Healthy Plurality Durable Church How To Build And Maintain A Healthy Plurality Of Elders PDF Download

The New Testament (NT) regularly describes a polity of pastoral plurality in the first-century, local churches. By extension, then, this prescriptive pattern transcends to every NT local assembly. Regrettably, many churches experience a leadership vacuum due to a lack of pastoral accountability and shared responsibility. Thus, the project director sought to develop a strategy conducive to adopting an amendment to the bylaws that requires a plurality of elders in the church polity at Peace Haven Baptist Church in Yadkinville, North Carolina. Through this strategy, the project director emphasized the biblical model of plural eldership. Although Peace Haven Baptist Church has a storied history of solid leadership, in recent years the leadership exhibited lesser answerability and teamwork. The project director examined several ecclesiological and pastoral periscopes including, but not limited to, Acts 14:23; 20:28; Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; and 1 Pet 5:1-4. These biblical passages comprise the scriptural pattern of plural eldership as it relates to the local church. The project director also explored various commentaries and monographs that shaped his perspective on church polity that every local church should maintain a plurality of pastors in its spiritual oversight. This form of church polity aligns directly with the scriptural description from the apostles. Based on this research, the project director collaborated with three expert panel members and several church leaders to develop four apologetic-based sermons on the subject of plural eldership in the local church. Peace Haven Baptist Church traditionally held to a senior pastor model, but this polity proved somewhat challenging under the previous pastor. Additionally, such an approach contradicted the modus operandi and instruction of Paul's ministry outlined in the book of Acts and in several of his letters. Churches today would do well to follow the elder-leadership model described in the NT: (1) observing Luke's description of the plurality of elders in the local church at Ephesus (Acts 20); (2) recognizing Paul's appointment of multiple elders in local churches (Acts 14); and (3) Paul's instruction to Titus to implement elders in the churches of Crete (Titus 1:5). In the process of this doctoral program, the project director experienced a much-welcomed education on biblical pastoral leadership along with a stronger dependence on the Holy Spirit and Scripture to fulfil God's will for this local church. Although the project director found the program work arduous, the amendment adoption to the bylaws made all the challenges worthwhile in that it positioned the church leadership and membership to grow and mature spiritually at a higher capacity.