Denominations can be a mixed blessing for the pastor: when they work well, they give your ministry wings; when they don’t, they can feel like a straitjacket. In this Pastor’s brief, we look at how you can work with church structures to ensure that gospel ministry prospers.
A wise colleague once told me that regardless of the nature of any particular form of church government, good people will make it work and sinful people will endeavour to corrupt it to their own ends. In other words, while some structures may be better than others, none are ideal, for none can guarantee our freedom to do the work of gospel ministry.
Church pastors in particular always need to consider how to utilize the structures in which they operate. It is easy for a pastor to find himself servicing the institution rather than his congregation. But all church pastors bear the responsibility to preach, teach and do the work of an evangelist (2 Tim 4:1-5); to set an example for the believers and present them pure and spotless before Christ on that last day (Phil 1:10); to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Eph 4:12); to pass on the gospel to reliable men (2 Tim 2:2); and to send workers out into the world to build God’s kingdom elsewhere. In other words, the task of all pastors is evangelism, edification, equipping and exporting.
Some denominations—for example, the Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA), for whom I work—provide great freedom for the work of gospel ministry. (The PCA explicitly acknowledges Scripture as its “Supreme Standard”.) Some denominations are a little more restrictive. But with all denominations, we must ask “How can we work with the instruments of church government rightly while at the same time adhering to God’s word and to conscience?” and “How can we work effectively in ways that serve our congregation with the gospel?”
While I cannot address every denomination in this article, let me draw on my experience of my own denomination to present you with some principles for working with existing church structures to ensure that the work of gospel ministry flourishes.
The Session
In the Presbyterian church, every pastor works with a Session—the body of elders that governs all affairs of congregational life.1 Most pastors will inherit their elders, and therefore will have no role in their training or appointment, or in establishing a relationship with them prior to their election. All Sessions have established patterns of operation based on either defined or assumed priorities. Some will want to follow the lead of their pastor, while others will be more reluctant to change.
Theologically, there is no imperative to have more than one elder (i.e. the pastor) ruling the affairs of any congregation. However, it is good stewardship to gather and use the talents of those in the congregation who can teach and lead. It is an effective way of “[equipping] the saints for the work of ministry”, delegating ministry responsibility in order to encourage us all to ‘speak the truth in love’ (Eph 4:12, 15). Such a congregational leadership group, then, becomes the forum in which to consult and make ministry decisions, to formulate and spread the vision, and to train, pray and care for the congregation. A Session should ideally function in this way as an expression of, and encouragement to, ‘every member ministry’.
However, problems arise when elders exercise no teaching or leadership roles within the congregation, or are unconverted. Time needs to be given to building relationships with elders in order to work with them to determine whether they can fulfil the role to which they were elected. I have known circumstances where, with encouragement, unqualified elders have resigned, and other circumstances where Presbytery2 has dismissed them. However, sometimes the reality is that such elders remain. Nevertheless, that shouldn’t prevent a pastor from working hard to earn his elders’ trust and convincing them of a biblically shaped mission for the congregation.
Part of this means educating them on a biblical view of church. We Presbyterians like to think we wrote the book (or copied the Book) on ecclesiology, but often that remains theoretical and unapplied. Session matters are decided democratically as each elder, including the teaching elder, receives one vote. In contrast, we should be working to help our elders and leaders to be ruled and to govern theocratically, with the word of God as the truly supreme standard. In particular, passages like 1 Timothy 4, 2 Timothy 2 and 4, Philippians 1, Ephesians 1 and 4:7-16 should guide the Session as, together, you shape the congregation’s mission. You can even point out that the Westminster Divines3 recognized that the biblical model of church was “for the gathering and perfecting of the saints”.4 So instead of determining votes by personal preference or by “what we’ve always done”, elders should be guided by God’s plan to gather a people around and under his word so that all can minister to one another to grow his kingdom in maturity and size.
For the pastor’s part, we must insist on our right to control the pulpit and the music at all “services of worship”, as the Code5 describes it. I think that extends to what is taught in all church small groups as well. While we need to shape and suit our methods to our hearers, we must ensure that God’s word is being taught to those under our care. We are not only answerable to Presbytery, but, far more importantly, we are answerable to God for how and what our people are taught.
In the interests of real and effective congregational leadership, I also favour forming a consultative group composed of Bible study leaders, Sunday School teachers and youth group coordinators—that is, everyone who has a teaching and/or leadership role.6 These people may or may not be elders, and may not ever become elders, but they are effectively acting as such. These people are also the ones on whom to concentrate your training time.
Some Sessions may feel threatened by such a group. They need to be reassured that they will still be taking final responsibility for the congregation, however it is in their interests to foster other forms of leadership as well. A Session refusing to consult widely implies that ministry should be left to the select few, instead of being the task of all God’s people. The ideal situation would be for the Session to work with this group, or to acknowledge its existence and give due weight to its views. At the very least, one of the elders or you, the pastor, need to communicate the desires of the leadership team to the Session, and gain approval for their plans.
Of course, the relationship of any pastor to his Session can be problematic. I have often heard of congregations making the impossible request that new people be attracted to join them, but simultaneously wanting nothing to change. Sometimes compromises can be reached—for example, in situations where a traditional service is retained, but permission is granted to commence a new family service. These matters (including the dismissal of unsuitable elders mentioned earlier) are best negotiated as conditions before taking up an appointment, rather than afterwards. This means pastors need to speak widely to the elders and members of a potential congregation, and to do some homework on the area or networks in which the church ministers.
