Introduction

If Jesus was to stand before us as the church right now, would we be doing all that He is and has been calling us to do? Are we holding firm to the things we need to? Are we living as a group of believers as He would want and are we functioning as He lays out in His word?

Are we the church Jesus wants us to be?

The aim of every church is to be the purified, ready for His return, Bride of Christ, so that when we stand before Him, whenever that might be, that we are doing what He says and being who He is calling us to be.

Within fulfilling this role, the Church needs to know its relation to God (its nature); it needs to have a foundation of faith on its core beliefs that aren't compromised; it needs to understand its purposes and have certain structures of function in place in order to serve, act and govern as it should to achieve these purposes.

The Heart

This document details biblically what the church needs to be and do, as well as the functions that help to achieve this. All of it is derived directly from Scripture where, with certain functions or manners that aren't clearly marked out for us biblically, there are recommendations based on wisdom. We are to make sure we are becoming the Church Jesus calls us to be and functioning in a biblical manner to achieve this.

Within all of this, as in any procedures and functions, there lies the risk of falling into the trap of making it just about following procedures and structures whilst forgetting the aim of those procedures and structures. Even with biblical guidance and procedures helping us, we can forget why they are there and become content just with good governing measures and following traditions, whereas the aspect God is most concerned about behind it all is our heart. If this becomes just a pattern or method, we can be following correct biblical structures, procedures and traditions, but with our hearts being far from the Lord.

We must remind ourselves constantly that our heart individually is what is valuable to the Lord, and this includes the heart of the church. If we are not loving the Lord with all of who we are and looking constantly to Him in personal relationship with Him, all godly functions can lose their meaning and power. When we have our hearts set on the Lord and on giving Him glory, doing what He desires and being guided by Him, then these biblical guidelines and precedents built on that will result in life and fruit in the church being what it should.

The heart of why we do what we do is key to any system or function. The heart of the church being rooted in loving the Lord with all of who they are is the key and life-giving aspect to the nature, purposes, beliefs and functions mentioned below. To be who God calls us to be as the church, we need to function in a biblical manner, but those manners need to come from a humble heart submitted under the Lord, a heart seeking Him personally first and a heart fully devoted to Him. Our hearts need to be in this place for us to understand and implement the following correctly.

The Nature of the Church

We have to first understand the nature of the church in order to understand its beliefs, purpose and structure. The nature of the church can be seen as the core being of who the church is.

In the New Testament, the church is known as the "ekklēsía" which means, to "call out from". The root Greek word it comes from also refers to those who "belong to the Lord". The church here is a people called out from the world and called to God, to whom it then belongs.

This word used in context also refers to an assembly of the citizens of a city. It was used to refer to an assembly and the act of an assembly, a general assembly for a purpose. The church here is a gathering of people because of their covenant with God.

With this in mind, the "Church" consists of people who have been called out from the world and have submitted to God and committed themselves to Him. They believe in Jesus and what He did for them and it is their life's desire to follow Him and His ways.

All genuine believers in a given city or area that gather together because of the covenant (union, deep commitment) they have with God, and the relationship they have with God (belonging to Him) are therefore the church, and this forms the nature of who the church is.

There are many images used to describe the church in the Bible, but one that Erickson in his book Christian Theology (Second edition) brings to light from Paul's writings, and one that helps us in our understanding of who we are as the church, is that we are God's people, the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit (Erickson 1998:1044-1051).

We (the church) are the People of God

2 Corinthians 6:16b says, "For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'"

This shows us that God will dwell with us and be amongst us, He will be our God and we His people. In being our God, He will reign and govern over us and we as His people will follow, obey and love Him under His governance. It is a picture of us belonging to Him and Him belonging to us.

Being a people of God has certain out-workings from God to us:

• He takes pride in us
• He cares for and protects us
• He keeps us as the apple of His eye (we are most valued by God)
• He expects that we will be His people without holding back or lacking commitment to Him, and without dividing our loyalty between Him and anything else

In love we see from 2 Corinthians 6:16 that He will lead His people and guide them to be His dwelling place. To be the dwelling place of a Holy God, we are to be a Holy people, as encouraged in 2 Corinthians 6:17 where it mentions that we are to be separate and not unclean or unholy. This shows the particular quality of holiness that is expected of the people of God. (We are made holy in Jesus, but now we don't continue to live in sin; in being set apart for God we aim with His help to live in obedience.) The church as His people is to be holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Our nature is to walk with God. This means to be set apart, devoted and loyal towards Him where we follow Him by living lives under His active rule and reign. Within this we will experience His love, protection and Fathership.

We (the church) are the Body of Christ

This image shows that Christ is head over us (His body); that the church is the main vehicle of Christ's activity; and that the Church consists of a group of believers in union with Christ and through Him in union with fellow believers.

Jesus is the head of us (Ephesians 4:15-16) and is the founder and governor of the church (Matthew 16:18), which should result in us knowing Him, learning from Him and then following Him as He guides and leads us, the church (1 John 2:6).

As Jesus commissioned the first disciples to continue His work in Matthew 28, so we, in being His body, are also to be an extension of His work that He started while He was here on earth. We are to continue this work and might even be able with His help to do even greater works (John 14:12).

As we stay connected to Christ as our leader, the image of the body of Christ also speaks of the interconnectedness between the people in the church (1 John 3:16). We are connected as members of His body, and our connectedness and unity come to light especially in terms of the gifts of the Spirit.

There is a dependency of believers on believers; they are all part of one body and have One Spirit in them that unites them. It's a working together, for and with each other in Christ. Each person is given gifts by the Holy Spirit to build up and edify the body, as well as to bring others into the body. All believers and the view and practice of each spiritual gift needs to humbly remain in the right context, which is under Christ's authority and existing for His glory. Each member needs the other members and is needed by the other members.

Members of the body are to:

• Bear one another's burdens
• Restore those who are found in sin
• Be characterized by actual fellowship — empathy, encouragement, edification and a harmony of suffering and rejoicing with each other. Real fellowship involves meeting together regularly.
• Have no hostility towards each other, with all barriers and prejudices being removed
• Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15-16) and build each other up

We as the church are to seek and follow Jesus' leading, seek to continue His work and, in purity, we are all to grow more into the likeness of Christ both individually and then together in unity, encouraging and building one another up as we do so.

We (the church) are the Temple of the Holy Spirit

It was the Spirit who invigorated and empowered the church into action at Pentecost (Acts 1:8). In John 14:15-17 we see that the Holy Spirit lives in each believer when they sincerely believe in Christ, and the Holy Spirit is our seal. We therefore are united into and truly part of the church by the Holy Spirit.

We as the church are a dwelling place in which the Spirit lives and should, with His presence and participation, be showing the fruits of the Spirit; be aware of and use the gifts of the Spirit; be sanctified by the Spirit and be led by the Spirit.

The church should exemplify the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5, which includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This shows that the Holy Spirit is active in the church and proves a sense of genuineness within it. We are also to see the gifts of the Spirit functioning in our church, where people are discovering and alert to their gifts and are using them to build up the body and for the common good.

The Holy Spirit being active in the church should be convicting us of sin and righteousness and judgement individually and collectively as the church (John 16:8). The church needs to be alert to His convictions and change to operate and behave in manners that are pleasing to Him. As He makes us as individuals more holy, He will make the church more holy and pure in the likeness of Jesus.

We need to be alert and sensitive to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to lead us (Romans 8:14). We are to let the Holy Spirit empower us and our ministries and with His help be a witness to all nations. As the Spirit guided the apostles as to where to go and where not to go, as well as setting aside certain people for specific tasks, so we should be led by the Holy Spirit as to what ministries we are to start and do, as well as how we are to go about doing these ministries. In leading us, the Holy Spirit will also remind us of Scripture and bring to mind things Jesus said and taught, as well as teach us all things (John 14:26).

In being led by Him our aim (motivated by a love for God) is obedience, but usually there will be fruit within what we are doing, surpassing mere human abilities and fruit that can be expanded as He desires. The fruit might include people's responses, open doors into places, provision, etc.

With the church being a temple of the Holy Spirit, there will be a sense of unity among the believers as there was with the early church. He created in them a sense of real unity and not an attitude of mine and yours, but of "ours" and looking out for each other.

Conclusion

The church is therefore a people belonging to God, who are in relationship with Him and live and function in the way He desires them to. The Church gathers together because of the covenant (deep commitment/bond) and unity they have with God and with each other because of God.

