Is a church secretary or treasurer a permanent position?

Answer:

There is no such office in the church as a secretary or treasurer. Duties, such as these, are usually filled by deacons. If there is no one qualified for the work of a deacon, then the responsibility will fall upon the person closest to the requirements, but he doesn't hold the office because he does not meet the requirements in the Bible.

The reason it is done this way is that bills must be paid, the building has to be kept up, and the offering must be counted and deposited. We know the churches functioned without elders and deacons for periods of time (Titus 1:5); yet, even in these periods, the mechanics of the church were still handled.

The positions within the church that exist are Pastors (elders, bishops, overseers), Deacons (servants), Evangelists (ministers, preachers), and Teachers (Ephesians 4:11-12; I Timothy 3). There are no other offices in the New Testament church.

If, say an elder, is no longer able to do his duties because of extended illness or because of sin in his life, then he should step down from his position. If he is in sin and unrepentant, then the church should withdraw from him, which would also remove him from his office.

There are other times when a congregation no longer cares for a preacher, even though he might be doing everything correctly. They may stop funding the preacher. In a way, they are saying, "We longer will pay him to be an evangelist in this area." The preacher is still a preacher, just unpaid at that moment. The church actually does not hire or fire a preacher from a biblical standpoint. There were times when Paul had no support and other times he had full support, but he was still called a preacher regardless of receiving support or not. It is when a church chooses to stop offering its financial support that a preacher looks to move on and be paid for his work somewhere else.

There are no term limits to the offices God has chosen.  People do become disqualified for offices for various reasons and at that time the person should terminate the office of his own accord. But beyond that, there is no time limit given because a person can serve as a preacher, teacher, deacon, or elder at a church for as long as they are qualified.

Some countries require churches to be treated as non-profit businesses and for that purpose, a board is formed that the government chooses to deal with. But as far as the church is concerned the board holds no authority. It just satisfies a government requirement. Typically the positions are filled by the leadership (elders and deacons) in a church or by men of the church if there are no elders or deacons. How long people fill these placeholder spots does not matter.

by Alan Feaster