What Does the Bible Say about Church Government?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

Three forms of government — and the congregational pattern

• The question posed (in the host's frame): in the UPCI manual — which is the handbook, of course, that lays out all the rules and guidelines, by which UPCI churches and ministers operate — there are several references to the fact, that our organization practices what's known as a congregational form of church government. What exactly does that term, congregational, mean? And more importantly: what does the Bible say, about local church government? Does the New Testament offer any clues, as to how local churches should be organized? The answer opens with resources: well, first, let me give you some resources. So if you want more information: we do have a position paper, on church government, which is available on upci.org, under resources. So you can actually read a description, of how we're organized, and the biblical reasons for it. So it goes into much greater detail, than what we're going to be able to do here, in the next few minutes. Also, I have a book called The Apostolic Church in the 21st Century. It has a number of chapters, on ministry, church government, how we should operate in contemporary culture. And the — of course, it's all bible-based (as heard). So let me give you a brief overview, of church government, as far as the various denominations are concerned. There are basically three types, of church government. The first is called hierarchical, which would be represented by the Roman Catholic Church, where it's top down. So the pope, and the archbishops, the bishops — they determine, they make the major decisions, for the church. So, for example: a local church, or parish — the pastor is appointed by the hierarchy, not by the local people. And the pastor can be moved, to another location, by the hierarchy. So it's top down. The national church owns all the buildings. That's hierarchical. In the middle is what's called Presbyterian, which is represented by 'press returns of Reform' (as heard) — where it's a mixture of ministers and lay leaders, called elders, that are elected by, or chosen in, the congregation. But those leaders have jurisdiction, not only over one church, but over a group of churches. So, in other words, a local church is not in control of its own destiny. But the leaders of the region — both the ministers, and the chosen lay leaders of a region — collectively would make decisions, for a local church. And then we have what's called congregational, which the United Pentecostal Church International basically follows. The essential point is this: the local church is self-governing. So: the local church elects its pastor. The local church owns its property. The local church has its own bylaws. And while they need to have certain similarities, to belong to the UPCI — we don't just all anything and everything (as heard) — for example, there must be a doctrinal identity, that we agree with. But within parameters, the local church can choose its own bylaws. So how it conducts business can be different, from another church, in some regards. The local church decides who is a member. The local church decides who will be a volunteer, employee, or a paid employee. The local church decides, supervises, the activities. The headquarters doesn't. The district doesn't. And so that's called congregational. Now, we do have a local church government that we recommend. It's in our manual, and it becomes the default. So if a local church does not adopt its own bylaws, we already have bylaws provided, for it. But as I said, the local church could adopt its own, and modify, or tweak it — make some choices, of its own. And for all credentialed ministers, the UPCI manual ('The Upside manual', as heard) is available, through upci ministers.org (as heard). And it's got the local church government that I just mentioned. It's also got resources, for local churches. So various other policies, that would be useful and helpful, for the local church. But the point is: all these things are recommended. It's up to the local church, to decide. Now, we do recommend, in that form, that there be a church board, which would represent the congregation. So some decisions could be made by the church board. Some decisions need to be made by the whole congregation, of voting members. So things such as: purchasing property, approving a loan for a building, electing a new pastor, or voting for church board members — typically, those would be voted on, by the entire congregation. So we would recommend at least one business meeting per year, to conduct the necessary business. Then the church board can handle more routine business, or business throughout the year. And we usually think of the pastor, as the chair of the church board. So it's congregational: the local church — 'Discovery', as heard — self-governing, but with strong pastoral leadership. We do believe that's biblical.

Principles, not details — the council, the decrees, and layers of accountability

• Now, when you study the Bible, there are principles of leadership. And when you study the New Testament, there are principles for ministry, and church government. They're not a lot of details. And I think that's intentional. I think God designed it that way, to give us flexibility. So, on the local level, as well as the national level, there's a lot of flexibility. And I think that's intentional, because circumstances change. And so what is the most effective way, for a local church to be structured — or even a national church to be structured — in first-century Palestine, may be different from 21st century Palestine, or 21st-century America. And so, because of the differences — of culture, society, laws, etc. — God allows flexibility. But there are certain principles, that we can see. So I say: the church's local is self-governing, but they're not independent. So, for example: when the early church had a dispute, over: could Gentiles come into the church, as Gentiles? Or did they have to be circumcised — did they have to become Jews, first? Well, there was a conference, a council, in Jerusalem. All the apostles, and elders, came to Jerusalem. So that would be the equivalent, of what we would call credentialed ministers. And they discussed, they debated. It doesn't say they took a formal vote. But somehow they reached a consensus. They had pros and cons — people in support, people in opposition. They prayed. They studied scripture, and cited relevant scripture. The leader, James, the brother of the Lord, got up, and announced what he thought was the decision. They all agreed with it. They said: 'it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us.' And they produced a written document, of: here's what we agree on. So, by some means — of debate, and possibly vote, or at least gauging the support — they reached a consensus. They agreed. They approved a written document. Then they appointed delegates, to go to the various churches. So that's all in Acts 15. In Acts 16, you see people like Paul and Barnabas, going to local churches, saying: here are the decrees, from the Council of Jerusalem. Here is what we decided. And we're asking every local church, to follow it. They didn't expect that a local church would say: you know, we're rejecting that; we're breaking fellowship (his characterization of the churches follows, as spoken). They were united. So I think it's fair to say: the local churches were not deemed as independent, but interdependent. And you also see leadership. For example: when Paul wrote to Titus — Titus was over Crete, which was an island in Greece, with a number of towns and villages. And so Paul said: you need to ordain elders, in every church. So: set up local, or church, leadership. Set up pastors. Well, if you think through that: you see several layers, of leadership. You don't see a detailed description, of how it interacts. But Paul said, in Galatians, that he was recognized, by the apostles in Jerusalem, as the apostle to the Gentiles. So maybe it's a little stretch. But maybe I could say: he was the global missions director, at least for the Gentile world. But they recognized: you're called by God, to lead our outreach, among the Gentiles. So, in exercise of that authority, Paul speaks to Titus, and gives instructions to him. Titus is the leader, over Crete — more than a local church. He's leading a group of local churches. Then he's supposed to set churches in order — elders, in each town. Well, they would be leaders, over the lay members of that town. So I see: okay, here: local church members; they have elders, or pastors; the pastors are accountable to the district superintendent of Crete, if you want to use that terminology; and the district superintendent of Crete ('district supervative Crete', as heard) is accountable to the Gentile global missions director. And you see in Acts 21: Paul himself comes to Jerusalem — as he did in Acts 15 — to give an account, to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. So, to the larger body. So he felt accountable, to them. Now, it was not a strict hierarchy. Because we find in Galatians, that Paul could rebuke the apostle Peter, saying: you're doing wrong; you need to change your ways. So, even the highest leaders, though, were accountable to one another, and were accountable to the general body. So I see such things as: accountability; organization.