They are one people founded on Scripture and aiming to be God's people, reflecting and obeying Him and loyal to Him; they are Jesus' followers under His governance aiming to be like Jesus; and they are Holy Spirit indwelt and led in order to serve, reach out and be who the church was designed to be.

The Core Beliefs of the Church

Building on who we are in relation to God, there are certain core beliefs that cannot be seen differently or compromised on, and these form the foundation of our understanding of our faith in the Lord and our functioning and practices. Core beliefs are not open to interpretation but are fundamental and must not be strayed from; they hold us and keep us to key, clear truths from God's word so that we do not waver or compromise on the vital aspects we believe in that are at the root of our faith. Our core beliefs are:

• We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in their original writing as fully inspired of God and accept them as the supreme and final authority for faith and life.
• We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons — Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit.
• We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and was on earth fully God and fully man and is now fully God still at the Father's right hand in heaven.
• We believe that God created man in His own image; that man sinned and therefore received the consequence of death (physical and spiritual).
• We believe all people have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, and are in need of saving (Romans 3:23).
• We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that He died in our place as a substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him and repent are justified (made righteous/right before God) on the grounds of His shed blood.
• We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, while on earth as fully man, set us an example and we are to live in the same way, aspiring to be Christlike (1 John 2:6).
• We believe in the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus, His ascension into heaven, His present life as our King, Leader, High Priest and God, and that He will personally return one day.
• We believe that all who receive and follow the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are reborn of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God. These children are to be aware of and led in all aspects by the Holy Spirit as the presence of God in their lives.
• We believe in the full collection of the gifts of the Holy Spirit operating under His guidance in a biblical and orderly manner within the church.
• We believe in the resurrection both of the just and the unjust, the eternal blessedness and life with Christ of the redeemed and the eternal banishment and punishment of those who have rejected the offer of salvation.
• We believe that the one true Church is the whole company of those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, but that each local gathering of these people constitutes as the church in their context as well.
• We believe that the local Church on earth should, with Christ as its head, strive after His character and ways personally and corporately, and therefore that having accepted salvation from Christ and living to walk in His ways are essentials of Church membership.
• In striving after and living according to His ways, we believe that God has ordained marriage as a heterosexual relationship between a natural man and a natural woman.
• We believe that each believer is responsible for nurturing and maintaining their own personal relationship with God in knowing Him and getting to know Him more. (Prayer, Bible reading and fellowship with the community of believers is essential to this.)
• We believe the church should, at the heart of what they do, look to be like Christ and continue the work of Christ with a focal point on making disciples of all.
• We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ appointed two ordinances — Baptism and the Lord's Supper — to be observed as acts of obedience and to express and convey the message of Christ in our faith; that Baptism is the immersion of the believer in water in obedience to Christ's command and to follow in His example, witnessing to a belief in, and an acceptance of, Christ as Saviour that has already happened; and that the Lord's Supper is the partaking of bread and wine (grape juice) as a symbol of the Saviour's given body and shed blood, in remembrance of His sacrificial death and it being our only way to obtain salvation, and we observe this until He comes.

The Purpose of the Church

The church exists for specific purposes and should aim to be functioning according to these purposes and fulfilling these purposes.

The Church exists:

To worship and glorify God

Ephesians 3:21; Psalm 100:1-2; Matthew 6:9-10; John 4:23-24; Hebrews 12:28; Luke 4:8

• To fulfil this, the church is to include praising God regularly in their meetings. This can be through song, prayer, reflection and the reading of God's Word (specifically parts that exalt Him). Members are also to be encouraged to worship God through their lives (Romans 12:1) and to worship no one else but God alone.

To carry out God's will by the power of the Holy Spirit

Matthew 7:21; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:14

• To fulfil this, there needs to be accurate teaching about the Holy Spirit within the church, as well as prayer being a pillar of the church, where within prayer, God's Will can be discerned and heard, in order to be done.

To fulfil the Great Commandment

Matthew 22:37-40 — loving God with all of who we are, and then loving our neighbour (all people) as we love ourselves

• To fulfil this, the church needs to be hearing and teaching God's Word accurately, obeying what He is calling them to do and behaving in the manner He is calling them to behave in (John 14:15).
• The church also needs to teach and train people on how to further their own walk with God through prayer, Bible reading and other measures in order to know Him more. Time with God and time dedicated to Him with the right heart helps us to show love towards God and helps cultivate that love for Him that involves an intimacy and abiding in Christ (Matthew 7:24; John 15).
• The church needs to be aware of social and community needs and look to help purposefully in these areas, as well as looking to help in situations that come up unexpectedly. All of this needs to be processed in wisdom with the aim being to show love to our neighbour (Luke 10:25-37).
• The Church needs to teach on, encourage and embody the characteristics of love. Each believer should be showing the love explained in 1 Corinthians 13 to other believers and the world around them.

To be Pure (in the process of being made pure)

2 Corinthians 7:1; Isaiah 1:16; 1 John 1:7; Ephesians 5; Daniel 12:10; James 1:2-4; Galatians 6:16-26

• To fulfil this, the church needs to be attentive to God's Word and teach it correctly, as well as all hearing it with teachable hearts. Each person needs to strive to be more like Jesus in their character, bringing sins before God personally and aiming to follow His ways with the help of the Holy Spirit. Messages that challenge peoples' character are to be preached and sins are not to be condoned or belittled, but an understanding of righteousness is to be preached and aimed for, and righteousness is to be sought by all, both to know what is right in God's eyes and then to walk in it. There will at times be those who continue to walk in sin even after being challenged by their leaders; here you will need to exercise measures of church discipline which will need to be handled with much wisdom and prayer.
• All matters the church is involved in, all actions taken and dealings done need to be done with integrity and in righteous ways in the character of Christ. No underhanded or questionable dealings or methods are ever to be considered or done by the church.

To make disciples

Matthew 28:18-20 — This is one of the absolute foundations of church existence.

• Knowing that the church is a group of believers, our function is to evangelise and make the manifold wisdom of God known in salvation (Ephesians 3:10). The good news of Jesus starts the discipleship journey with some committing to and coming to know Jesus. Therefore evangelism should be taught and practised.
• Discipleship is a process where we are learners of Jesus and under His authority, so it does not stop at evangelism. Believers are to be taught and journeyed with so that they can grow into the likeness of Jesus in all areas of their lives, with the aim of each and every one reaching maturity in the faith, becoming more and more Christ-like (Ephesians 4:13) and going on to disciple others.
• To fulfil this, the church needs to understand what discipleship is, have individual discipleship relationships taking place for those who are ready and capable, as well as to have their events and programs within each ministry aimed at specific stages of someone's spiritual journey. They also need to have material to train those who are ready, on how to disciple others in their journey with Christ.

To do good works

Matthew 25:31-46 (sheep and goats); Matthew 5:14-16

• To fulfil this, the church needs to feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick and go to those in prison. This can be through ministries started up to actively help in these areas (e.g. a soup kitchen, clothing drives, prison ministry, keeping food items at the church for when needy people come for help) as well as by teaching the congregation to have an attitude and heart of being sensitive to the needs of others and to be a people of good works in their daily lives.
• (Revelation 2-3 — God knows their works and judges them on these) To fulfil this, the church needs to work hard, endure patiently and not bear with those who are evil, calling out falsehood in the church of what is not becoming of a Christian and calling out and correcting false doctrine. Not denying the faith, keeping love, holding to the faith, being a church of service and obeying Jesus' words.

For all to become part of the body-fellowship

Acts 2:47; Hebrews 10:25

• To fulfil this, the church needs to try and plug believers into the body of Christ for their growth and development in the faith. If they choose to stay alone they are still saved, but they miss out on fellowship, encouragement and being part of God's design. It is also harder to continue in the faith alone and so it is wiser to be in a body/family. Helping each person to be incorporated into the body/family includes encouraging them to attend church regularly, become a member, join a Bible study / cell group / connect group in order to meet and do life with fellow believers, and to attend meaningful events that will grow their faith.

