This is a guest post by Shuan Marksbury. His blog can be found here.
Today, the term “elders” rings sour in many Baptist ears. Perhaps it seems too Presbyterian, or it may seem to authoritarian. Indeed, many SBC churches practice a model of a deacon leadership or have such a congregational government that spiritual decisions are left in the hands of those not holding (and, perhaps, unqualified for) any office.
It was not always so, and Baptists at one time understood that (multiple) elders should led a church. For instance, the first president of the SBC, W. B. Johnson, taught that individual churches should be led by a plurality of elders. One of the founding members of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, William Williams, likewise taught this; the Abstract of Principles says, “The regular officers of a Church [singular] are Bishops or Elders [plural], and Deacons.”
The SBC statement of faith is no different. In 1925, it stated, “A church of Christ [singular] is a congregation of baptized believers… Its [singular] Scriptural officers are bishops, or elders [synonymous, plural terms in Scripture], and deacons.” The 1963 Baptist Faith and Message opted for the term “pastor,” but maintained the principle—“Its [singular] Scriptural officers are pastors [plural] and deacons.” The 2000 statement retained the wording: “Its [singular] scriptural officers are pastors [plural] and deacons.”
Why do the words elders, bishops, and pastors get used interchangeably in SBC literature? It’s because, in Scripture, these words describe the same office. In Acts 20:17, Paul “called the elders of the church to come to him,” and he tells them that the Holy Spirit made them “overseers” (or bishops), “to care” (or shepherd/pastor) for the church” (v. 28). In Titus 1:5, Paul tells Titus to appoint elders in every town, and describes their office as “overseer” (or bishopric) (v. 7). In 1 Peter 5:1–2, Peter says that elders should “shepherd (or pastor) the flock of God … exercising oversight.” As such, whether the term elder, bishop, or pastor is used, we are to understand that this refers to the same office.
Indeed, and if it were not clear from the above passages, each church should have multiple elder/pastors. Church elders are first mentioned in passing in Acts 11:30, where they were to receive a gift for famine relief. As the Apostles planted churches, they appointed elders “in every church” (14:23); James expects them in every church so the sick and sin-weary can find counsel and prayer (James 5:14). Elders even stand in the Jerusalem church alongside the Apostles in the decision-making process (15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4; 21:18). While we should also take care to note that these Scriptures are descriptive rather than prescriptive, we cannot ignore the fact that the Apostles saw fit to establish a plurality of elders from among each local body of believers.
This is why the historic understanding of SBC churches is that they should each be autonomously led by a plurality of elders.
Indeed, the role of any new pastor should be training his eventual replacements, passing on the faith to those who will pass it on to others (2 Tm 2:2). Of course, there are instances where a small church cannot financially support multiple pastors. Sometimes, a church may not be able to support one—many churches in America have bi-vocational pastors. SBC churches must recognize, however, that the proper model is to have multiple pastors or elders, either paid or unpaid. Regardless of what a church can afford, part of every pastor’s charge is to look for men in the congregation who may (with discipleship) eventually serve as elders, lay (uncompensated) or otherwise.
Unfortunately, the sad reality is that alternative SBC leadership models are sometimes purposeful. A pastor may seek to consolidate his power so that there can be only one pastor on staff at a church. Other times, individuals in churches fear losing a voice in congregational meetings, so they choose to adopt a single-pastor model and a pastor who is more passive by nature.
That leaves us with one conclusion. When an SBC pastor or church will only allow one pastor, they 1.) fail to follow the Baptist Faith and Message and 2.) are disobedient to Scripture. Something must change, lest the church face the condemnation of the God they claim to serve.
The Domain for Truth 
Amen-Amein!! 💙💕 Goodnight my Friends!!
The First Baptist went to didn’t have elders but deacons and trustees and I always wondered why that was.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Thanks for the reblog Vincent!
You’re very welcome Pastor Jim 😎
This was interesting and much to think about. I am not SBC, but ABA(The American Baptist Association of Missionary Baptist Churches.) Our governance is strictly congregational, and sometimes it works quite well. Those are usually the cases where clearly the pastor and deacons are called men, and others look to them for guidance, even if not official. As you said, though, sometimes the leadership role falls to those who are not called or qualified to lead, just because they have the loudest voices, the most money, or whatever it may be. Thank God, in our church, it seems to work well.
The question is, is a plurality of elders biblical. the question is, is it biblical to have a chief elder. Is it explicitly taught? Should this chief elder be given the title Pastor? In Ephesians 4 starting in verse 11 And his “gifts” were that some would be apostolus, some prophets, and some evaggelistes, and some as poimen AND didaskalus. I find it odd that only one time was poimen ever mis-translated as pastor in stead of correctly as shepherd. Nothing in the text demands this. He gave them to the church, for unity for maturity that we are no longer able to be deceived. Today the Church lacks both unity and discernment. A pastor who does not publicly expose false teaching and false teachers and false movements is a hireling. A real shepherd would, like King David, attack and slay so that the flock would be protected.
I have never read about the direct specific qualifications of pastors in the so called pastoral epistles. They directly address Elders and Deacons but never the alleged office of Pastor. Elders in majority are disqualified by Titus 1:9. In order to qualified to defend the faith they need to experts in apologetic s and they are not. Most don’t know the difference between the NAR and RNA. Are we guilty of imposing the preconceptions of mans traditions upon the texts? I think so.
I remember when this model starting making a comeback in the SBC. I didn’t know what to think because I contradicted my training, but it is very much biblical. I aim toward that as our church plant develops.