May I start by saying i am genuinely interested in your answer and am in no way trying to be argumentative. I come from a baptist background but have always been interested in your church concept. Could you explain to me how the church runs and how the services run without a pastor or some such leader. I'm also curious about your thoughts on the many references in the New Testament to pastors, bishops, elders, and deacons.
Thanks for your time.
May God bless you for your help.
A. B.
Thank you for your interest. Your brief note asks some very good questions. Let me try to answer them even though it seems impossible to me to answer them adequately in a few paragraphs.
The last question relates to the leadership in a church. In the New Testament, the apostles appointed elders in every church (Acts 14:23) referring to the churches they had recently established in the cities they visited. The term "elder" emphasizes their growth in life. Elders should be the ones in a church who are more mature spiritually than the others there. What is the function of the elders? It is to oversee (1 Pet. 5:1-2). The word in Greek for overseeing in 1 Peter 5:2 is from the same root as the word commonly translated "bishop" or "overseer". Where it is used, it emphasizes the function of the elders as opposed to their maturity in life. There is nothing in the New Testament that supports the practice of having bishops who have authority over the elders or over several churches.
Deacons and deaconesses are those who take the lead in the practical services in the church. Pastors or shepherds are those who shepherd the saints, that is, who teach and care for them individually. When we say that we do not have a pastor, we mean that no one has that title nor is anyone assigned the responsibility of taking care of affairs in the traditional role of a pastor.
So how does the church operate practically? The word we use to describe the process for making decisions, whether spiritual or practical, is "coordination". Each member of the body has a direct relationship with the Head. Even so, each of us who have been born of God have something of our own experience and learning of the Lord which is our portion for the building up of the body. As we grow in the Lord, our portion also grows. Various groups of saints take the lead in various aspects of the church business. The elders and some helping them coordinate to take the overall lead in the church; other groups of saints coordinate for the children's meetings, going out in the gospel, ushering, etc.
When group of saints come together to care for their area of responsibility, it is to pray and seek the Lord, not only regarding the people or matters they are caring for, but also to open themselves to touch Him and be enlightened by Him. In their fellowship concerning the items to take care of, each one speaks according to their feeling before the Lord. Sometimes something is spoken that causes a positive response in the spirits of the others. That is an indication that the Lord is leading in that direction. Sometimes something is spoken that causes a negative reaction in the spirit. That is an indication that that speaking was not of the Lord. If all are open to the Lord, even the one who spoke will realize that the Spirit is not leading in the direction they spoke and will drop it. Thus in the fellowship in coordination, we are able to come to an understanding of the leading of the Spirit and agree on a practical way to carry it out. When it is clear, the one who is most mature spiritually in that service group should summarize the fellowship and the conclusions that we reached as James did in Acts 15.
We readily admit that it is not easy to make practical decisions in a spiritual manner. There are many things that can frustrate the fellowship. I hinted at one of them above with the phrase, "If all are open to the Lord...." In another response, I discuss the frustrations in more detail because without overcoming them, even the most spiritual exercise soon becomes a lifeless form.