New Testament Church Offices

It does little good to delineate titles for roles until we understand them within the frame of reference of the First Century churches in Palestine.

Pastor: The standard term in Greek was episkope, often translated "bishop." The role is that of spiritual superintendent, the watchdog, the shepherd. His function is spiritual, and only by accident does it involve organizational matters. The focus is on the issues of the spiritual plane and how those issues manifest on the fleshly plane morally. This person is not an officer of the body, but over the body. They address everything which impacts the spiritual health of the body, and by extension the Kingdom, but do not directly execute anything themselves.

By extension, this mission would include apostles working at higher levels, supervising pastors and churches. Where the field is fresh, they are the missionaries. The New Testament world was hierarchical, though more fluid than we would be used to in modern times. Their nature and qualifications are the same, but the calling of God separates them. Because of the awful drift of our modern world so very far away from this essential understanding, I would not be willing to apply the label of apostle to anyone, as no one would understand.

A specialized version of the pastoral role is evangelist. However, the difference may be little more than what the man is doing at any particular moment. Women can surely evangelize children and other women. A particular problem of modern culture is failure to recognize when childhood ends. Manhood by biblical definition starts at age 30, but a boy is to spend time among the men beginning around age 12. We are utterly lacking in the cultural context to understand how this works out in practice. Between 12 and 30, a fellow is in training to be a man. Only the most exceptional young men can lead before 30.

Elder: This is the organizational leadership. The long-established meaning and function is that of head of household. It's an office in the sense no Ancient Near Eastern household could function without an executive leader, someone who is the parental figure for all who share the same discrete situation in terms of resources. This is the man or woman who implements the Laws of God over the earthly operations of the church. While the role is ideally masculine at the top, only those spiritually qualified can bear it. They have to show a talent for leadership which is wholly accountable to the Lord, but also sensitive to the people led.

In ANE settings, this person would arise by tradition and custom. In the church setting, particularly away from the ANE social structure, we appoint those who have won the trust of the spiritual family over whom they serve. The objective is to recreate that ANE social structure as much as possible, by organizing the local body as families under an extended household. Our modern culture fails utterly to distinguish between civil and social government, which the Bible separates. Elders rule on matters of social government in the body.

Deacon: This is not a leadership position, but that of organizational trustee. This is the person who helps organize and execute, handles the doing of activities. They serve the elder and pastor both as the hands and feet, the runners and workers. Somebody has to guard the funds, and carry them to the market to obtain the supplies. Somebody has to keep the place clean and orderly, has to take care of the physical property, and keep track of calendars and planning. Aside from the execution of their service during the rituals of worship, women can serve as deacons, too.

Women do not lead in worship, nor teach, unless there are no men present. Where men are present, if a man cannot be found qualified for the job, the job remains undone. On the other hand, instructing someone in practical techniques of service is not "teaching" in the sense of spiritual leadership.

As in all things scriptural, we should not assume the logical categories are neat and precise. These are generalities by which we remain sensitive to the leadership of the Spirit in each specific context.