For leaders to equip the saints for works of service

Ephesians 4:12; Matthew 25:14-30; 1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12

• To fulfil this, the church needs its leaders to be aware of the flock and have methods of training in place in the different ministries, as well as to have events aimed at equipping the believers. Helping each believer discover and know their spiritual gifts through spiritual gifts tests and an exposure to different ministries will help this, along with following up that they are using their gifts in a biblical manner. Each believer is also to be encouraged to put effort into seeking to know their gifts and to serve others themselves. It is as much the leaders' responsibility to be providing training and equipping the believers, as it is the believers' responsibility to be pro-active and, with this help, actively look to serve as God desires them to.
• An attitude and ethos of serving is to be shown from the leadership and transferred to the congregation through the leaders practically serving, as well as having service activities as a part of certain church events, outreaches and Bible studies / cell groups / connect groups.

A Vision and Mission Statement

With the Church being involved in many different aspects and the purposes of the Church being manifold, it is helpful for a Church to have a Vision and a Mission statement that helps refine the purposes and aims of the Church into an easy-to-understand statement or sentence.

This should be something that is not treated lightly and should involve the leadership of the Church, and then the Church at large, as they pray through a Vision and Mission statement of what God wants the Church to be pursuing and aiming for. This statement should encapsulate the above purposes in some way and be open to God's guidance in putting it together.

Once the Vision and Mission statement is agreed upon, it should become a guide for the Church members personally and guide the ministries of the Church.

An unfolding of the Church's Vision and Mission, and how to intentionally be on the path to achieving it and what it all entails, might be more in depth and involve different aspects that can be expanded on and explained in an explanation of the Vision and Mission, but won't be part of the concise statements mentioned.

The Vision or the process of fulfilling the Vision (the Mission statement) should entail aspects of discipleship (how to help people become disciples of Jesus, mature as disciples of Jesus and to in the future make disciples of others themselves).

This again should be a clear and concise statement that all the church can and should know and be aiming to follow. It is a clear measurable target or aim that the Church is aware of, committed to and journeying towards as individuals and collectively.

If your Church does not have a Vision Statement, one way to start the process is to:

• Have the leaders have a time of prayer and highlight key Scriptures that God highlights and key Scriptures that should guide the Church (look at the scriptures mentioned above, with an emphasis on the Great Commandment and the Great Commission).
• Based on these verses, write down key words and phrases of what the Church should be aiming to be and do.
• Pray through it and refine some of the phrases, combine some if they fit and hold key phrases that stick out above the others.
• From here try to construct a sentence starting with: "Our church exists to…" and then your sentence should flow from this.
• Again this is not vague but simple and pointed, and unless God guides overwhelmingly in another direction, it should have the heart of the Great Commandment and Great Commission.
• From your vision statement you now need to pray through how to accomplish that. This will be your mission statement.
• God might guide you to certain passages of scripture or aspects of Jesus' life and mission that will help you in putting this together.
• Your mission statement should state concisely how you will achieve the vision statement you have come up with and needs to be covered in as much prayer as the vision statement was.

Some examples of Vision and Mission statements

The Structure of the Church

For the church to function as it should, by embodying the nature of the church, holding to the core beliefs as well as accomplishing its purposes, it needs to have certain structures in place to help facilitate God-honouring decisions to achieve this.

In order to make God-honouring decisions as Christ's body, the church first needs to make sure that the right people are involved in the decision-making processes.

The church, as we have seen, is made up of true believers of the faith, and when people believe sincerely in Christ they are then part of the body of Christ and become disciples of Jesus. However, Acts 2:42-47 shows us that in the early church, in the audience of messages being preached there were unbelievers. The believers devoted themselves to many godly disciplines to grow their faith, but according to verse 47, there were still daily those who were being added who were being saved. So it can be safely assumed that unbelievers were at times in the midst of believers as they worshipped God.

This is similar to our modern day context as there are many unbelievers who also attend our Sunday and church gatherings. Evidence of this is people responding to altar calls and committing their lives to God, which is good as it is an opportunity for us to reach out and share the Gospel just as the disciples did. We hope that unbelievers come to know God's love and grace and commit to Him, but their view point is still a worldly one. We do love having them join and see what the Christian walk is about and aim to show them love, truth and acceptance, but it is unwise to let them have a say in our decisions as they are not seeking to glorify God in their lives and suggestions as yet.

In the early church we see that even though unbelievers were in their midst and welcomed, when it came to making decisions about the church, including electing those in certain positions of authority within the church, just the believers were involved. In Acts 6, where the first deacons were elected, we see how the decision was made, as in verse 2 the Overseers of the time (the Apostles) "summoned the full number of the disciples" and had them play a part in the decision under their guidance. When we make church decisions, we should therefore only involve the group of disciples (true believers).

Membership

One way to ensure that we have a meeting with only believers is having a membership system. This is to accomplish the task of seeing if people are true believers and if they are in agreement with the vision God has given the Church and where God is calling the church. Once these are affirmed, we are delighted that they can join in helping us make decisions as the body of Christ. (They are already part of the body when they believe; we in wisdom confirm this and don't assume it before they add to, influence and contribute to church decisions.)

This is not to exclude people, to divide the church or to put some on a pedestal. As already stated, this done in a biblical manner should accomplish the task of knowing who the true believers are in order to have only them (the believers) involved in the decision making of the church.

Membership is also, as the early church believers in Acts demonstrated, those who joined the believers and were fully part of the group. Those who joined were then held accountable; they could encourage others and be encouraged by others within the faith.

This is in essence the body that we are meant to be in. In Acts 2:42-45 we are not meant to function alone as a lone ranger, but in a loving family community where we are in partnership with other believers and have our belief in Christ and a devoted life to Him in common.

With people not merely visiting our church, but wanting to be members, it shows that they want to be part of God's design of the body in being cared for and loved by the body and committing to the group.

As we see, it is important for people to commit to God's design for the body and to make sure people are true believers before having an influence in matters in the church.

A recommendation on membership therefore is to meet with each person wanting to be part of the body and part of the family (which includes being part of the family's decisions). In this meeting, three things that need to be checked with the person are:

1. That they believe in and have committed their lives to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
2. That they are aiming to follow Jesus' ways in their own life, and as a proof of this that they have been baptized in the faith as an act of obedience, certain fruit of the Spirit are developing in their lives and, as Ephesians 4 mentions, that there is evidence of Christ's new ways appearing and sinful old ways disappearing in their lives.
3. That they agree with, support and commit to the vision and mission of the church that God has given the church (which should be biblically aligned).

If these 3 points are testified to by the person in conversation and can be verified, they can be recommended to the Overseers, who if they agree, will put it to the body of believers (church) for a short but adequate period, to see if they know of any information about the person and their conduct that would be in contradiction to the above 3 questions.

If someone in the church does know something of relevance as to why the person should not be in membership, they are to communicate this with the Overseers who can follow it up with the person. From here the Overseers can decide if the reservations have merit or not and can make a prayerful decision from here. If there are no objections through the process, and if there were but the Overseers have investigated and after prayer and discussion are happy with someone's current walk with God, the person is acknowledged as a member at the next church gathering and can take part in decisions and is expected to be a functioning part in the body from then on.

Membership Form

A membership form that can be read through with each person applying for membership, and then filled in and signed by them, is below.

As seen, members here constitute true believers and are effectively "the church". There might be some that attend some of your meetings, but aren't members and don't want to become members. This provides a great opportunity to chat with them privately to see what their reservations are. Some might just need a clearer explanation, while for others it might be that they have a different view point on membership, in which case a conversation can still help. If there is still no consensus after the chat, then it is important that they know you have heard them and that they have understood what you have said regarding membership. They are always welcome to attend and hopefully they join a small group and become part of the body and grow in the Lord, but they won't be able to be involved in corporate church decision making processes.

Elders and Deacons

Biblically we see that the church members function under the leadership and serviceship of two specific offices, Elders and Deacons. In Acts 14:23 we see that Paul and Barnabas, after prayer and fasting, elect Elders for each church, as well as Paul instructing Titus in Titus 1:5 to put what remained into order, which was to appoint Elders in every town. In this passage Paul also refers to Elders as overseers. We also see the first election of deacons and their serving functionality within the church in Acts 6.

The church is to elect deacons and elders based on the criteria found in Scripture, where their qualifications and roles are explained. These are not positions that are to be used to train or equip people, but are positions for the equipped and proven already. People need to be standing out and their character in Christ, as well as their service and the manner in which they do them, should be evident. People are not to be elected to just fill a position or make up the numbers; this does more harm than good. For people to be considered for the role, they must be seen to be walking in the manner described below. Their work or personal capabilities, being good at what they do in their work capacity or being skilled in certain areas, are not standards to be considered, but rather their standing and loyalty in the faith are and need to be the most valued aspects in this process.

