Head of the Church: (Ephesians 5:23). So, if Christ is the head of the Church, then how is the leadership of each congregation to be set up?

Jesus chose 12 apostles to help launch His ministry as well as dozens more (Luke 10:1) to work on behalf of the expansion of the Kingdom of God. So, there is a structure, but what does it look like? Some would like to believe that apostolic succession is part of the process (i.e. each time one of the first 12 apostles died, there needs to be a successor). They use Acts Chapter 1 as an example with Matthias replacing Judas Iscariot. What they are missing is that Matthias was chosen to replace Judas because Judas was NOT a faithful apostle. Only a few years later when James (the brother of John) is martyred, we find that the apostles do NOT replace him. Why? Because James was faithful unto death. So, if apostolic succession is not the format, what is it?

The Apostle Paul did an excellent job breaking down the qualifications and responsibilities of elders/ overseers/ pastors. Notice in Titus 1, Paul interchanges the words of overseer/ bishop and elder. In verse 5, he speaks of appointing elders. Then in verse 7, Paul uses the word overseer/ bishop as being one in the same. In both 1 Timothy and Titus, Paul describes the elders/ overseers/ bishops as being responsible to understand and teach God’s word, as well as being the husband of one wife, able to manage their household well, free from the love of money and alcohol among other qualifications. In 1 Timothy, Paul clarifies that this position of elder/ overseer/ bishop is not for the newly converted. So if the position of an elder/ bishop/ overseer is one of spiritual authority in local congregations, how do we arrive at the teaching of multiple elders vs. one senior or lead pastor over the entire ministry?

Those supporting a senior pastoral structure will point to Peter being above all the other disciples. Peter was indeed the most prominent figure of the 12 disciples. However, we find multiple examples from scripture that refute the idea that the other apostles were subject to him. It is James (the brother of Jesus, not to be confused with James the brother of John who was martyred earlier), in Acts chapter 15 gives direction concerning what is to be communicated to the Gentile churches after Peter shared God revealing to him that the Gospel was for both the Jews and the Gentiles. Yet, the greatest examples are in Peter’s own epistle (1 Peter) as he greets the group he is writing to and identifies himself as a “fellow elder” (1 Peter 5:1). Those that elevate Peter as the one whom the church is built on (rather than Christ) should also reflect on 1 Peter 2:1-10 as he identifies Christ as the cornerstone and himself, as well as us as, “living stones” part of a spiritual house.

Thankfully, the Bible has many examples we can turn to demonstrate a plurality of elders. In Acts chapter 20, there are numerous examples of this. First, we see in verse 17 that Paul called for the elders (plural) of the church (singular) of Ephesus. In verse 28 of the same chapter, he calls the elders “overseers” (also called bishops in some versions) and tells them to pastor or shepherd the flock. So it is multiple elders/ overseers who are to pastor the congregation. Paul also identifies the same with Philippians 1:1 demonstrating that there are multiple elders/ bishops for the one church in Philippi. Keep in mind that these were not massive churches but often took place in individuals’ homes (as we also learn from Paul’s epistles).  Finally, we have the demonstration of elders (plural) being appointed in each church (singular) in Acts 14:23 and Titus is instructed by Paul to appoint elders (plural) in every city (singular); reference Titus 1:5.

There is much more than can be said concerning the plurality of elders, and we are happy to go into additional detail for any who wish to dive into this issue deeper. We also recommend checking out the information-packed website of https://www.biblicaleldership.com/  as well as this brief video below…