I. In the organization of the church, we read – Eph 4:11<\/p>\n
A. There were Apostles and prophets, involved in the establishment of the church.<\/p>\n B. There are evangelists (preachers), pastors (elders), and teachers, involved in continuing\nthe work to build up the church.\n
C. Each part, working together, causes the growth of the church – Eph 4:14-16<\/p>\n 1. Though these offices are a key part, each of us is needed to build the Lord’s\nchurch.\n 2. I Cor. 12:12-18 – Each member exists because God put them there for the\nbenefit of the church.\n
D. In the functioning of the church, there are other duties to be preformed.<\/p>\n
1. People need to watch over the day to day activities of a congregation – Acts 6:1-3<\/p>\n 2. People may be sent to deliver aid that a church has gathered or to act on a\nchurch’s behalf. – I Cor. 16:3-4, Phil. 2:25-26.\n 3. People may be sent to teach God’s Word were it has not reached before – Acts\n13:1-3\n E. As you can see, decisions had to be made and someone had to choose. How did the\nearly church organize itself for making decisions?\n
II. Case studies<\/p>\n
A. Acts 6:1-6<\/p>\n
1. A problem arose in the distribution of aid among the saints.<\/p>\n 2. From I Tim. 5:9-10, we know that the church cared for certain widows who\nhad no family to support them. It is apparent that the church in Jerusalem had a\nlarge number of widows to care for.\n 3. The apostles told the brethren to pick out seven men to be put in charge of\ncaring for these widows. They could not be any men, because they represented\nthe church.\n
4. Notice who did the choosing – the WHOLE church (verse 5).<\/p>\n 5. Interestingly, even though the apostles were there. Even though they were\nimpartial and inspired by the Holy Spirit, yet they said it was the church’s\nresponsibility to do the selection.\n
6. Once chosen, the apostles ordained them into their office.<\/p>\n
B. Acts 13:1-3<\/p>\n
1. The Holy Spirit asked that Saul and Barnabas be set apart for special work.<\/p>\n
2. The church laid hands on them and sent them out.<\/p>\n 3. When they returned, they reported to the whole church, who had commended\nthem to the work – Acts 14:26-28\n
C. Acts 15:4, 22, 30<\/p>\n 1. The whole church gathered to hear Paul and Barnabas’s report. When it\nbecame apparent there was a problem, the elders and apostles gathered to\ndebate the matter, but the debate was before the whole church, because they\napproved of the solution.\n
2. It was the whole church who chose men to send with the letter.<\/p>\n
3. It was the whole church who received the letter and reports.<\/p>\n
D. I Cor 5:4-5<\/p>\n
1. When a man was found in sin, it was the whole church who withdrew.<\/p>\n
2. It was a punishment inflicted by the majority – I Cor 2:6<\/p>\n
3. This matches Christ’s instructions – Matt 18:17<\/p>\n
E. I Cor 16:3, II Cor 8:18-19<\/p>\n
1. Men were selected by the churches to carry their gifts to Jerusalem.<\/p>\nIII. One thing that is noticeable, we do not find small groups making decisions on behalf of the\nchurch\n A. One brother noted that the church seems to pick up fads from outside and applies them\nto its organization.\n 1. Soon after the first century, we learn that the church took on a hierarchical\norganization, modeled after the Roman empire.\n 2. Though in the last century, the church made decisions as a whole, it was only\nthis century that men’s business meetings began, modeled after the way\nbusinesses are operated.\n B. What is noticeable is there is no record of a men-only group making decisions for the\nwhole.\n
C. Churches did function for periods of time without elders – Acts 14:23<\/p>\n 1. However, we cannot assume any organization is acceptable. We have New\nTestament patterns and we ought to follow them.\n 2. Sometimes brethren come away with the notion that elders make all the\ndecisions.\n a. Notice that the Apostles did not select the men for serving the widows\nin Acts 6.\n b. Notice that the Apostles and elders did not alone select men to carry\nand testify to the decision in Acts 15.\n c. It is likely that decisions in Corinth and in Antioch were made in the\npresence of elders.\nIV. The reason for a men-only group operating the church in the absences of elders is due to\nconcerns that women remain in subjection.\n A. Since decisions of the church were made by the whole church in the first century, such\nconcerns are legitimate.\n
B. However, we have regulations dealing with this problem – I Tim 2:11-12, I Cor 14:34-35<\/p>\n
1. By this we can conclude that women can and are present in the worship service.<\/p>\n 2. By this we can conclude that when the whole church gathered to consider a\nmatter, women were present as well, though they did not participate in the\ndebates that accompanied the decisions.\n 3. However, since the whole church gave its approval, it means that the women\nwere able to indicate their agreement or disagreement with the decision.\n 4. Just as sing does not violate the command to be silent in the churches,\nindicating agreement or disagreement does not violate the command either.\n a. Though the elders and Apostles ruled over the church, the church still\ngave their approval.\n b. Though the Apostles ordained men, the church still selected men to\nserve widows.\n 5. However, questioning a decision or arguing for or against a side does overstep\nthe bounds.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I. In the organization of the church, we read – Eph 4:11 A. There were Apostles and prophets, involved in the establishment of the church. B. There are evangelists (preachers), pastors (elders), and teachers, involved in continuing the work to build up the church. C. Each part, working together, causes the growth of the church – Eph 4:14-16 1. Though…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[1107,667],"class_list":["post-16161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-business-meetings","tag-organization-of-the-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18857,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-should-business-meetings-be-conducted\/","url_meta":{"origin":16161,"position":0},"title":"How should business meetings be conducted?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have no elders at our small congregation. Do you have information available on the workings of these meetings and its rules? What authority its president has versus its preacher? This probably a funny question to ask, but we do need some advice. Answer: It is clear in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60391,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-thought-on-business-meetings-and-elderships\/","url_meta":{"origin":16161,"position":1},"title":"A Thought on Business Meetings and Elderships","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bill Jackson In any situation involving men laboring together, some decisions are going to have to be made and some course of action must be decided upon by someone if any good product is obtained. In the congregations of God, the thousand-and-one details wherein the work of the congregations\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20760,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-the-whole-church-makes-decisions-how-is-it-organized\/","url_meta":{"origin":16161,"position":2},"title":"If the whole church makes decisions, how is it organized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read\u00a0the reply by Ney Rieber, to the question posed by one that was having a problem reconciling with a congregation that does not have elders. These questions come to mind and I hope you can help answer them when you have time or maybe point me toward a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44977,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-biblical-to-have-camps-for-groups-within-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":16161,"position":3},"title":"Is it biblical to have camps for groups within a church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I would like to ask about fundraising activities for groups within the church, such as youths' meetings, men's meetings, and ladies' meetings. Would it be proper for the youths to have a car wash where the money would go into the youths' group account and not the church's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84199,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-men-hold-a-monopoly-on-the-business-meeting\/","url_meta":{"origin":16161,"position":4},"title":"Do Men Hold a Monopoly on the Business Meeting?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dale Smelser via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 21, 1987 Several articles by me recently on elders, deacons, and business meetings have led to numerous questions about women attending business meetings. I have noted that the business meeting does not have oversight. We cannot substitute another system\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2595,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-church-a-business\/","url_meta":{"origin":16161,"position":5},"title":"Is the church a business?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is the church a business? Answer: Generally, a business is \"an organization established for generating profit; a commercial organization.\" As such, the church is not a business. It is an organization, established by God for the primary purpose of worshiping Him and spreading the good news of salvation to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}