Scriptures: Acts 15; Acts 16; Titus (book-only); Galatians (book-only); Acts 21

Acts 6, shared governance — and Matthew 18: God backs the church's faithful process

• Also, go back to Acts 6. When there was a dispute, over the widows of the Greek-speaking Jews — they felt like they were being mistreated, discriminated against. And so the apostles told the congregation: pick some qualified people. Here are the qualifications they need to have: wisdom; they need to be full of the Holy Ghost. But: pick these — some people that can administrate the business of the church. And we will lay our hands on them, and commission them. Notice: the lay members, and the preachers, got together, to choose qualified lay leaders, to administrate the business affairs of the church. Namely: collection of money, to buy food, and distribution of food, to the widows. So everybody's treated fairly. The Greek-speaking, and the Aramaic, or Hebrew-speaking ('he breaks speaking', as heard) — people all felt like they were being treated the same. And the apostles said: we've got to devote ourselves to prayer, the ministry of the word. We don't have time for all this other stuff. So we need lay leaders. Now, some of those leaders became preachers. Stephen, and Philip, seem to go beyond their initial calling. But you might see here, the genesis of what is later called, in the New Testament, deacons. Because that word simply means: ministers, or servants, of the church. Or what we might call — I would say they're the equivalent, today, of church board members, or department heads, senior leadership team. So: the ministers of the church, I would say, are the equivalent of the elders. The lay leaders of the church, I would say, the equivalent of the deacons. So what you see is shared governance. So the local members participated, in the governance of the church. So it wasn't hierarchical, like the pope, or like the general superintendent going to a local church, and taking over. It wasn't even the pastor having sole discretion ('Soul discretion', as heard). He worked with — you know, the elders; the pastors worked with the lay leaders. So, while the details can vary, as I've explained: I do believe a biblical form of church government would be: the local congregation basically controls its own affairs, self-governing. The local congregation has elders — and I think, or pastors — and, I think, there is a senior elder. Which, I — that's a long subject. But I do believe there is a pattern, of a senior leader, for the local church, that we would call the pastor, or senior pastor. But there's a shared governance. There are lay leaders, such as deacons. But the whole congregation has a part: they have a part in the worship; they have a part, in participation; they have a part, in the government. So: shared governance, mutual accountability, and interdependence — not independence, of local churches, but interdependence, where they're all integrated, into a body. You can also see, in the writings of — the letters of Paul, the letters of John — they commend certain ministers, and say: receive them. They warn against certain ministers, who have gone into false doctrine, or have split churches, and they say: don't receive them. Well, that process — of recommendation, and withdrawal of recommendations — is more formalized, in what? Ministerial credentials, and ministerial discipline. So: all the elements that we have, for our church government, are present in the New Testament, in principle. But the details are to be worked out. And I think this is appropriate. Because Jesus said, in Matthew 18 — and he talked about church disputes, a discipline, a personal difference between members, should be resolved by the church. He also talked about binding together, in prayer. And he also talked about coming together, in worship, that he would be in their midst. And so he says: where two or three are gathered, in my name, and where two or three agree on something (his wording, as spoken) — and all in that context, including the solving church disputes, he said: 'whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.' And I don't think that means unbridled discretion. But I think what we can say is: when the church is sincerely trying to follow God's will, and God's word, and implement certain policies, or procedures, to fulfill that — well, then God will honor it, and back it up. So the principle of being ordained, for ministry, that's in the Bible, in many places. But the procedure, of how someone would qualify — that's left to us. And we have a particular procedure. And we could change it. But I think God is saying: I will honor that. So when somebody follows that procedure, and gets ordained, I will put my anointing, and blessing. It'll be more than just an organizational ritual. It'd be more than just a paperwork. It will be a spiritual thing, as well, because I will back you up. And when you discipline a minister, because of their failure to meet qualifications, I'll back that up, too. And so I think it's a cooperation, where we're trying to follow the principles of the Bible — especially what we see in the New Testament — and we ask God to put his hand of blessing, and anointing, upon our efforts.

Scriptures: Acts 6; Matthew 18

Scripture index: Acts 15; Acts 16; Titus (book-only); Galatians (book-only); Acts 21; Acts 6; Matthew 18.