Is it biblical not to have a Pastor,we dont have one!!!!!

Dawn - posted on 03/10/2009

Sharon, I would encourage you to read 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus as these are Paul's instructions for church leaders.  It is true that the early church was governed by a council of Elders and I believe this is a wise way to structure a church.  Some were responsible for teaching, others for service, others for general organization or discipline. Since Christ is the head of the church, there's not really a need for one specific leader - though this is the way most modern churches are structured.  As long as the council of elders meets the qualifications listed in scripture (again see 1&2 Timothy and Titus), then they are within the biblical way of structuring church. 

Sharon - posted on 03/09/2009

Thank you to all who responded & encouraged me, May you too be blessed for reaching out to me. Teresa my sister in Christ  you have been through I think would be one of the hardest times in your life,I thank God though for your gorges children who would keep you pressing in,they really are such a blessing. I pray your husband will return to right relationship with the Father again .I have just had some friends who are going through the same as I write this,they also have children & are christians. All the more reason for us all to keep focused on the Prize & run this race we have before us & thank HIM for HIS AMAZING GRACE!!!!

Amy - posted on 03/09/2009

Quoting Teresa:

In our church we have never had a 'head' pastor.  We have a group of elders.  They are all equal in making decisions, but we have two main speakers (pastors) that trade off.  We also have a Jr High pastor, a High School pastor, and a children's pastor among a few others that are key in running things.

This sounds much like our Church. 

As far as handling sins goes I can only speak from my personal experience.  My husband decided to have an affair and leave us.  He moved away and would not be going to our church even if he still lived here.  The elders of the church sent him a letter basically saying he was 'kicked out' of the church.  I do know w/out a doubt though that if he were to repent from his sin and try to return to his family the way that God wants him to then he would be welcomed back into the church w/ open arms.  There is no time limit on forgiveness. :)

AMEN!!

Amy - posted on 03/09/2009

Sharon, I am so glad you waited on God and He has seen fit to restore your ministry to you in a new and even more amazing way!! He is so faithful and He will not fail us. You never know what He was using your waiting time for, to teach others and/or you. 

Teresa - posted on 03/09/2009

In our church we have never had a 'head' pastor.  We have a group of elders.  They are all equal in making decisions, but we have two main speakers (pastors) that trade off.  We also have a Jr High pastor, a High School pastor, and a children's pastor among a few others that are key in running things.

As far as handling sins goes I can only speak from my personal experience.  My husband decided to have an affair and leave us.  He moved away and would not be going to our church even if he still lived here.  The elders of the church sent him a letter basically saying he was 'kicked out' of the church.  I do know w/out a doubt though that if he were to repent from his sin and try to return to his family the way that God wants him to then he would be welcomed back into the church w/ open arms.  There is no time limit on forgiveness. :)

Betty - posted on 03/09/2009

Ephesians 4:11-12 tells us that Pastors are appointed by God for the edification of the people "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up", so the Word of God tells us that we need to be under the teaching of a Pastor.

Gayla - posted on 03/09/2009

I would encourage you to call my Pastor and talk to him.  His name is Bro. Jeff Noblit.  You can look him up on youtube.  But our church number is (256)381-7495 and our website is www.gracelifeshoals.org  He counsels with other churches and pastors and will give you sound doctrine and advice.  Thanks and God bless!

Lystra - posted on 03/09/2009

Praise the Lord God is so good and worthy to be praised.He is working great things through your ministry so having or not having a pastor is not affecting your witness.I am so happy for you.Be Blessed!

Sharon - posted on 03/09/2009

Hello Lystra, our last Pastor left to another mission field-interstate & is Pastor to another church. Thats all I've been told.The church has no desire to have another Pastor but that may change if we were to have a larger church?

