Elders, Pastor, Bishop: Who Should Lead the Local Church?

A topic of constant discussion and debate in today's Church is Church government: how a local church should be structured and the roles to be played by the local congrgants. One facet of particular intrigue is the debate over who should be the head of the church body. Should the church be directed by a bishop, a pastor (also can refer to a priest), or a council or plurality of elders?

The vast majority of evangelical churches have a senior pastor as the local head, then a group of other pastors: usually an executive pastor (like a vice principle) and a youth pastor; depening on the size of the church, there may be other roles to be filled by "pastors." The senior pastor is the shepherd of the people. He, or she in some cases (an update from the Barna Group in January 2004 placed female senior pastors in Protestant churches at 6% of the total), teaches on Sunday mornings as well as some nights, and has the majority of control over the direction and mission of the church. Many times a council of elders or deacons will be in place to keep the checks and balances.

My church, Grace Fellowship of San Diego, holds to the plurality of elders. We have six elders right now, and they each fill a role and do their part in and for the local congragetion. Just off the top of my head, Pheonix Reformed Baptist Church, the home of Dr. James White, holds to a plurality of elders. That model looks good, very non-democratic; shared authority, responsibility, and deserved submission and respect for each individual elder. They work as a team to support and direct the local body. One of the downfalls for a group that tries to hold firmly to this model is the tendency for the lay congregation to look toward one man as the princeps, the first among equals, and place that man as the unofficial pastor, whether or not that person plays such a role or not. The church taking the plurality of elders model stays away from putting one of the elders in any sort of superior role over the others.

Regarding such an idea, the way a local church should be organized, and who the leaders should be, and so forth, I will not pretend to be a wise man and give you my own conception of exactly how the church should be governed. I know that Christ is the head of the body, and the body is the Church. The Church is the totality of believers, who are all over the world, meeting together in relatively small, local bodies. Initially, I look to the historic Church to find how my ancestors in the faith have discussed and dealt with issues, and how they have understood Scripture and the teachings of Christ.

In a soon to be completed post, I will be discussing the position of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, martyred c. AD 107. He has played an integral role in our understanding of the era he lived and lead in. His letters are packed with teaching and guidance for the church, and wonderful exhortations as he is led to his glorious reward, as he would see it. In his letters, he left us important information about church structure at the time and what he believed to be some of the vital issues involved in keeping the church unified and strong, and able to persevere not only persecution but also heresy. The discussion will focus on the Ignatian model for the local church hierarchy. Of course, the era was slightly different then, but easily applicable to today's society.