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Church Leadership and Staff

Local churches today may have several pastors, youth directors, music ministers, children’s leaders, and
the list goes on and on. Are all these positions at a church found in the Bible?

In the New Testament, there are no such positions mentioned. In the New
Testament, you find two groups of leadership: elders (also referred to as bishops,
shepherds, overseers, or pastors – all the same individual) and we have deacons.
Generally the elders provided leadership and were primarily involved in teaching
God’s Word to the membership. The deacons were called to be servants to the
membership. They assisted the elders in meeting and managing the physical
needs of the membership.

In Acts 20:17 Paul, on his way to Jerusalem, passed from Ephesus, where he “called the elders (plural) of
the church”. Notice that there was one church, the church in Ephesus, and many elders. Notice also that
Paul called for the elders. The text does not say that he called for the elders and the senior pastor and
the assistant pastors and the bishop. It is just elders! They had no special title attached to any of them.
There was no person called “senior pastor” or “assistant pastor” etc. They were all elders. And at the
church of Ephesus, there were more than one, perhaps because of the size of the congregation. Paul
told them:

Acts 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made
you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

The role of the overseer or pastor was to shepherd or “acts as a shepherd in guiding” (Vine’s dictionary,
p. 427) the church of God. The Greek word is “episkopos” and is the very same word used in I Timothy
3:2 as “bishop” in setting up the requirements to serve in this overseeing position. The
word Shepherd is a translation of the Greek word poimen, translated “pastor” elsewhere (e.g., Ephesians
4:11). This poimen is someone who tends herds or flocks and is used metaphorically of Christian pastors
because pastors should guide the “flock” of God and feed them the Word of God. The shepherd is one
who guides the sheep to their food source by going out in front of the flock. The shepherd watches out
to protect the flock and takes care of any who are sick or injured. As a shepherd cares for a flock of
sheep, the elders were to care for the church of God.

Qualifications to become an elder or pastor

The Greek word translated “bishop” is episkopos (the source of our English word episcopal). The bishop
is the superintendent, the overseer, or the officer in general charge of the congregation. In the Bible
bishops are also called “elders” (1 Timothy 5:19) and “pastors” (Ephesians 4:11).

We have already reviewed the scriptures in I Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9 which are the primary verses
which detail the qualifications for a person to become a pastor. They are:

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