As a continuation from my last entries I was asked to refrain from the way I was evangelising-one on one as the Holy Spirit guided me.After that meeting with the Elders I pressed into God to seek another way into evangelising. HE showed me a vision,for the Secondary College & to approach the Chaplaincy & school to open prayer/activities program run under "Scripture Union" for the students. I went to the Elders on this & I found I have their full support. I was so relieved! My husband considered leaving had they rejected my plea, for God said Go out into the world & GO & make disciples baptising them in my name.Thats our heartbeat- reaching the lost. Of course it had to go to  the school board etc but God opened that door & through that showed me a bigger & better way! I was fishing with a rod & now He's given me a net & its FULL of fish! He's knows where they are,when & how!

I have also been promoted onto the Outreach Committee & my husband given the position of Outreach Co-ordinator Praise God.I lost my axe handle so to speak for 10 long months (waiting on Him) not witnessing to anyone in my home town but the axe head has miraculously floated to the surface,we can do NOTHING without HIM.

My husband & I take a home group as well as I lead a weekly Bible-study group during the day. We have always been active as far as outreach/evangelism & youth.

I think as far as it goes with the Pastor thing I'll just ask them if they would be open to more visiting Pastors come to minister under the C.O.C, headship covering. I know there's a few of us who feel the same way,its not an individual thing here.Thanks Lystra & you too Amy for replying, I'll leave this open for a while for anyone else's comments. Any Pastors Revs or Ministers are most welcome to add to the mix. Amy I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that not any of us are wrong,its just we're all different & our church is more New Testament. Thank you & Blessings. 

Lystra - posted on 03/08/2009

What happened to the last pastor you had?An elder is a spiritual overseer in a church who is anointed and set aside for service Titus 1:9 says that the elder is taught so that he might exhort and convince the gainsayers;but the ministry of the pastor is to feed the flock with knowledge and understanding.A real pastor is commissioned by God to do his job and he will continue to do it even if he never receives any appreciation because God told him to do it.Jeremiah 3:15 .So the elder is fed by the pastor and they both have their separate ministries which function for the wellbeing of the Body of Christ

Amy - posted on 03/08/2009

Sharon, Thanks for sharing. 

Wow, that is all I have to say for someone asking you to stop sharing the Gospel. I don't understand that and I would also struggle with that request. At the same time you say you feel your family has been planted (I am assuming by God) here in this Church. I guess what you need to reconcile is which is God calling you to? He will not call you to 2 opposite things. Is He asking you to lay aside that desire that you have for a season and focus on this Church. Or is He telling you to focus on your ministry and find a different Church. This is something only you can answer through much prayer. Really I can't say that I think this has too much to do with whether you have  a pastor or not. Though I love having discussions on that too, so much to learn from others. I am wondering what denomination you go to as you sound much like ours in the Scripture reading, testamonies and communion with everyone sharing in service. I go to a Plymouth Brethern Assembly. Anyways I need to go to bed! Have a good day.

Sharon - posted on 03/08/2009

Thanks for your input Amy. My husband & I have fellowshipped in different denominations, with & without Pastors. Our Elders actually carry out all roles except deeper counselling as we have someone trained up in that area. We dont have deacons but all of us serve, share communion,testamonies, readings or sing a psalm,as practised in the Early church. I'm not complaining or critisizng dont take me wrong I love my family. Alot of us still crave with the need of being ministered to in a challenging or convictional way. Maybe we could ask the Elders to have Pastors as visiting ministry so we feel wev'e been fed some meat? 

Amy there are other reasons I am asking about this as I myself have found barriers & areas where you might call grey. I will mention only one as I can talk for myself regarding myself. I have always been an evangelist at heart. I am a street reacher,not shouting aloud or anything but as His Holy Spirit has lead I go to whomever. They had called me to lay down sharing the gospel this way & asked that I refrain from doing so. Well I have done this from day dot & seen God's power heal,bring salvation,restore,encourage,& bring hope to so many souls over the years. It was the hardest thing I have EVER had to do but feel I am disobeying HIM by this,so now I go outside my town & evangelise every chance I get,whether doing my shopping, paying bills-whatever. In the other two churches we went to with Pastors (over 15yrs) I have never been pulled up for sharing the gospel!  I was even going out with a team 2in each,  which is biblical but was stopped from doing that also? I love the leadership over me so therefore I submitted to them but I have other news to share from what come out of that thats encouraging. I will share when able but for now my kids need me so I'll talk with you again shortly & wrap up my story for now! Much blessing to you & your household Amy :) 

Amy - posted on 03/08/2009

Pastoral care is a gift in the Bible, not a position. Elders and Deacons are positions. 

