Talk:Church government

From Theopedia

Text up for discussion

HokieRNB 14:31, 7 October 2006 (UTC) removed the following for discussion:

On the Overseers and Deacons in Philippians 1 Episkopoi— Who are these Overseers? The term many are most familiar with in our current culture is “Pastor.” We use the term “Pastor” a lot, in fact if you have THE MESSAGE, a useful paraphrase of the Bible, Eugene Peterson’s version of this passage translates the terms in Philippians 1 “pastors” and “ministers. ” This can be misleading because “Pastor” this is not a common New Testament title for church leaders. Pastoring/Shepherding (the word poimnen) is used mostly as a verb, the action of shepherding. This calling is usually given to men who are called “Elders/Overseers.” In fact, we know that the same people are called elders and overseers in the same context in both Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5. The New Bible commentary on Philippians has an insightful summary of who elders/overseers were and their function, Eldership was their place in the community, oversight their responsibility. (From D. A. Carson, ed., New Bible Commentary, 21st Century Edition, Rev. Ed. of: The New Bible Commentary. 3rd Ed. / Edited by D. Guthrie, J.A. Motyer. 1970., 4th ed. ed. (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994).) Finally, Polycarp wrote a letter to this same church about 50 years later which was addressed to a group of leaders he called “elders.” (2. FF Bruce, New International Biblical Commentary on Philippians, page 28.) Deacons – Many are confused today as to what “deacons” are and what they are to do in the church. To put very simply, deacons are those who have been called upon by the pastor/elders to serve all sorts of needs which arise in the church. The word simply means “servant” or “minister” - Both men and women are called deacons in the New Testament. A church may call out deacons to serve in many areas of need. There can be deacons of administration, serving needs within the congregation, serving the poor. There can be deacons who assist in worship, deacons of technology, communication, design and just about anything that serves a need for the people of God. Deacons would be identified by the congregation and function in the body as servants under the oversight of the pastor/elders.

Ought this be moved to the respective articles for Elder and Deacon?

Before it goes anywhere it needs to be revised to an encyclopedic tone. JordanBarrett (talk) 18:13, 7 October 2006 (UTC)