Pastors, Elders, and Other Words

Recently I posted a bit on Gender, Gender roles, and roles for the genders in the church. Or, at least, my understanding of things.


I caused a bit of the confusion - see the comments on this post - with my usage of pastor, and so its worth clarifying what words I think are worth using for what, and why I think that.


I stick to the quote I used that women can be "anything but husbands, fathers and elders". I am broadly an egalitarian. But I am also broadly a complementarian. Regarding the eldership, I cannot make the biblical text say something it doesn't seem to - and as its the New Testament, I personally don't feel able to theologically limbo my way around what seems to be a clear prohibition. So, for the eldership, I honestly believe that this is a form of serving that is restricted to men. For those elders that are married, I think it is appropriate for their wives to support them in this - and because Christian marriage is NOT about submission in a meek, but a joyful and strong way - and this will entail an amount of dialogue. As an aside, having spoken to a male elder and his wife who I know well, however, I was interested that one of the reasons he does not share the exact details of everything with his wife is out of a desire to protect her, in order to serve her interests. Whilst I am sure that some will be offended by such a chivalrous notion, I think its a noble aim. EDIT - I don't fully agree with that view, but I do see where it can come from - I personally would have open-ness were I in that situation.


Regarding pastors, I end up on tricky ground. I believe that discussions of this kind ultimately come down to what church leadership structure you use. And, thus, what you believe the church to be. I would suggest - carefully - that the leadership structure is secondary to the marks of the church. For me, the marks of the church are a celebration of the sacraments (communion, marriage), preaching of the word, the gathering of God's people to worship him together, fellowship and mutual support of the body, and outreach in word and deed as an expression of God's love in the Gospel. If those elements are there, in my opinion, you have a church, and doing these things faithfully - especially preaching the word in such a way as to honour the God of all truth, and exercising the Lords Supper in a respectful way - is crucial.


Then, you have church leadership. One of my favourite pastors once said that every church justifies its leadership structure from the same passages - but ultimately church leaderships can look very different. In an ideal world, I am of the opinion that an eldership should exist - but in the church that I am in in Nottingham, there is a trusteeship and team of senior pastoral staff that fulfil the function. Within that eldership, I believe scripture mandates a lead elder - variously called pastor, shepherd, etc. In this church in Nottingham - and indeed modern churches throughout the West - there are multiple pastors. I think it is appropriate to use the word pastor not as the title for the 'head honcho' of the church, but for people involved in servant leadership over key parts of the Church's mission. In my mind, if a church is large enough, then a pastor for small groups, or a student pastor, is entirely reasonable as a role - and definitely open to being a role held by a woman.


What I am saying, then, is that ultimately leadership is going to be judged based on its fruits, its integrity, its character, and its fidelity to Jesus. I personally think that this will entail a certain distinction along gender lines in the Eldership of a church - but there are DEFINITELY churches that are faithful communities of God's people where the leadership structure is entirely different from what might be the New Testament norm. More importantly, as a young guy, my opinion might be entirely wrong and skewed - but I'd hope that the aforementioned marks of the church cover the bases in terms of recognising a church.


I'm sure this post will lead to a myriad of other questions, so please leave them in the comments and lets continue this conversation.