Baptist offices

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Part of a series of articles on Baptists

Historical Background Protestantism · Puritanism · Anabaptism

Soteriology General · Strict · Reformed

Doctrinal distinctives Priesthood of all believers · Individual soul liberty · Ordinances · Separation of church and state · Sola scriptura · Congregationalism · Offices · Confessions

Pivotal figures John Smyth · Thomas Helwys · Roger Williams · John Bunyan · Shubal Stearns · Andrew Fuller · Charles Haddon Spurgeon · D. N. Jackson

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Baptists generally recognize two Scriptural offices, those of pastor-teacher and deacon.

Theological basis

The office of elder, common in some evangelical churches, is sometimes considered by Baptists to be the same as that of pastor, and not a separate office.

The office of overseer or bishop, where it exists, is almost always considered to be the same as that of pastor. Some Southern Baptist and other Baptistic churches, such as the Episcopal Baptists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may ordain bishops over small regional groups of churches. Bishops are unknown in British Baptist Churches. A system of Regional Ministers within regional Baptist Associations applies. Biblically, in the primitive church, an elder or overseer looked after a single local church.

Gender and character

The churches that restrict their officeholders on the basis of sex point to the model of Christ and His apostles and interpretations of 1 Timothy 2:12-14. However, the issue of women pastors and deacons has surfaced as controversy in some churches and denominations.

In recent years, a number of denominations, especially the American Baptist Churches, USA, have commonly ordained women^{[citation needed]}.

As the decision to call a pastor or appoint deacons typically falls to the local congregation, acceptance of women in these roles will vary from congregation to congregation.

Another controversial issue is whether divorced individuals may serve as pastors and deacons.^{[citation needed]}

Of note was the controversy surrounding Charles Stanley's highly publicized divorce. One extreme view is that a divorced individual cannot serve under any circumstances. The other extreme is that divorced individuals can serve under all circumstances. There are also many views in between these two extremes with consideration for divorces which took place before conversion, infidelity of the other spouse, or other circumstances surrounding the divorce.

Pastor

In most Baptist churches, a primary role of the pastor is to deliver weekly sermons. They will usually have many other duties, not least of which is equipping the members of their churches for ministry in the wider world. A pastor is by definition the shepherd of his flock, and so has a care and concern for the spiritual and practical wellbeing of his congregation. Biblically, the office of pastor is linked with that of teacher.

In most churches, the pastor will often visit homes and hospitals to call on ill members, as well as homes of prospective members (especially those who have not professed faith). The pastor will also perform weddings and funerals for members, and at business meetings serve as the chairman. The pastor may also be required to find outside work to supplement his income.

Larger churches will often have one or more "associate" pastors, frequently with a specific area of responsibility, whereby the overall pastor is considered the "senior" pastor. Some examples of associate ministry are:

• music (the most common)
• youth
• children
• administration (in larger churches)
• evangelism
• home groups
• discipleship and teaching programmes
• college-aged persons

Some Baptists, especially Reformed Baptists, believe in a plurality of elders. In that case usually only full-time paid elders will be called Pastor, while part-time volunteer pastors are more often called Elder, but these are sometimes regarded as the same office.

Deacon

The office of deacon is to serve the church. Their role is to ensure the practical running of the church, while ensuring that everything is handled in a Christian manner. In churches where there are no elders, deacons may have spiritual oversight of the church and pastor. Deacons are elected by the church Meeting, to whom they are accountable. They make day to day decisions within the policy set by the church Meeting. In the organization of many churches, each deacon will have responsibility for a specific area of church life, such as youth work, property maintenance, finance (the Treasurer is almost always a deacon first), administration (the church Secretary is almost always a deacon first), evangelism, and particular ministries (e.g. to the mentally ill, to single parents and so on). Sometimes each family unit within the congregation is assigned to a specific deacon, who will be their first port of call when they have a need that the church can supply.

Some churches which use cell groups may appoint deacons as leaders of each group.

Perhaps the greatest calling for a Deacon is to be a good example of Christian living and service, and an encouragement to others to do likewise, in accordance with the precepts listed in 1 Timothy 3.

In British Baptist churches, the collective leadership – pastors, elders, deacons, secretary and treasurer – are Managing Trustees for the purposes of the Charities Act 2006.

References

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http://www.baptist.org.uk/resources/resource_downloads/201.pdf