![]() ![]() In order to speak to men for God, elders must speak to God for men. “Intercessory prayer is perhaps the most basic ministry of the elder. He must be fully reliant upon the power of God, who alone “gives the growth” (1 Cor. In order for a pastor to be effective in his ministry, he must be faithful to pray. 2 John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2013), 76. For them, prayer was a time-consuming labor that inevitably caused other duties to be set aside. We see this commitment to pray in the decision of the Apostles in the early church, who appointed others to serve the needs of the growing church so that they might devote themselves “to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (see Acts 6:1-7). ![]() They pray for the souls over whom they keep watch and for whom they will have to give an account. 5:14). Elders plead for the flock of God under their care. But what do elders do?įirst, elders pray (Acts 6:4 Jas. Merkle, “The Biblical Role of Elders,” in Baptist Foundations: Church Government for an Anti-Institutional Age (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2015), 285. (see Acts 11:30 20:17 Php. ![]() Merkle writes, “There is no example in the New Testament of one elder or pastor leading a congregation as the sole or primary leader” 1 Benjamin L. When we come to the New Testament, the evidence indicates that every church had a plurality of elders. This means that we not only need to amend our constitution and by-laws concerning the officers of the church, but we must also understand the roles and responsibilities of elders, deacons, and members. In a previous post on reforming our church government we explained that, in order for our church to be more faithful to Scripture and obedient to our Lord in the area of polity (i.e., church government) we must ultimately become an elder-led congregational church-a church that is ruled by Christ, governed by the congregation, led by elders, and served by deacons. ![]()
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