Leadership Proposal Part 1 - Elders

In our church planting meetings we’ve been trying to decide what type of church government we will use for Ft. Thomas.

I was asked to submit a proposal that we can work off of so here’s the summary of the first draft for discussion (We appreciate feedback from anyone reading this not just Ft. Thomas people).

Core Assumptions –

1. Spiritual leadership in the body is an absolute requirement. Jesus holds the leaders of His body accountable for the health and growth of the church and if the body begins to fail Jesus Himself will remove the lamp stand of that church (Revelation 1-3) and the church leaders are considered ultimately responsible.

2. All leadership accounts in the New Testament are descriptive not prescriptive (they are not commands that must be followed but a historical record of how the first church was lead).
However, New Testament descriptions of leadership contain binding principles that should not be violated.

3. The First Church leadership structure was patterned after the family. Male headship with elders being chosen primary based on their success as a head of a household (1 Timothy 3).

4. Community-based churches, like the First Church, are also very family-like and thus the New Testament pattern should be followed if at all possible. If a change is made from the N.T. pattern the burden of proof is on the church plant to show why the change is necessary.

5. Everyone in the body should strive to be qualified for and promoted into a position of leadership. (1 Timothy 3:1)

Proposal –

1. That a body of elders be commissioned to serve the body in the following ways -
· Train the men of the church
· Take spiritual responsibility for the care of the flock
· Listen to the Head of the church (Christ) and be responsible to lead the church where Jesus is guiding

A. How elders are chosen
· Initially elders are chosen by the head church planter and the elder(s) of the sending church
· After the body of elders is formed it will choose qualified candidates from within the church by unanimous agreement

B. Qualifications of an elder (1 Timothy 3)
· A good reputation that is above reproach in the community of the church plant.
· Faithful to his wife, exhibits self-control and lives wisely
· Enjoy having guests in his house
· Able to teach
· Not a heavy drinker or violent
· Gentle, peace loving & not a lover of money
· Manages his own family well. His children must respect and obey him.
· Not a new convert

C. Exceptions to the qualifications
· Because of the household requirements of an Elder it makes it impossible for a single man or a married man without children to serve as an Elder. This is partially because someone who is single should use that freedom to build the Kingdom with a greater degree of freedom (which a family man is unable to do) and because we cannot test his qualities as the head of a household. In this case we will make the following exception. If a man is qualified in every other way to become an Elder he will be appointed to the board but will not receive the status of full elder until he has served for one year as a testing period (to replace the household tests). The only thing he cannot do until he becomes a full-elder is participate in the practice of the unanimous vote.

D. How the Elder board functions
· Each Elder is given a specific area of oversight within the body
· Each Elder must regularly be in prayerful consideration concerning where Christ is leading the body
· All decision of the Board of Elder’s must be made by unanimous vote
· The Elders are commissioned to release the five-fold ministry of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers to build up the body.
· The Elders must also equip the members of the body to use all the spiritual gifts to build up the body.Every Elder must participate in training the other men of the congregation to qualify for the position of Elder as soon as they are able.