Offices in
the Church
Over the course of many
years many offices of the church have came to be misunderstood and
even misrepresented by people who have served in these offices. Part
of this is simply not really understanding what each office is and
part of it is some people who are called to an office are not
content in that office and want something that sounds a little more
important. Many people have incorrectly labeled how some of the
people are serving in their church simply because of this.
Because many people do not understand the various offices that were
established for the church, this is an attempt to clarify what each
office is and the responsibilities of it. This is a very basic
outline of offices along with a definition of what that office
entails. Please remember that in some churches there may not be a
need for all of the offices. If you have a church of 25 members
obviously there will not be a need for some of these and the pastor
may hold several of the offices until such time as God has grown his
church to where he needs them. We hope this will help to clarify
this for you and if you have any questions please feel free to email
us.
God bless
Apostle Charlie & Sister Becky
Offices in the Church
Taken from Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1
Offices:
Apostle-from the Greek word
apostolos- He that is sent, an ambassador of Christ. These are those
that are appointed by God and serve in the capacity of whatever God
has need of at any time. They may be church planters, serving as a
temporary pastor or serve as a prophet to give God’s word as
needed. They may serve in any of the offices as God has need of
them. The “special forces” or “minutemen” of God’s army
Prophet-from the Greek word
prophetes- A foreteller, an inspired speaker of words from God, one
who speaks with divine authority. To serve in the office of a
prophet is an obligation to deliver words from God even if it be
unpleasant. To serve in the office of prophet is to be one that is
known to always hear God’s voice, and to speak God’s will. This is
something not often seen in today’s church as few people actually
live close enough to God to hear God’s voice and to speak forth the
words that the Lord gives them. Looking at the lives of the Old
Testament prophets we can see that a prophet is a very well
respected person and when they deliver words from God it was obeyed
or they felt the wrath of God
Evangelist-From the Greek word
evanggelistes- a bringer of good tidings, a name given to those in
the New Testament who were not apostles. An evangelist’s messages
are not for the home church, their job is to spread the good news of
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Their job is to win
souls to Christ, it is not to go around from church to church trying
to revive the Christians.
Pastor-from the Greek word
poimen meaning shepherd-One who leads and cares for a flock. A
shepherd’s job is to take care of the sheep in his flock ie those
people in his congregation. He is responsible for making sure that
they are getting good spiritual food and not being poisoned. It is
his responsibility to see that the wolves do not come in and destroy
his flock and to defend them from attack. It is his responsibility
to heal the sick and wounded sheep and to love them, share their
lives and their trust. It is NOT his job to go out hunting new sheep
for his flock. Should one of his flock stray (miss services, get
involved in things they shouldn’t etc) it IS his responsibility to
go and seek that member out and bring them back to the fold if at
all possible. He may be responsible for a small flock or a large
flock but it is HIS responsibility to make sure that flock is taken
care of, not the responsibility of the prophet, apostle, or
evangelist. His job is to love and care for the ones that God has
sent to him.
Teacher-from the Greek word
didaskalos meaning teacher-One who imparts knowledge unto others.
One of the most important offices as a teacher is responsible for
imparting knowledge to those who sit under them in such a way as it
can be understood.
Bishop- from the Greek word
episkopos meaning overseer- one who is charged with seeing things
are done rightly. He is person who is an administrator and works in
close association with a pastor. He may bring conflicts in the
church to the pastor’s attention and assures that everything runs
smoothly in the operation of the church. He does not have authority
over the pastor nor does he take the place of the pastor. The office
of a bishop as portrayed by the Catholic church is not the Biblical
office of bishop.
Deacon-from the Greek word
diakonos-One who executes the commands of another, a servant, one
who cares for the poor. These are those men in the church who do the
necessary day to day activities from mowing the grass to ministering
to the needs of the poor.
Elder-from the Greek word presbyteros-an older well respected member
of the church, a title of respect. It is not technically an office
but rather a standing in the church of those older members whose
lives have been proved.
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