Amy - posted on 03/08/2009

In our Church there are 3 elders that form the "head". They pray together and apart when it comes to decsion making. If praying for God's will He will make it known to all 3 of them. There is alot of prayer that goes into this type of leadership (not saying there isn't in other churches by any means!) They pray together, pray seperately and come back together to see what God has shown them. There is a lot of structure. Each elder has a slightly different role to play and the lay people are all very involved too. 

I have no problem with Churches that have pastors at the head, but I think we all need to be careful in critisizing Churches that are different than our own. It may be different to some to have no "pastor" but it is very New Testement. There is nothing unbiblical about it.

Shelly - posted on 03/08/2009

Sharon,

  Just remember this is just my opinion so take it for what it's worth....I don't think that you can have a body of christ with out a true leader in the church.  This is a good example of to many chiefs and not enough indians.   Who in your church makes final desitions& who  in your church  is the true leadership of your church.  With no true shepard all of the sheep are going to wonder.  If you have no structure in the church who is going to set the boundrys.  So yes I would say that the Elders of the church are wrong and you need to go into prayer and ask the Lord for guidance...As far as the comment of a Pastor or Minister can burn out well yes they can and so can the elders of the church and it's liable to tear your church  apart.   Just because they feed us the word does not make them any less human.  It sounds like to me that the Elders in your church are sinning  by coveting the leadership of the church!!!  You are a stronger women than I because I would of been finding another church along time ago...Good luck and I will pray that the Lord will give clear and strong answers to this situation....Lots of Love in Christ 

Amy - posted on 03/07/2009

Sin in the Church is dealt with by the Elders approaching that person and offering concelling and mentoring to them along with accountability. It is expected that the person will make a true effort to leave their sin behind immediatley. There will be a period of grace given, but definately not a year and they would not be considered to be "in fellowship" during that time. We have had people ex-communicated. (Ok, only one that I can remember.) BUt that took time and the person was given time to show he wanted to change. I don't fully agree with what happened but I was only 20 at the time and don't know all the details either. Feel free to write me personally on facebook if you want to chat more too. 

Sharon - posted on 03/07/2009

Quoting Amy:

I belong to a denomintation that does not have "pastors". We have an eldership, and lay people who are able preach on different weeks. There is no set pattern for who preaches when. We have a couple Bible Studies and outreaches, along with Sunday School. We follow the New Testament pattern for the Church which did not seem to include one pastor at the "head" of the Church so to speak. As former missionaries we have seen all kinds of Churches and know that God works in many different manners.

Amy I've posted a reply back on the main conversation panel,forgive me I'm new to this site!

Sharon - posted on 03/07/2009

Thanks Amy, sounds like our tent is like your own,how have you found matters of certain sins being dealt with? With us the Elders take the approach that God gives a period of Grace for that person to repent,say for instance in areas of homosexuality & adultery etc but how much time is one given,-one year is way too long to allow one to live in compromise without it polluting the rest of us & yet if one repents straight away thats ok but people naturally want to cling to their sin .The Elders are accountable for so much more if in error & they themselves tend to hold onto the OLD way of doing things. My husband & I have been planted here & will remain but I just can't help keep going back to the same question every now & then,Thanks Amy for sharing,please feel free to come back with your thoughts. :) 

Amy - posted on 03/07/2009

I belong to a denomintation that does not have "pastors". We have an eldership, and lay people who are able preach on different weeks. There is no set pattern for who preaches when. We have a couple Bible Studies and outreaches, along with Sunday School. We follow the New Testament pattern for the Church which did not seem to include one pastor at the "head" of the Church so to speak. As former missionaries we have seen all kinds of Churches and know that God works in many different manners.