Biblically we see the Eldership role mentioned only in reference to men, whereas in the Deacon role we see mention of different qualifications for men and women in 1 Timothy 3. (In the Greek, when it mentions qualities needed for a female deacon, the word used could refer to "female deacon" or to "the wife of a male deacon"; with no qualifications mentioned for an Elder's wife, which is a position of higher expectation, this is more likely to be referring to qualities needed for a "female deacon".) Validation of the fact that the deacon role is for both males and females is seen in the New Testament, as there is mention of male deacons in Acts 6 (Steven, Philip, etc.) and a woman deacon in Romans 16 (Deborah).

Below is a summarized look from Scripture at what the qualifications and roles of these positions are based on.

Elder / Overseer Qualifications and Role

1 Timothy 3; Titus 1; 1 Peter 5

An Elder is chosen based mainly on their character and how they manage themselves and their households, to see if they are capable of managing and overseeing God's church.

An Elder/Overseer is to have the following character:

• Must be above reproach (not found wrong / blameless in accusations)
• Husband of one wife
• Sober minded (clear mind, not intoxicated)
• Self-controlled
• A lover of good
• Respectable
• Upright / Holy (righteous — does what is right in God's eyes)
• Hospitable
• Able to teach
• Must be well thought of by outsiders
• He must manage his own household well, with his children being obedient/submissive under his authority, and he brings his children up in the ways of and belief in the Lord
• Hold firm to God's word

An Elder's character and faith must also be void of certain things. They must:

• Not be a recent convert
• Not be a drunkard
• Not be violent but gentle
• Not be quarrelsome
• Not be a lover of money
• Not be greedy for gain
• Not be arrogant
• Not be quick tempered

When someone is elected as an Elder/Overseer, there is a manner or way in which they are to oversee.

As someone in the position of an Elder, they are aspiring to do a noble and beautiful work as God's manager over God's household. An Elder should therefore seek God in all matters, knowing they are accountable to God for what transpires.

Elders are to shepherd the flock of God that is amongst them, exercising oversight not under compulsion but willingly, not for shameful gain but eagerly, and not domineering of those under them, but setting an example to the flock. Elders must hold firm to the trustworthy Word as taught so that they may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict God's word.

They are to serve and steward God's church as best they can under His leading and for His glory, seeing what vision and purpose God has for the church and leading the church together in unity towards that. Their role involves guiding the church, managing the church, ministering to the church and would include teaching and counselling, but also does not rule out serving in practical ways.

Deacon / Server Qualifications and Role

1 Timothy 3; Acts 6-8

A Deacon is chosen based mainly on their character and being filled with God's Spirit and Wisdom. Before choosing a deacon, they should first be tested (prove themselves), and if they prove themselves blameless, then they are chosen to serve God's people.

A Deacon man is to have the following character:

• Must be dignified (deeply respected / honourable)
• Not double-tongued (deceitful — making different representations to different people about the same thing)
• Not addicted to much wine
• Not greedy for dishonest gain
• Must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience (must have a solid and pure knowledge and understanding of Jesus and the gospel without false knowledge or lack of knowledge in what Jesus did for Salvation)
• The husband of one wife
• Manage his children and own household well
• Someone of good repute (people bear good witness for; good report given by others)
• Full of the Spirit and Wisdom

A Deacon woman is to be:

• Dignified (deeply respected / honourable)
• Not a slanderer (not to falsely accuse or unjustly criticize others to break them down)
• Sober-minded (clear mind, not intoxicated)
• Faithful in all things (loyal and faithful in all matters)

A deacon is chosen mainly with the role of helping to serve the flock practically.

In order to test possible deacon candidates, tasks can be given to them over a time period, and their ability to accomplish those tasks diligently and with character/integrity will determine if they should be chosen or not.

Deacons should not be chosen to grow the person chosen in the faith and in character, but rather they are chosen for already showing sincere faith and character. Correctly chosen deacons will serve well and benefit the body.

Deacons are to serve diligently and without compromise in character, willing to work and be busy in serving others and serving the church practically and with their giftings. A deacon biblically has certain serving roles but they are not confined to them and, like Philip and Stephen, can also preach, teach, counsel, and see to ministries, while their main purpose is in practically serving.

A deacon is not a position over people but a position to serve the people; it is someone with a servant heart who is willing to serve even if not in their area of strength, for the benefit of the church and its people for God's glory, seeing what vision and purpose God has for the church and serving the church together in unity to help the church accomplish that vision and purpose.

Electing Elders and Deacons

With Elders and Deacons having to have the above biblical characteristics, there should be a process by which this is acknowledged and by which they are elected into these positions.

In the early church in Acts 6 we see the first election of deacons in the Bible. There is a process followed which enables us to learn how to make decisions as a Church and measures of authority in decision making, but where we can also see methods of appointing people in certain positions.

In the early church, in Acts 6, we see the following process:

• v1 — issues arose
• v2 — the true believers (members) were gathered
• v2-4 — a suggestion is given by the Overseers
• v5 — the members agree and select suitable men (they were pleased/satisfied by the suggestion/proposal)
• v6 — the Overseers agree with those selected and give authority to them (confirm the members' suggestion)

Therefore the following is suggested for electing Elders and Deacons:

• Have a certain time period that they will be in the position for (2 year terms where they can be re-nominated, to a maximum of 6 years, is recommended). On the 7th year a mandatory break is taken, after which they might be nominated in the year after again. If the church is in dire need of that person in a position, an additional year may be granted at the end of a 6 year stint, but this is not to be abused as other members should be in the process of being grown and equipped to be ready for these positions. It is not good having one person in one of these positions for a countless number of years without a break, as pride, blindspots (we perform errors that we can't notice) and dictatorship can settle in.
• Set aside a one month period two months before the church's main yearly meeting during which members can nominate members who display the necessary biblical qualities.
• After the nomination month is finished, the current overseers should check the nominations to see that the people meet the biblical requirements. If they don't know the nominees, they should meet with them and find out about their faith walk and character.
• If the overseers, after checking those who are nominated, deem one or more to not have the character detailed above, they can remove them from the nomination process.
• With the overseers' approval, the names are brought before the rest of the congregation two weeks before the yearly meeting and if anyone has any reservations or reason why the person nominated should not be in that position based on the biblical requirements, they can bring that to the overseers'/elders' attention to investigate.
• The elders will investigate and follow up with the person in question and decide if the reservations have merit or not. They will then proceed with prayer and discussion and if someone's current walk with God and their reasons for the items brought up in question are satisfactory, they can remain as a nominee.
• At the main yearly meeting, the elders are to bring names forward of those they can vouch for and recommend, on which the members then vote in favour or not.

The voting process is then undertaken with 66% votes in favour needed for Deacons to be accepted and 75% for Elders to be accepted in their respective nominations. The percentage difference is due to the difference in position; with the Eldership being more oversight than service as well as active leadership, more weight is placed on the position and therefore a higher requirement of acceptance is needed. The requirement is also not set at a minimum percentage for either position as there needs to be confidence from the members in the person they are electing, otherwise they might not follow their leading or authority even if elected.

In the case where these percentages are not obtained, the person will not be accepted into the position. The Elders are to do research as to why many did not vote for the person they recommended and check to see if there was something they missed. After research and prayer, if the Elders feel strongly led by God to still suggest that person, they can call for a special meeting of the members and discuss it with them and then have another vote. This must happen within six months of the original meeting. At this meeting the same percentage of acceptance votes is needed and the outcome of the vote, whether the percentage is achieved or not, will settle the matter.

Again it needs to be stressed that only people with the biblical qualities mentioned are to be considered and that the existing Elders need to check those nominated, but also that each member voting knows the qualities they need to be seeing in the person in order to vote favourably for them, otherwise to vote against them.

Decision Making within the Church

The Elders in Titus 1:7 are referred to as overseers of the church. "Overseer" in the Greek is a supervisor or ruler, someone overseeing the Lord's flock. The Elders as overseers will lead and guide the church, exercising oversight and shepherding the church (1 Peter 5:2) in all matters in the care and best interests of the church, being elected by the church to lead and elected by the Holy Spirit to oversee (Acts 20:28).

