And Adam . . . I personally hold to a two-office view of church government. That is, the only church offices provided for in Scripture are that of elder and deacon, and that the bifurcation of the office of elder into “teaching” and “ruling” classes (with differing requirements for office) is unbiblical. Now, there’s no doubt that some elders will be more gifted in expounding upon the Word than others, and those guys might receive the “double honor” (1 Tim 5:17) of remuneration from the church for their work. But . . . the prevailing thought that the “pastors” are the guys on staff who teach, preach, and administer the sacraments while the “elders” are laymen who make the decisions . . . that’s got to go, in my opinion. They occupy the same office.
Nope, definitely not the only one, Chris. I mean, since the PCA does make the distinction, I’ll submit to it, of course. I’m not about to raise a stink over a point that won’t make a huge difference in how things work day to day.
Funny thing is that the PCA is “officially” a two-office denomination, but in practice, it’s definitely three-office. I wish they’d either go ahead and say “we’re three-office” or make the changes necessary to be a two-office denomination in more than just name.
Yeah, I knew where you stood, Rae. I just thought that cake was funny. That’s the humor, I guess. I don’t think I’d ever see such a cake topping in a Baptist church, regardless of if it is pluarl or single elder led. Very clever, nonetheless. I like it! Blessings to you in your ministry.
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Congrats, Rae!
Awesome. Blessings on your ministry!
As regards picture #1…
Hmm, must be a presbyterian thing.
Thanks guys!
And Adam . . . I personally hold to a two-office view of church government. That is, the only church offices provided for in Scripture are that of elder and deacon, and that the bifurcation of the office of elder into “teaching” and “ruling” classes (with differing requirements for office) is unbiblical. Now, there’s no doubt that some elders will be more gifted in expounding upon the Word than others, and those guys might receive the “double honor” (1 Tim 5:17) of remuneration from the church for their work. But . . . the prevailing thought that the “pastors” are the guys on staff who teach, preach, and administer the sacraments while the “elders” are laymen who make the decisions . . . that’s got to go, in my opinion. They occupy the same office.
Just so you know where I stand.
The divide between Ruling and Teaching elders never did make sense to me. Glad to hear I’m not the only one!
Nope, definitely not the only one, Chris. I mean, since the PCA does make the distinction, I’ll submit to it, of course. I’m not about to raise a stink over a point that won’t make a huge difference in how things work day to day.
Funny thing is that the PCA is “officially” a two-office denomination, but in practice, it’s definitely three-office. I wish they’d either go ahead and say “we’re three-office” or make the changes necessary to be a two-office denomination in more than just name.
Maybe I should blog about this…
Yeah, I knew where you stood, Rae. I just thought that cake was funny. That’s the humor, I guess. I don’t think I’d ever see such a cake topping in a Baptist church, regardless of if it is pluarl or single elder led. Very clever, nonetheless. I like it! Blessings to you in your ministry.
Congrats Rae! May God use you mightily to advance His Kingdom!
I’m sad that I missed this.
The devil (my employer?) was pulling me into Sin City! hehe
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