However, even your best preparation may not translate to a successful working relationship. Session and Presbytery may end up frustrating your ministry. If you are obstructed from serving your congregation in the non-negotiable areas of evangelism, edification, equipping and exporting, it’s time to move on.
The Presbytery
Pastors also need to consider their wider denominational responsibilities outside of their congregations. Denominations are useful associations for organizing the pooling of resources. They facilitate the operation of theological colleges, missionary societies, social services, administration and other functions that would otherwise be difficult for most individual congregations to conduct unaided. They also foster cooperation between member congregations. Regardless of the particular denomination, pastors have an obligation to assent to its distinctives and participate in its affairs.
The primary governing bodies within Presbyterian denominations are the Presbyteries. As the association of churches from a particular area, Presbyteries are responsible for supervising congregations and their use of property and financial resources, supervising the appointment and conduct of ministers, approving ministry candidates and even coordinating a church planting strategy for their area.
Theologically, we are in partnership with all like-minded congregations of God’s people. Ideally, Presbytery functions as just such a local partnership. In reality, however, individual pastors, Sessions or congregations may no longer share our Reformed and evangelical views. With such groups, we may have denominational unity, but not unity in the gospel. Presbytery and Assembly (state and national governing bodies) provide us with opportunities to call them to repentance or, at least, to challenge them to have the integrity to disassociate themselves from a denomination they no longer agree with. We may even need to spend considerable time in legislative process to effect their disassociation. However, when there are gospel issues at stake, it is vital that we do what we can to prevent the denominational brand from validating their false teaching, thereby leading people astray. It’s important so that the brand is not brought into general disrepute and so that false teachers do not waste scarce ministry resources.
Yet more often in Presbyterian circles, the battles are not over central doctrinal issues, but over their practical application. As long as the required rules and standards are met, there is, in fact, scope for a wide variety of ministry styles and practices within the denomination. That, of course, doesn’t stop efforts from some to obstruct innovative ministries. But Presbytery provides an opportunity to protect the freedom of congregations to conduct their own affairs. We should argue for the church that wants to employ a women’s ministry worker, for the growing church applying for a grant to buy a building and for the church that wants to start a Friday night congregation. I once even volunteered to be the Moderator for a particularly innovative home mission station so that I could protect and foster the initiative, even though it lay in a different Presbytery to mine. Let’s ensure that the denomination exists to serve the local congregation, not the congregation to serve the institution.
However, probably the most important task of Presbytery is the appointment of ministers, and the approval and supervision of ministry candidates. It’s right for a denomination to exercise discernment in these matters and to utilize the collegiate wisdom of Presbytery, among other bodies, to decide. So when ministers and candidates come for examination before Presbytery, it’s good to ask them the doctrinal questions that are seldom put forward. Ensure they are godly and gospel-focussed people, and adequately trained for (or in training for) their ministry. Argue against those who wish to make the unimportant issues central—for example, their Presbyterian heritage, their desire to preserve ‘traditional worship’ or their view on the Sabbath. Join your Presbytery’s student subcommittee. Standardize the assessment procedures so that they concentrate on the important issues of life and doctrine. Here lie great opportunities for us to foster and encourage the next much-needed generation of ministers in our denomination.
We should also consider what we can achieve through Assembly committees.7 We need to recognize that some of these committees will exercise great influence over the future of the denomination. Setting the direction and freeing up financial resources for use in evangelism, church planting, theological education and ministry training can be worthwhile investments of your time.
However, all of this requires a good working knowledge of the Code, and that comes with being Presbyterian! For the most part, godly men framed the Code in order to facilitate the ministry of the gospel, so use it accordingly. But also recognize that the system is lubricated by large amounts of goodwill. So spend time and effort building relationships with your colleagues. Reaching decisions by consensus rather than by confrontation or the enactment of new rules is always preferable. And choose your battles: often matters raised in Presbytery and Assembly can be safely ignored and will be forgotten—unless someone makes a fuss over it. Before you take up the fight, make sure the issue is not only central, but will also have a significant impact.
Ultimately, however, our denominational involvement should be limited. If we have been set apart for gospel ministry, we cannot spend significant amounts of time keeping minutes, editing newsletters or arranging social services. It’s too easy to do the urgent instead of the good and to let denominational affairs dominate your time. As important as these jobs may be, we need to find others to do them, or be prepared to leave them undone so that we can concentrate on the ministry to which we have been set apart.8 So let’s fulfil our denominational responsibilities, wisely stewarding our time and working out new ways to utilize denominational resources, but not to the neglect of the work of preaching and building up our people.
Endnotes
1. This article only addresses how to deal with the current state. We do not have space to consider the important debate over the nature of Presbyterian versus New Testament eldership, or the desirability or otherwise of lifelong eldership.↩
2. The Presbytery is the primary governing body formed by the association of local PCA Churches.↩
3. Clergyman who participated in the Assembly that drafted the Westminster Confession of Faith.↩
4. “Unto this catholic visible Church Christ has given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and does, by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto” (Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter XXV III. Emphasis mine.)↩
5. That is, the rules and regulations that dictate how Presbyterian church government is to be conducted.↩
6. Of course, sometimes these people need to be raised and trained, together with new elders.↩
7. It is largely the Assembly committees that set the strategy and control the disbursement of funds through state and national bodies.↩
8. This requires vigilance over your diary, as well as wisdom and feedback from others—especially wise elders. Wouldn’t it be great to trust your Session to see your diary and limit your external involvement!↩