This is seen practically in Acts 11:30 as relief (food) is sent to the Elders of a church in order for them to distribute this in their leadership capacity, showing that the Elders made decisions in regards to the distribution of resources and aid. This is also seen in Acts 21:18 where Paul reports ministry activity to James and the Elders, where from verse 23 the Elders guide and give a decision on how to handle the situation at hand; and in Acts 15 we see tricky matters in the church which include dissension and debate are to be taken to and decided on by the Elders. In verse 6 they consider the matter and then decide in wisdom and by the Holy Spirit's guiding how to handle the matter, which is then implemented later on in the chapter. After this decision, the Elders then reported their deliberations to the church at large.

Elders will lead with God's Word as in Titus 1:9-10. Paul mentions that Elders are to hold firm to God's word so that they can give instruction in sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it, including those who are insubordinate, while believers under the leadership of the Elders in a church are in Hebrews 13:17 called to obey their spiritual leaders who are keeping watch over their souls. In 1 Thessalonians 5:12, Paul echoes this, asking believers to respect those who are over them and who admonish (warn, counsel, reason with) them.

Seeing this, it shows that Elders biblically are appointed to lead. In leading they are to make decisions in and on behalf of the church where the church is to respect and obey their spiritual leaders. This however does not mean that there is no accountability in decisions, as at assembly meetings or in other church decisions, the members can voice their opinion and hold the leaders accountable as seen in the early church when it hears of controversial news in Acts 11. They question Peter, who then is able to give account and provide understanding. We see those in the church are able to question and state their opinions and objections, and the leaders are to explain how God guided in the different situations and also validate certain decisions, with the aim of God being glorified at the end of every decision.

As also seen in the nature of the church, all believers being citizens of God's kingdom have the right to vote in matters concerning their group of believers in the area they fellowship together in (their church). This is also seen in the specific decision of appointing the first Deacons in Acts 6, where the believers had a say and a part to play in the decision making.

As we try to cohesively put the truth from these scriptures into guidelines for the church, Elders should therefore be given freedom in certain governing matters, with other decisions (leadership elections, big alterations in the functioning of church, big financial decisions) being taken to the church with a recommendation from the leaders, where after discussion a decision can be made together with both the leaders and members agreeing on those matters.

Decisions that are not unanimously agreed upon should need at least 75% of the Elders' approval and 66% of the church's general approval to be taken forward. If this is not obtained, the suggestion cannot be taken. The reservations explained need to be taken in prayer and discussion to see if the proposal is something to reassess at a later stage, or if the item needs to be dropped. These percentages are a guideline in wisdom, as in any decision you want the overarching majority of the leadership in agreement, and the majority of the congregation in agreement that it is God's will.

As the Elders oversee and lead the everyday functioning of the Church, if in certain decisions one of the Elders has reservations about a matter, before it is agreed on or acted upon, all the Elders need to hold it in prayer and fasting. After a time they are to come back and re-evaluate. If there is a grievance or reservation from more than one of the Elders, that decision is not to be made. If there is only a grievance or reservation from one of the Elders after two times of re-evaluating, then it can be taken to the church where the church should be informed of the matter to be decided on, as well as the grievance felt by one of the Elders. The church will then be able to vote on the matter, needing the above statistics to be passed.

Authority in and Decisions of the Church

As we have seen from the verses above, all members have a part to play within the decision making process of the group, while Elders need room to make some decisions on behalf of the group in terms of their function as overseers for the care and progress of the church.

The head of the church should always remain Christ as we have seen, with the Elders accountable to each other and accountable to the church. The Elders should have authority to make certain decisions in the running of the church. These decisions would include overseeing the benevolent fund within the budget, managing some of the budgeted items or budget item lists, making ministry leader appointments and changes, vetting Elder and Deacon nominations prior to nomination to the church, starting new ministries within the church, additions, accountability and removals from membership, closing certain ministries in the church, establishing committees and their functions, etc.

Other decisions need to be taken to the whole congregation with the Elders giving a recommendation, the church having an opportunity for comment and questions, and ultimately the decision being made together. These decisions would be that of the budget at the start of the financial year, a change in the constitution, Elder and Deacon Elections, Pastoral candidates and acceptance thereof, any changes to the budget during the year, a change or establishment of a vision and mission for the church.

Certain decisions can be left to the Elders to make, who would then convey the relevant details to the church on those decisions.

Other decisions that might be considered of more magnitude, while sometimes they might be smaller decisions but deemed good to have the whole congregation a part of, will need to follow the order of: the gathering of the believers (members), a presentation of information and the recommendation of the Elders are to be brought forward, questioning or comments from the believers, and finally after discussion a decision is then made together.

Assembly Meetings

For these larger decisions mentioned above, and especially to report back on and approve a budget for the year ahead, as well as vote in Elders and Deacons, an annual assembly meeting is required. Most refer to this as their AGM (Annual General Meeting).

This meeting should be a fixed meeting that happens at a similar time each year to help in the decision making and planning of the church for the year ahead. It is recommended to be done either after the year end financials have been finalised/audited so that an accurate report of the previous year's budget can be reported on and a budget for the next financial year can be approved, or it can be done near the end of a year so as to confirm and vote on a budget as well as Elders and Deacons for the year ahead. This enables the Elders and Deacons to be ready for the year ahead and also for the budget to operate for a year cycle and easy for ministries to work with. With this option, financials from the previous year as well as any changes that need to be made in the already approved budget can be discussed and approved in a follow up and report back meeting early in the next year after the tax year is completed.

For bigger decisions or relevant decisions that are time conscious and not close to the AGM, a Special Assembly Meeting (commonly known as a Special General Meeting — SGM) can be called. This will be held to get feedback or comment from all the confirmed believers (members) on pressing matters to make imminent or time conscious decisions.

Some churches prefer to have an assembly gathering for report back and accountability in each quarter of the year (Quarterly General Meetings — QGMs) which can be helpful in making progress and giving regular feedback to the church (believers). This is not fully necessary and each church can decide what they would prefer, but to have progress reports and feedback more than once a year is beneficial and, if not quarterly, to have at least one other meeting mid-way between your AGMs would be of benefit, with Special General Meetings still available to be called if time conscious or big decisions that would be beneficial to discuss sooner come up where no meeting is close.

For the Assembly gatherings to be a true reflection of the members' opinions and agreements and for proper decisions to be made, at least a third of the members need to be in attendance (33% of members). This will be considered a quorum. This percentage can vary dependent on each church, but you don't want it too low as to not fairly reflect the members' views and to not actually have everyone behind or backing a decision and agree with it. You also don't want the percentage too high so that if a few members can't make the meeting, no decisions can be taken or made. 33% is thus a recommendation.

In order to achieve a quorum and for members to be aware of what will be brought up in the meeting and to be prayerful and be able to process all that will be discussed, an agenda with items for discussion and the names of the proposed Elders and Deacons needs to be communicated to the church at least two weeks prior to an AGM meeting, and at least 2 weeks' notice of any SGM must also be given with the agenda going out at the same time as the notice.

This can be communicated via email and/or WhatsApp, as well as announcing it at Sunday/weekly services and including it in the weekly newsletter/bulletin or written communications that go out.

Voting

As mentioned, possible Elders and Deacons will be voted on by all members present via a secret ballot (blank paper where people can anonymously cast their vote) with the nominated names for Elders and Deacons on them, where on each ballot there is a space to mark an "X" next to Yes or No. These will then be collected and counted by 2-3 members present (nominated to do the counting) and the result on if the person has achieved the percentage required to assume the position is to be shared in the meeting. If names are not printed out, each person is to be voted on individually via secret ballot of for or against / yes or no.

Other decisions made will be voted on by a show of hands, asking if any are in favour and allowing hands to be raised, and then any against and allowing for hands to be raised. Where an issue is contentious and more than five people ask for the vote to be a secret ballot instead of a raising of hands, papers will be handed to all members where they will vote yes for the proposal or no against the proposal. In any form of voting, each person can only vote one way and any proposed items or changes will need at least a 50% vote in favour of the motion to be passed. If the percentage is not reached, it will revert back to what it was before.

Where these percentages are not reached and the items or motions have not been passed, if the Elders feel the issue needs to be brought up again in the future, they should investigate as to why most did not want to pass the motion and see the validity in the reasoning before deciding to bring it up again.

