Elders and Deacons
Throughout 2024, our Members’ Meetings have been focusing on meaningful membership and the role that we each have to play in building up this local church. Our elders have been teaching and reminding us from Scripture that God intends for His people to live together in community as a church, and the way they organise themselves has also been revealed.
What does Scripture say about how the church is to be organised, specifically, the leadership of the church?
Scripture speaks of two offices in the church: elders and deacons. In the New Testament, the terms “pastor” and “elder” and “overseer” are synonymous with each other. Each church in the New Testament had a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23; 20:17; Phil. 1:1). In Titus, we also read of how Paul left Titus in Crete to appoint elders in every town (Titus 1:5).
Elders are given a specific task — to shepherd God’s people (Acts 20:28). Their responsibilities involve following the Chief Shepherd (Eze 34:11-16, John 10:11-16) in order to guide, guard and grow God’s flock (Acts 20:26-28, 1 Pet. 5:1-4, 1 Tim 3:2). Thus, their purpose and job scope has been clearly defined and revealed by God.
We also learn of the character qualifications for an elder in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. This is how the churches are to elect and appoint qualified men (1 Tim 2:11-15). In response, Christians in the church are exhorted by God’s Word to respect our elders and to “esteem them highly in love” (1 Thess 5:12-13, Heb 13:7, 1 Pet. 5:5).
Scripture also speaks of deacons, who are to care for the practical needs of the church, in order to strengthen the unity of God’s people. By doing so, they enable the elders to focus on their work of leading, shepherding, prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:1-7).
The character of deacons is also important, and the character qualifications for a deacon can be found in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. Both men and women can serve as deacons (1 Tim 3:11, Rom. 16:1).
This is what we believe at GBC and why we have elders and deacons. If you would like to find out more, join us at the next Church Matters, where our pastors will teach through these. You can also check out the third session in this EQUIP series on what a healthy church is like. Church Elders by Jeramie Rinne and Deacons by Matt Smethurst are also good books on these topics.
Over the next few months, we will also be interviewing our elders and deacons. Watch this space to learn more about them, and how they have seen God at work as they have been serving and loving the community.