Pilgrimage

(Another Unrevised Piece of the Prospectus)

Various types of pastoral leadership are found in most every community of Christian believers.  Thomas Schreiner suggests that while titles and descriptions of church leaders vary in the New Testament, the presence of structured leadership is evident in the first century church (Scheiner 2008, 735).  A further examination of the pastor and his role in succession planning will be provided through an exploration of the Scriptures and contemporary literature.

Biblical Terminology

The Bible articulates several distinct terms relating to church leadership.  James Stitzinger, associate professor of historical theology at The Master’s Seminary, identifies five biblical terms that are helpful to more fully understand church leadership.  These terms are:

1. elder (presbyteros), a title highlighting the administration and spiritual guidance of the church (Acts 15:6; 1Tim, 5:17; James 5:14; 1 Pet. 5:1-4) (Stitzinger 1995, 39).
2. bishop or overseer (episkopos), which emphasizes guidance, oversight, and leadership in the church (Acts 20:28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:2-5; Titus 1:7) (Stitzinger 1995, 39).
3. shepherd or pastor (poimen), a position denoting leadership and authority (Acts 20:28-31; Eph. 4:11) as well as guidance and provision (1 Pet. 2:25; 5:2-3) (Stitzinger 1995, 39).
4. preacher (kerux), which points to public proclamation of the gospel and teaching of the flock (Rom. 10:14; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim 1:11) (Stitzinger 1995, 39).
5. teacher (didaskalos), one responsible for instruction and exposition of the Scriptures whose teaching is both instructive (1 Tim. 2:7) and corrective (1 Cor. 12:28-29) (Stitzinger 1995, 39).

In consideration of these five terms, one should note that while the terminology varies in different scriptural passages, these meanings generally refer to a function of the pastoral role (MacArthur 1995, 39-41; Merkle 2007, 46).

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(An Unrevised Piece of the Prospectus)

The New Testament describes the church as both a local body of believers (local church) and all those who have believed in Christ at all times and places (church universal) (Erikson 2006, 340; Schreiner 2008, 695).  “To become a Christian is to enter into the community of faith and, along with other true believers, share in the life of this community, the church (Arrington 1994, 165).  The terminology used in Scripture to describe the church provides insight into its primary nature. The word most often translated “church” in the New Testament is ekklesia.

Yet the early believers did not coin the term.  Instead, “church” (ekklesia) was a common word in the first-century Roman world.  Arising from the verb “to call” (kaleo) plus the preposition “out of” (ek), ekklesia simply means “assembly.”  More specifically, an ekklesia was a gathering of the citizens of a given community who had been called together to tend to city affairs (Grenz 1996, 207).

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