If in extreme cases of decision making there are any areas of difference between the Elders, or between the Elders and a large part of the Congregation, that is causing division in the Church or stopping the Church from advancing in its purposes, vision and mission, or is infringing on the beliefs or nature of the church, and after many attempts no peace or solution is able to be achieved by the Elders, the Pastor or the Congregation, then a mediator will need to be contacted. A recognised Union would be able to recommend or send someone, or a mutually agreed upon Pastor or person in ministry who has a godly character is to then come in to investigate and hear all sides before providing, after much prayer, how the issue needs to be handled going forward and make a final decision on the matter.

Ministry Leaders

As well as having Elders and Deacons, it is helpful to have Ministry leaders within the church. As seen in the purpose of the church, there are many different ministries the church is to be involved in and ministries that can be functioning to help accomplish some of the church purposes. It is important to have someone in charge of each ministry to govern it and make sure it is being run effectively according to what it needs to accomplish in line with the vision and mission of the church.

These ministry leaders must be members, as then they are assured to be true believers and in agreement with the church's vision and mission. More than this, these people should also be people of good repute and character, and have a genuine heart for God. The Elders should be looking out for people like this, to approach them to be part of or lead in certain ministries. An Elder or a Deacon can also be a ministry leader.

It is suggested that the Deacons each have a portfolio (a certain ministry or department in the church) that they are in charge of or part of in their serving capacity in the church. They might be asked to fulfil practical tasks such as be on door duty or help lock up or clean up after a gathering/meeting together, but to have them oversee ministries in line with their gifting will be of much benefit to the church and will help them serve as best they can. With some deacons however, if they function best in practical serving and have the gift of service, just serving in practical ways will be their best contribution and so if this is all they do but they do it well, then that is accepted and valued.

In constructing and determining the serving role of a Deacon, have a freedom to allow God to lead on how exactly this role will operate and what the role entails.

Different ministries can include: Men's Ministry; Ladies Ministry; Missions Ministry (which can include a local Outreach Ministry); Sound Ministry; Sunday Practical Service Ministry (door stewards, door greeting, making tea or coffee after the service, etc.); Youth Ministry (which can include Schools Ministry); Young Adults Ministry; Over 60s Ministry; Family Ministry; Sunday School Ministry; Counselling Ministry; Worship Ministry; Maintenance; Connect (Life/Bible Study) Group Ministry.

This is not an exhaustive list but it provides ideas of valuable ministries to have within the church. There might be other ministries that you start based on your environment and location, as well as according to the giftings of some of those in your congregation. The aim of a ministry is to have events or meetings during each year that will reach out to those to whom the ministry is aimed at, and to achieve a spiritual purpose with each event that is in line with the church's vision and mission, helping people along their individual discipleship journey towards maturity in the faith and Christlikeness.

All ministry leaders will be under the authority of the Elders and should give regular feedback on the ministry they are overseeing for the Elders and Deacons to discuss at their monthly meetings.

General Practices of the Church

Alongside the ministries running certain activities and events aimed at specific aspects of people's discipleship journey, we also see certain practices that the church should be performing in Acts 2:42-47.

These general practices that should be done regularly within the church should include: sound teaching from God's word by trustworthy, biblically sound teachers, Prayer, Fellowship between believers, Giving, Worship and Evangelism. From this passage we also see that the setting of corporate gatherings and small group gatherings is where many of these practices can be adhered to and enjoyed.

The believers gathered together regularly in homes, as well as gathering at the temple. Within our cultural platform, for our corporate (temple) gatherings, we encourage gathering the entire assembly of believers together once a week (usually on a Sunday) to adhere to and enjoy these practices together as we meet to glorify and honour God, to learn from Him and to connect with Him and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. As we gather together corporately, we can include reading God's Word and helping people to understand it and put it into practice in their own lives. This is done by someone who is a sound teacher in their preaching/teaching of God's Word; we can include worshipping God by proclaiming how great He is in psalms or songs and by anything that magnifies who He is and speaks the truth of His greatness; we can include prayer together by not only opening and closing the time together in prayer, but having a specific time for prayer in the service where someone can lead the church in prayer by either praying up front themselves, getting a few people to pray for specific things out loud, or giving topics and letting the congregation pray together silently or out loud. A time of silence and listening and waiting on the Lord can also be included; we can include fellowship by creating a family atmosphere where the leaders greet everyone at Church and encourage all to greet each other. Leaders or members will be tasked with greeting new comers, get them a coffee after the service, find out about them and give them information about the church. This can also be done by creating a time before or after the service where people can be sociable (having tea and coffee served before or after the services with tables and chairs set out is helpful for this). In this corporate gathering, it is also a good time to get information to the whole of the church at once regarding upcoming events, ministries or information that needs to be communicated.

In the smaller group gatherings, the focus remains on God as we seek to honour Him, learn from Him, connect with Him and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Small group gatherings should be intentional and intimate. They can be held in a home or a setting that promotes fellowship once a week.

In smaller group gatherings, it is wise to let faithful and loyal believers shepherd these, people who are mature in their faith and trusted as there is an element of teaching and oversight required (2 Timothy 2:2). Within these smaller group gatherings, the Scriptures should still be read and interpreted with an opportunity for questions and discussion to take place. There should also be equal importance and time placed on deep fellowship (getting to know each other more), Worship (through song or psalm or anything that places praise on God), Prayer (talking to God, interceding and listening), how to apply the truths learnt into each one's life practically (within discussion and challenge), and Service (sharing, serving each other and the community together). In addition, social gatherings apart from this are to be encouraged at people's leisure, but as a priority between the saints as this builds community.

Each small group should form close bonds and each small group leader should function as an under-shepherd and be able to tend to the group and give feedback on how the group is doing, especially from a spiritual perspective. This feedback will be given to the Elders or person in charge of the small group ministry who can report to the Elders. This is to make sure the Elders are aware of any issues in the groups, to see that the groups themselves are helping those in them grow in their walk with God and that the group is functioning as it should.

Within these foundational practices seen in Acts 2, it can be wise to also have events aimed at a specific practice mentioned to create more time for it and place an emphasis on it. You might consider having a prayer meeting (or meetings) during the week that believers can attend where the whole time is dedicated just to prayer, where you pray for the believers at your gatherings, for your members, for unbelievers, for your area, your country, the sick and any other item you want to focus on. You can also arrange worship evenings or events with the focus being praising God through song and other formats for that time. These are ideas outside of the assembly and small group gatherings that can help the church be devoted to these key godly practices. These practices will stimulate and grow our relationship with our Lord and are regular expectations from us as we serve God.

Ordinances

Another regular practice observed together in our gatherings should be that of the Lord's Supper. We are encouraged to take part in it often from Jesus' words in Luke 22:19 in order to remember His sacrificial death that offers us forgiveness for our sins. It is a suggestion to do this once a month in our assembly gatherings and also even once a term in our small group gatherings so as to keep it regular enough to keep what our Saviour Jesus did in mind as the core of our faith.

Baptism is also a practice that is to be observed within the body of believers. Unlike the Lord's Supper, this is not to be done multiple times or regularly by an individual, but done once by a person after they have come to accept the forgiveness Christ offers based on a sincere belief in Jesus, and have set their minds now on Christ in committing to following Jesus sincerely. We ourselves get baptized and encourage other sincere believers to get baptized because:

• Jesus is our example and He got baptized therefore we should (1 John 2:6 and Matthew 4).
• We are commanded by Jesus to get baptized (Matthew 28:18-20).
• It shows a symbol of what has happened inwardly; we are baptized into His death and alive to His resurrection and newness of life (Romans 6:3-5).
• It is a part of identifying with our new belief in Jesus and an act that shows we are part of something new and a new family. It is evidence of a commitment made (1 Corinthians 12:13).

We see in Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16 and in biblical people like the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8 that belief precedes baptism. We get baptized into the faith as a result of our understanding it and committing to it. We also adhere to it in the manner in which Jesus did, by being fully submerged by somebody in water and as instructed by Jesus in Matthew 28, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Affiliation with other Churches

We see that throughout the book of Acts there is a unity among churches in Christ. We see in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 that Churches in Galatia and Corinth responded to Paul's request for help and sent contributions to Jerusalem.

We also see Paul always extending greetings to different churches and in Romans 16 we see a love and measure of goodwill amongst the Churches and people of the faith, that they not only greet one another but also people from a group of believers (church) visiting another group of believers or being in their region to work for the kingdom.

As seen, the Church consists of true, sincere believers of Christ that gather together in a group, and also the larger Church consists of believers throughout the whole world. Therefore we see that it is biblical to encourage other Churches and to partner with other Churches in ministry and to provide help where needed.

