Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09049 The role of elders is one of the most important and most misunderstood subjects in church life. Some churches have elders in name but give them no real authority. Others vest so much power in a single leader that the plurality the New Testament assumes has vanished entirely. Understanding what Scripture actually says…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09046 The church exists for a reason. It was not an accident, an afterthought, or a social convenience. Christ brought it into being at a specific moment in redemptive history for specific purposes, and understanding those purposes is essential for any local church that wants to be faithful to its calling rather than simply…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09034 The relationship between the church and the state is one of the most consequential questions in Christian ethics and ecclesiology. It touches on everything from whether Christians should pay taxes to whether the church should challenge unjust laws, from the extent of government authority to the limits of Christian obedience. The New Testament…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09035 The question of whether churches should be involved in politics provokes strong reactions on every side. Some argue that the church should stay out of politics entirely, focusing exclusively on spiritual matters. Others insist that the church has a moral obligation to engage with political issues as part of its prophetic calling. The…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09031 Church planting is the intentional establishment of new local congregations where none existed before, or where existing churches are insufficient to reach the people in a given area. It is one of the primary strategies by which the gospel has advanced throughout history, and it has clear precedent in the New Testament itself,…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09096 The office of deacon is one of the most familiar roles in church life, yet what churches actually do with their deacons varies enormously. In some traditions, deacons function as a governing board. In others, they serve in a purely ceremonial capacity. The question is what the New Testament itself says about the…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09021 Presbyterian church government takes its name from the Greek word presbuteros, meaning elder, and it places the authority of the church in the hands of elected elders who govern both at the local and the regional level. It is the polity most closely associated with the Reformed tradition, practised by churches in the…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09011 The training and calling of pastors is a subject on which the New Testament says more than many churches realise and less than some seminary programmes assume. The modern pathway to pastoral ministry, which typically involves formal theological education followed by a search process and an institutional appointment, is not the only model…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 09010 Ordination is a word used across virtually every Christian tradition, yet it means different things in different contexts. In some traditions it confers a sacramental character that permanently changes the nature of the person ordained. In others it is a formal recognition of a calling that the church has observed and affirmed. Understanding…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09092 The question of whether a church should be led by a single pastor or a team of elders has been debated throughout church history and continues to generate strong convictions on both sides. The stakes are real: church governance shapes how decisions are made, how power is distributed, how accountability operates, and how…