A Biblical Approach To Church Leadership: Christian Discipleship Series, #18

By Peter M Newman

Most Christians today accept without question the idea that every church should have a pastor who is the "head" of their church.  However, they would be surprised to learn that there is no Scriptural or historical evidence to support our modern-day church system of a sole pastor or senior pastor who is the head of the church.  In the New Testament, the term "elder" is always used interchangeably with the terms "pastor" and "overseer."  All three of these words refer to the same person.  The elders of the church are the overseers who shepherd the local church together. It was not until the second and third century that church leaders began to wrongly divide the elders' role of oversight and shepherding into three separate hierarchal religious offices.  Many Christians in our day have recognized that this man-made hierarchy in the institutional church is not only carnal and often prone to abuse; it severely stifles the Holy Spirit's leadership and life in the church; it robs the church from having an actively functioning priesthood of spiritually-gifted believers; and it causes many sincere pastors to suffer "burn-out" and leave the ministry.   This eBook presents how Biblical church leadership functions based on Scriptural teaching on church life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peter Newman
• Release date: Jul 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393455912

Peter M Newman

Peter M Newman is a Bible teacher and the author of the groundbreaking book, The Meaning of the Cross, and its companion book, Unveiling The Bride - The New Covenant Church.  He has worked with both traditional churches and house churches in pastoring, preaching, teaching, and evangelism and served as editor of a Christian magazine.  He and his wife have been married forty-five years and have two grown children and five grandchildren.  

Book preview

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

A BIBLICAL APPROACH TO CHURCH LEADERSHIP

First edition. July 16, 2019.

Copyright © 2019 Peter M Newman.

ISBN: 978-1393455912

Written by Peter M Newman.

A Biblical Approach

To Church Leadership

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by Peter M Newman

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"Jesus called them together and said,

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles

lord it over them, and their high officials

exercise authority over them. It is not this

way among you.  Instead, whoever wants

to become great among you must be your

servant, and whoever wants to be first

must be your slave— just as the Son of Man

did not come to be served, but to serve,

and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Matthew 20:25-28

Most Christians today accept without question the idea that every church should have a pastor who is the head of their church.  However, our modern-day concept of the office of pastor simply did not exist in the first-century church.  In the New Testament, the term elder is always used interchangeably with the terms pastor and overseer.  All three of these words refer to the same person.  Based on the Scriptures, the elders of the church are the overseers who shepherd the local church together.  The Greek word for elder is presbuteros, which is found sixty-six times in the New Testament and translated as elder or elders.  The Greek word poimen is found eighteen times in the New Testament and always translated as shepherd, except for one-time in Ephesians 4:11 where the King James Version translators used the word pastor.  Finally, the Greek word episkopos is normally translated as overseer in the New Testament.  However, the translators of the King James Version of 1611 changed the word overseer to bishop to politically conform to the man-made, multi-tiered religious hierarchy of the Church of England in early 1600s.

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[Note: King James the 1st of England had ordered the official translators to conform to (and do nothing to upset) the established church structure, hierarchy, theology, liturgy, practice and rituals of the Church of England when they translated the Bible.  For example, in addition to changing the word overseer to bishop, the King James translators also chose political correctness over Bible accuracy when they translated the Greek word baptismos.  The word baptismos literally means immersion into a liquid, such as water.  However, the Church of England only authorized sprinkling with water and not full immersion into water in its practice of this sacrament; therefore, the King James translators literally made up a new English word, the word baptism, to obscure the Biblical truth that Jesus commanded His disciples to be fully immersed into water, and not just sprinkled with a little water.  Thus Paul’s statement: "We have been buried with Him through baptism into death (Romans 6:3)" lost its clarity and power in the King James Version because sprinkling a new Christian with a little water does not adequately depict the divinely powerful Biblical truth that your sinful nature died and was buried when you were saved, which is more accurately portrayed by your body’s full immersion or burial under water