Contributed
D.A. Tony Williamson - author and church elder.

Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter

Who is it that should have the final say in matters of faith and practice? Is it the pastor, or should it be a board of elders? What is the New Testament's model for governance of a church?

These are some of the issues that Tony Williamson grapples with in his 61-page book, Plurality: Its principle, purpose, power and practice. This self-published volume, which hit the bookshelves late last year, traces the idea of plurality of eldership from the Old Testament to the New.

The author, a founding father of the Charismatic Renewal Movement in Jamaica during the 1970s, believes pastor-centric leadership, which is commonplace in Jamaica, is unbiblical.

Such a brand of leadership, he argued, should give way to the pastor being one of a panel of elders who is first among equals in determining matters of faith and practice. He said, "The modern concept of an invited pastor who 'heads up' a church is not seen in the New Testament church."

Deciding on matters of doctrine, he said, should not be the exclusive preserve of pastors, but the exercise of elders agreeing among themselves concerning the biblical revelation, 'No local church is safe if the exposition of doctrine is not done in plurality'.

"The classic example is, of course, the well known, Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). This gathering of Christian leaders met to deal with a doctrinal issue. The results of this very important conference were released in a communique by the leaders in which they summarised their decision, saying: "For it seemed good the Holy Ghost and to us" (Acts 15:28).

Matters of doctrine

Citing the experience in his own local church, he said, matters of doctrine must be agreed to by the eldership. By doctrines, he means, the major tenets of the Christian faith, "and not peripherals such as pre-tribulation or post-tribulation". He continued: 'Doctrinal problems must be heard by and settled within the whole church, clearly among a plurality or responsible leadership willing to resolve difficulties'.

Mr. Williamson, a luminary of the life insurance industry in the 1970s-1990s, pointed out that plurality informed the pattern of ministry in the Acts of the Apostles. He made the point that in Acts 13, Paul and Silas were "ordained together, they travelled together, ministered together, and reported back to their local church together."

But in terms of the fivefold ministry gifts recorded in Ephesians 4:11 (prophet, pastor, teacher, evangelist, apostles), he said that it was the practice of the early church that these offices would function in a plural context - with the exception of the evangelist and the teacher.

The New Testament, Mr. Williamson argued, intended plurality of governance and ministry to be the policy of churches. However, he warned that plurality can be pushed to ridiculous extremes.

He made the point, for example, that "Plurality should not be expected from an individual elder or deacon in the day-to-day management of his/her particular portfolio. It will not work at this level as this is micro-management which will strip the God-given initiative from a brother or sister."

Plurality

"Once eldership determines policy and assigns a particular responsibility to an elder or deacon, that person should be allowed to make decisions without reference to plurality, unless in doubt. If an elder has the portfolio of finance, for example, that elder should feel free to make decisions on his own, providing the decisions fits within budget. If he is in doubt, the elder can 'bounce' the issue off any co-elder. Portfolio oversight involves accountability - not plurality."

According to Mr. Williamson, the work of leading, teaching and pastoring the local assembly is the special responsibility of elders in plurality. 'Throughout the New Testament, in 60 of the 69 times that the word 'elder' is used, it is in the plural form'. A careful examination of Scriptures pertaining to New Testament church government establishes that God has no place for one-man rule in the church of God. No where in the Scriptures is anything else witnessed but a plural government of the church shared by co-equal elders in mutual submission and of one mind.

Most churches, despite the best intentions, will usually have an elder who emerges as the 'chief elder'. But such a person, Mr. Williamson said should be mindful that he leads among his peers and not above them.

Mr. Williamson, an elder at Covenant City Church, which meets at Priory High School in St. Andrew, made the point that those exercising the office of apostle in the New Testament were not higher than the elders of local churches.

"Although Paul was in Corinth for over a year, in Rome for two years, and in Ephesus for three years, in none of these places do we ever see him taking responsibility for the administration of a local church. Apostles have no business in any long-term government of local churches. In the New Testament, they planted it and left it, in the hands of local elders." Accordingly, the author posits that "A church is incomplete until elders are ordained."

Citing 1 Peter 5:1-2, Mr. Williamson made the point that when apostles sat with elders they sat as co-elders and not in a hierarchical position over elders.

After noting that the biblical record uses 'elder' and 'bishop' interchangeably, the author tackled the modern functioning of that office. He said, "The practice of having bishops as overseers for several local assemblies is widespread among certain denominations, but it has no scriptural precedent."

Not transferable

Eldership, he wrote, is not transferable, but is limited by geography. Hence, within a denomination, an elder in a Kingston church is not automatically an elder in the Mandeville congregation.

Tony Williamson sounded a warning about a growing trend of referring to the pastor's wife as 'First Lady'. He argued that by the usage of 'First Lady' in some measure it is implied that the pastor is 'presidential' and that there is no place for the practice or the perception of presidential leadership in the church.

He wrote also that there is no evidence in the scriptures that the wife of any leader was accorded anything akin to First Lady status.The practice of calling wives of pastors First Lady, he continued, "appears to be a piece of egregious arrogance, a man-made monstrosity, ecclesiastical egoism that epitomises the Diotrephes spirit of 'pre-eminence' denounced by the Apostle John (in 3 John 9, 10)."

He argued throughout his book that "Believers should follow the New Testament pattern, confining themselves to the simplicity of the Word of God."

Tony Williamson may be reached at tonywilliamson_57@yahoo.com. Send feedback on Mind&Spirit to mark.dawes@gleanerjm.com