However, where false doctrine is known to exist or if the core standpoints of the faith are not known by those wanting to partner in an event, caution should be taken and clarity first sought. As seen in Romans, all were striving for a common goal of Christ being glorified and through the churches a message of the gospel and an outworking of that in their lives was preached and there was a unity to glorify Christ and His kingdom. If churches seek to partner with yours or for you to join in certain events, ensure that the correct doctrine on the core beliefs of the faith is not brought into question or defied. We are to be aware of people coming to partner with us (Matthew 7:15-23) as we need to be discerning and wise in partnerships. Romans 16 from verse 17 warns us to watch out for those who create obstacles and cause division contrary to the doctrine we believe in. We need to avoid these people. If we collaborate with other churches, we to an extent condone their teachings and what they do. If a weaker believer then listens to and follows teachings from the church we collaborated with that is false, we have contributed to that.

Being Kingdom minded and partnering for God's glory and encouraging other churches is encouraged. Partnering or joining in ministries where false or unknown doctrine is present is to be avoided and no partnership is to take place.

Staff

Hiring of staff might be needed within the church.

We see that the Overseers/Elders lead the church, but in our modern day context most Elders don't have the capacity to drive the endeavours of the church because they are sometimes lacking energy or capacity due to age; or they are younger but have massive time constraints with full time jobs and families to balance as well. Not only does this limited capacity amongst Elders promote the need for a full time Elder, but we also clearly see in Ephesians 4:11-14 that God gives certain people giftings and a calling to lead and equip the church to become more and more mature in their walk with the Lord.

Churches can operate under the leading of an Eldership team alone where some of these giftings are present within the existing Eldership and there are no massive time or energy constraints, but the church should also be seeking God to see if there is someone God has equipped and called to help lead and guide their local church full time. This person would become a fellow Elder who can be compensated to lead the Eldership team and do most of the ground work and fulfil and drive the endeavours of the church towards Christ and the vision God has given the church. This will be done in order to mature the believers in their faith, make the believers more Christ-like and to carry out ministries in order to help make disciples and disciple-makers.

This person will be on the ground aiming to help the church run as it should and accomplish the purposes of the church listed above. This person will be accountable to the other Elders and will look to function as a team with them while, with his full time capacity in the work of the church, his calling and his on the ground leading, he will drive and lead the Eldership team. In our modern context this person is employed under the title of "Pastor" or "Priest" or "Bishop". This person does not need to come from the existing Elders or members, but can be a recognised minister or a recognised and recommended person in ministry that the church then decides to call and employ as lead Elder (Pastor).

We see that funds can be dedicated to somebody in ministry as in 1 Corinthians 9 Paul advocates for financial support for himself in his ministry to the people, and in 1 Timothy 5:17-18 where it directly advocates for Elders who rule well, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching, to have wages and to receive double honour.

Besides having a lead Elder who is paid fulltime, there might be a need that arises for other paid positions within the church depending on the church size (amount of people) and the assets it might acquire or have. If the church has a large number of people and young people or is looking to have someone invest full time in the younger school-going generation, the church might decide to employ a full time worker to oversee the youth, under the authority of the Elders. This person usually functions under the title of Youth Worker or Youth Pastor. If the church has a building, the church might also look to employ someone to clean (a cleaner/domestic worker) the building occasionally or full time depending on the size of the premises and all that might need to be cleaned. If there are many administration tasks to be performed including people and business correspondence, paperwork regarding the church finances, records both spiritual (ministry policies) and physical (telephone accounts and records) to be dealt with, phone calls and email correspondence, it might be helpful to employ a secretary and if needed a book keeper to help with the finances.

There is also scope depending on the capability and resources of the church to have smaller stipend positions for interns, where the aim would be to train up those who have finished their secondary schooling and have a passion and calling to pursue ministry in their future.

All paid positions are to be well thought through and consistent with the vision and affordability of the church. The church should not employ people before seeing if they can realistically afford that employment. When people are employed, they are not to be grossly overpaid but adequate to their position and within the finances of the church. If the church is in need of a position but can't fully afford someone, they can offer a semi or part time position. This position is to be communicated as not a fulltime post, where stipulated hours of work are agreed upon (either half day, or certain hourly slots in the week). A church might therefore have a secretary that only works in the mornings or someone who helps with the bookkeeping for a set amount of hours a week. The amount paid to the person for the agreed upon amount of work is to be confirmed by the Elders and a finance committee or treasurer if there is one, and detailed clearly in the employment contract.

The church is also to look at its congregation to see where there may be certain giftings and then encourage people to be serving in their giftings out of love for God and as service to God. There might be some people who freely offer up their time and giftings to the church, and who would be willing to help in certain areas that the church needs. The Church should not take advantage of these people, but call on their assistance in a reasonable manner and for reasonable times of commitment.

When hiring staff and even when accepting volunteer staff who aren't paid, the process of selection needs to be treated with much wisdom and discernment. If the wrong people come onto the staff team, just like with regard to the leading and serving roles (Elders and Deacons), it can have a massive negative impact on the work environment both for the efficiency and the character of Christlikeness within the team. Each person who is a candidate for a staff position needs to be looked at mainly in terms of their character, not just their skill set, as they will be an ambassador of the church and need to therefore have the Christlike character required.

All staff (full time and part time), along with someone from the church (Elder or Deacon), need to sign a contract in agreement of the amount payable to the person and as a commitment to the requirements involved. Contracts should be drawn up stating the expectations of the position i.e. job description, who they are to report to, the remuneration if there is any, the character expected, as well as disciplinary measures should there be inefficiency, lack of tasks/work being done or character issues that come to the front in the workplace, with the final measure of discipline being that of being released/fired from the position. It is recommended to have a process of verbal warning, written warning and final warning in place before someone gets fired. If there is a massive problem or incident, it can lead straight to the final process of being released or fired. Make sure that at every warning stage, or at releasing someone, there is a written and signed copy of what the person did (the charge) and the level of warning, which is then to be signed by both parties (the person receiving the warning and the Elder dealing with the staff member) to keep you covered against any disgruntled or sour employee taking it further. Make sure to maintain integrity, grace and truth in the handling of all staff measures.

In addition to the signed contract, it is advised that the following Staff Code of Christlikeness be attached and signed by the newly hired person to ensure expectations of Christlikeness are clearly understood.

Staff Code of Christlikeness

• Maintain your own walk with God.
• Have a high priority of prayer, reading God's Word and being led by His Spirit in your personal life and in the fulfilment of your responsibilities.
• Be a servant leader (look to serve and be proactive in serving — not expecting others to always do something for you or others to be the ones serving and doing things).
• Be kind to all, strive to be warm and friendly — love as Christ did.
• Remain humble — take correction.
• Sort out issues one on one. If the issue persists call a leader to mediate. Aim to sort the issue out as peacefully and respectfully towards the other person and the situation as possible.
• Aim for unity as much as is possible.
• Respect others in word and deed.
• In meetings put your phone on silent to respect the discussion and members present in the meeting.
• No belittling or mocking. We don't want a culture of breaking one other down but of building each other up.
• Applaud others and pray for others — we are a team committed to bringing glory and honour to Jesus Christ.
• Godly talk — no crude jokes, gossip, bad language, behind the back talking, malice or below the belt comments.
• Honesty is foremost, where there is no place for deceit, stealing and lying.
• As much as you can and in wisdom, don't be alone and isolated in ministry one on one with a person of different gender (in life this is also good, unless you are a couple).
• Appropriate physical contact and gestures — no lingering or inappropriate hugs. Avoid lifts one on one with opposite gender in wisdom (age and situation plays a role).
• If considering dating someone in your ministry, first speak to the Elders.
• Integrity — in all things, do the right thing whether people are watching or not. You are an ambassador of our church and more importantly of Christ, so seek to honour Him and do right in your life and in ministry, whether driving the bus or managing money.
• Be above reproach in Christ's leading — where no fingers can be pointed at you for doing anything unbecoming of Christ, while firstly being obedient to Christ.
• Strive for excellence — follow through on your responsibilities doing each task as best you can (as serving Christ).
• Commit to what the church stands for and believes.
• Seek to join in ministries and work that will add to the Kingdom in agreement with God's guiding in His commandments and commission, and in the church's vision and mission.
• Be an example in all things (2 Timothy 4:12 — speech, conduct, love, faith, purity).

