It is not a question of the meaning of the biblical terms, but of the role to be played.
Certainly all pastoral staff should meet the spiritual maturity requirements of elders, and so should everyone in our congregations as they grow in Christ. Simply meeting the basic requirements doesn’t qualify one for eldership, nor does it mean that such individuals who do meet them should or must serve in that capacity. In fact, many do meet the basic requirements yet do not serve in that role. (See my earlier blog entry, “Spiritual Maturity Is Not Just For Elders.”)
This is more a practical matter of church governance or organizational structure and leadership. The senior/lead pastor should serve on the elder board, but other paid staff should not. I have been in leadership in churches that have practiced this and in some that have not.
Here is my short list of ten reasons why it is not a good idea for all pastors to serve as elders:
Not all ten situations will always be present when staff pastors serve as elders. Still, the list reveals many negatives which are often overlooked, left unexamined or undiscussed, even dismissed out-of-hand as “unbiblical,” “authoritarian,” “too corporate” or by the use of some other pejorative term.
On the positive side of things, it would be advantageous to notice that these gifted and godly pastors could be freed up from board responsibilities to give more of themselves to their ministry passions and callings. In releasing them from the elder group, the elders themselves would be freed up to pursue their own work and not be drawn into ministry mechanics and micromanagement.
Also it would free up the senior/lead pastor to fulfill his duties to the elders in overall church leadership, and to the other pastors as their team leader and encourager. Finally, the church will benefit from a healthier, happier and more unified and productive team of leaders!
Certainly all pastoral staff should meet the spiritual maturity requirements of elders, and so should everyone in our congregations as they grow in Christ. Simply meeting the basic requirements doesn’t qualify one for eldership, nor does it mean that such individuals who do meet them should or must serve in that capacity. In fact, many do meet the basic requirements yet do not serve in that role. (See my earlier blog entry, “Spiritual Maturity Is Not Just For Elders.”)
This is more a practical matter of church governance or organizational structure and leadership. The senior/lead pastor should serve on the elder board, but other paid staff should not. I have been in leadership in churches that have practiced this and in some that have not.
Here is my short list of ten reasons why it is not a good idea for all pastors to serve as elders:
- It can subvert the authority of the senior/lead pastor, who serves on the board of elders and carries out their broad directions and policies, inhibiting him from effectively leading the pastoral team he is responsible to lead.
- It puts the paid staff pastors in an awkward position of being both above and under the authority of their senior leader. In such a situation, they have to wear two hats (elder, staff pastor), but this rarely works well for very long. Many take great advantage of this organizational ambiguity.
- The pastoral staff might see themselves as accountable primarily to the board, not to the senior/lead pastor, and only in general terms. So there ends up being minimal accountability for ministry results using any kind of meaningful measurements.
- Simply the number of paid staff on the elder board can become overbearing, and then it minimizes the leadership and marginalizes the influence of the “lay” elders.
- Because of the heavy pastoral influence on the elder board, fewer people feel qualified to serve alongside them in this role. These pastors themselves often end up promoting a higher than necessary standard to serve as an elder.
- Each staff pastor can end up carrying out one’s own vision and individual preferences in philosophy, rather than being committed and aligned within an overall church vision and approach to ministry.
- It is not uncommon to have staff creep, a gradual almost imperceptible increase in the number of paid staff “needed” to run the ministries of the church as well as their remuneration.
- The elder board meetings will almost invariably end up serving as an extension of staff meetings, rather than being focused on the primary duties of setting overall direction and policies, and praying for the church.
- In reality the church ends up paying for staff pastors to sit on the elder board. They spend many hours each month on elder items, when they could and should be spending their time on task in their assigned ministry roles.
- Relationships among normally godly leaders tend to deteriorate over time because of the frustration generated by such a deficient church structure.
Not all ten situations will always be present when staff pastors serve as elders. Still, the list reveals many negatives which are often overlooked, left unexamined or undiscussed, even dismissed out-of-hand as “unbiblical,” “authoritarian,” “too corporate” or by the use of some other pejorative term.
On the positive side of things, it would be advantageous to notice that these gifted and godly pastors could be freed up from board responsibilities to give more of themselves to their ministry passions and callings. In releasing them from the elder group, the elders themselves would be freed up to pursue their own work and not be drawn into ministry mechanics and micromanagement.
Also it would free up the senior/lead pastor to fulfill his duties to the elders in overall church leadership, and to the other pastors as their team leader and encourager. Finally, the church will benefit from a healthier, happier and more unified and productive team of leaders!
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