Calling or appointing a Pastor (Full time lead Elder)

When the need arises or there is news that the Pastor will be leaving or has left, the Elders are then to meet together and set a date to call a SGM.

At this meeting they are to make the congregation aware of the news; if the Pastor is still present he can do so. The church should then elect a Call Committee. This committee should comprise of the Elders, the Deacons, and 3-5 other members of the church. The Overseers/Elders are there in the process as it is electing another Elder to join and lead their team and to see that it is not detrimental to the flock and that the right person is sought; the Deacons are there to also analyse the person in light of the ministries being run and the person who will, with the Elders, be guiding them; and the 3-5 members of the congregation are there to give an opinion as representatives of the congregants. They are there to see if they feel the person will be a good fit to help lead the congregation in general.

This committee is to meet and appoint a Chairperson from among the Elders who will lead the committee going forward.

The committee is to meet and pray together regularly and to bring forward names of possible candidates obtained from any sound Church Unions (Baptist Union etc.) and from any recommendations that people have given to them or suitable candidates they might know of themselves.

As they meet together they are to pray together and compile a shortlist of names that can be approached. They are then to reach out to these possible candidates and ask if they would be interested in the position and would want to apply. If the candidates are interested they are to send through their CV with references.

The committee is to remain open to other names that might come up throughout the process but at the same time praying through the CVs sent in and discussing these people to see if they have a peace or feel strongly about any name that has come up.

The committee is to contact the people's references, and thereafter the ones who stand out in prayer and by reference are to be prayed through. A more refined short list of 2-3 candidates is to be made. The person who, through prayer, the committee feels is the right person is to then be contacted and asked to come in to preach in the church and be formally interviewed by the Call Committee. If this person, after coming to preach and be interviewed, is not felt to be the right fit, then the process continues one at a time with those who have been prayed through and truly are possible candidates until the right person is found. If a person is not immediately found, the process is not to be rushed as the right person is to be sought, not just a good person to fill the role.

If during this process, which is immersed in prayer, someone after their preaching and interview is deemed to be the person God would want the church to call, the Call committee is then to recommend that person's name to the church and ask the church to pray about it. The Call committee will then call another SGM where the call committee will report back and discuss any relating matters with the members before the members then vote on calling that specific person. In order for the person to be called, a 75% vote in favour is needed. All persons in consideration should meet the Eldership qualifications stated in "Elder/Overseer Qualifications and Role" mentioned above.

In an ideal situation, the previous Pastor should give the church if possible at least 3-6 months notice before leaving. If the Elders feel that it wouldn't be detrimental to the process, the Pastor can be part of the Call Committee but not lead it. If the person is agreed upon within the first three months, the new person would be asked to come in as an Assistant Pastor for three months to learn the ethos of the Church from the existing Pastor so that he can transition into his new role. If this is not a recommended option by the Elders, they can arrange a meeting between the outgoing pastor and the incoming pastor where the incoming pastor can inquire about the ethos of the church and be provided with any important information.

This will only happen if the outgoing Pastor has had a major role in the vision God has laid on the Church and can help to positively convey what God has done and where He has led the Church and how that has functioned. After this, the new Pastor will have freedom together with the Elders to lead as God directs him.

In the Pastor becoming the lead Elder, he will become the de facto chairperson of all leadership and church meetings unless he chooses to allow someone else to chair certain meetings.

Finances

It is important to have people overseeing the finances of the church, and it is equally important that these people are trustworthy, competent and mature followers of Christ.

There needs to be accountability and good stewardship of the finances that are brought in (Matthew 25:14-30). Having someone oversee monies received and the handling of the finances is beneficial and can be seen even in Jesus' time on earth as Judas is mentioned as being in charge of the money bag (John 12:6; John 13:29). In order to oversee and wisely manage the finances received it is key to have people responsible for this, but as seen with Judas Iscariot and echoed through the Bible, money can be a huge temptation and is the main factor that led Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus. This is why a safeguard of having more than one person in charge or dealing with church monies is important.

It is also helpful to have systems in place that govern the proper, transparent and responsible manner of dealing with the finances of the church in order to ensure good stewardship and provide no opportunities for temptation and corruption.

These systems include having an accurate record of all the money coming in and all the money going out. When physical money is received as tithes and offerings at a church service, after the service all the money is to be collected by more than one trusted person (Deacons or Elders or trusted godly members) and counted and checked together. Then in a book that is kept at the church, the date and the names of those doing the counting is to be written down and under that the amount of money received and specifics of the money received (how many R200 notes, R100 notes, R50 notes, R20 notes, R10 notes, R5 coins, R2 coins, R1 coins, total of copper coins received). If someone mentions that they gave a large sum of money or something prompts a check, you can see specifics and know what is missing and question those who brought and counted the money.

If there is any money received via EFT, if the church has a bank account, then all these amounts are also to be recorded as money received. A total of the money received (cash and EFT together) as well as details of money spent are also to be written in the church book every month (this includes municipal accounts and staff salaries). If the church has a computer and can do this on a spread sheet, that is advisable.

For every spending transaction the church performs, there needs to be a receipt to provide accountability. If there is no receipt, the person who spent that money is to be questioned and account for the money by showing the item bought, but they should be told that in future receipts are needed or else they can't be trusted to go and buy things with the church's money. If money is to be spent, it needs to first be authorized by the Elders and the Treasurer.

If the church cannot guarantee a set salary for staff members, like their full time Elder (Pastor), then it is advisable to work on a percentage system. After paying church expenses, the Pastor can have 80% of the tithes brought in. This is strictly when not enough money is being given. Once there is sufficient money being received for a realistic and fair salary, then this needs to fall away immediately and the Pastor is to be paid the agreed upon amount.

If there is a surplus of funds and the church is receiving more than is required to pay all the church expenses including all salary expenses, the Financial committee which includes the Treasurer (who should be one of the Deacons), as well as the other Deacons, can give suggestions to the Elders. The Elders are then to pray through these suggestions and ideas of their own and decide on where the finances are to go. Their recommendation is then to be taken to the church at a yearly or special assembly meeting (AGM/SGM) where the church (true believers — members) will have a say on the proposal and can make suggestions as well. Praying through the suggestions is always the first step and ideas as to good stewardship include expanding or starting ministries that can extend the Kingdom of God, having certain ministry events, building facilities or buying materials needed for the meeting place to help facilitate ministry better, giving to missionaries and giving to certain organisations or people sincerely in need (the poor). Sometimes it is wise to wait a little in case the giving drops, but not for too long, as prayer in where God wants the money to be is key in making wise God-honouring decisions and avoids the trap of trusting in a surplus we are storing up instead of God. If God does guide to store the money for a time though, that should be followed.

Each church should make sure to meet all legal obligations whether it be paying over tax deductions from staff salaries that are within the taxable bracket, or submitting plans to the local municipality for building projects, etc. The church is always to spend its money and handle its money with the utmost integrity and prudence, while being constantly in prayer as to where God wants the funds to go.

If in the budget money is designated for a specific ministry, a freedom should be given to the person in charge of that ministry to use that money for that ministry. They should still bring slips and account for what they bought as a measure of accountability, but to give them a freedom to use the budget for that ministry is good. Each ministry can account for the money spent at the end of the year or as the Elders check up on them, and if there are questions or bad stewardship these can be addressed. If money is given to the Church for a specific ministry or item, it should be used specifically for that under the guidance and discretion of the Elders.

As we have seen, the church is the people and not the building, and so it is advisable not to spend all the money on building upgrades (where this is needed and where God guides, do it), but to prioritise spending money on ministry for God's kingdom and on giving is what is to be central. Supporting ministry and not just supporting a building needs to be the priority. This can be achieved through prioritizing ministry resources or people resources (hiring staff) in order to run or help with ministry.

Conclusion

As a church we are to remember that we are a group of believers who are fully devoted to Christ, our goal being to ensure that all in our church are growing in their walk with the Lord and that we are fulfilling the purposes the Lord has laid out for us as His church.

We need to know our identity (nature) as a Church, know our core beliefs and make decisions and function in wise godly ways in order to achieve the purposes God has called us to do and to be the people He has called us to be. We are to be wary of legalism and traditional patterns that will take the church's heart away from the Lord and lead us to just be an organisation or group of people that meet out of duty.

Let us fully be who God designed us to be. Let us be the church.