How many church offices exist or are there in the Church according to the scriptures?

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Gil Garcia
Rehoboth Reformed Church (RCUS)
La Habra, CA

"Ignorance of this distinction between Law and Gospel is one of the principal sources of the abuses which corrupted and still corrupt Christianity." - Calvin's successor


"By the words of the law man is admonished and taught, not what he can do, but what he ought to do. How is it that you theologians are twice as stupid as schoolboys, in that as soon as you get hold of a single imperative verb you infer an indicative meaning...?"
-Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will

Pastor, Deacon, Elder, Evagelist would be my first thought, but I will follow this thread

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Martin - Reformed
Husband to the most godly, honorable and loyal wife Line
Searching for a Church
Webpage www.5solas.dk
Free Online Reformed Seminary - http://www.tnars.net
Soli Deo Gloria

3

Minister, Elder, and Deacon...

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Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

Two offices: Elder (subdivided into Teaching and Ruling Elders) and Deacon.

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Seth Stark
Member, Communion Presbyterian Church (ARP), Irvine, CA
Biola University, Graduate Student, M.A. - Science and Religion
Seth's Blog

Who can make it one!?!

The Pope!!

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Ben Franks

I attend: Ketoctin Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC)
in Purcellville, Virginia
I'm a member of: Heartland Community Church (PCA)
in Wichita, Kansas
I blog here (along with my Dad): http://rrfranks.blogspot.com/
And I'm a student here: www.phc.edu

"Remember the speeches we have spoken so often over our mead, when we raised boast on the bench, heroes in the hall, about hard fighting. Now may the man who is bold prove that he is."-Aelfwine at the Battle of Maldon

There is only one office in the Church and that is Messiah, everything else follows from Him.

Well if you already knew why were you asking?

I don't get it. Are you saying that there are no other offices beside Messiah? Or that there are three: Messiah, Elder, Deacon (or four, if you are OPC, Messiah, T. Elder, R. Elder, Deacon)?

Do you believe that the only office holder in the Church is Christ? Or is this just a trick question?

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Shalom,
jessi
PCA
Steelers fan exiled to Virginia


“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.”
Martin Luther

There is first the office of our Lord Jesus Christ and everything else that has been established as an office, according to the scriptures, comes from or follows after His office.

For example, we served others because He first served us and commanded us to served within the church and outside the church.

-----Added 1/30/2009 at 09:56:50 EST-----


Just spreading the Love of Christ.


Deuteronomy 32:2 (New King James Version)

2 Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.

2 1/2

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Fred Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

haha...I almost put that!

Are you implying that Deacons only get a janitor's closet, not a full office?

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Andrew Thornquist My Photo Album
Calvinistic Baptist
Ukiah, California
To follow Christ was the best decision God made for me!

Well Jessica, it appears your child know the answer!

We are very over crowded right now, but when that building fund comes in, wow are we going to add some offices!

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Rangerus
Southern Baptist
Austin, TX
Teacher and Volunteer
1689 LBCF & BF&M 2000

AH! I see now. The number of office rooms in a church. Speaking of two and a half, in the early days of the South African Republic, President Kruger was giving the various churches plots of land in Johannesburg. When some Jews asked for a plot of city land, he only gave them a half of a plot. As he explained it, because they only believe half of the Bible.

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Tim Vaughan
Member, Redeemer Presbyterian, OPC,
Santa Maria
California

This book which I am currently reading says that there are only two: elder and deacon.

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Albert, The Republic of the Philippines
Pasig United Covenant Reformed Church (a Reformed church plant)
United Covenant Reformed Churches in the Philippines (UCRCP)
Three Forms of Unity and Westminster Confession of Faith

Psalm 27:1a (AV) The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
“Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts.” -

I would not have thought that Messiah was an office in the Church, is it not external to the Church?

How else can the Church be the bride of Christ?

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Mike
London City Presbyterian Church
London
England

"Surely, we wish to be orthodox, but we must first learn what real orthodoxy is. Surely, we wish to be progressive, but we must first have a basis to progress from."

I get more than a janitor's closet. I have the whole church library to roam around in.

...as long as I get all the new books processed and shelved.

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-----Added 1/31/2009 at 07:09:27 EST-----


Christ has 3 Offices all His own:

1. Prophet
2. Priest
3. King

-----Added 1/31/2009 at 07:11:27 EST-----


I have a book that says the same thing. It's called The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy.

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Sterling Harmon
Presbyterian Church of Coventry (PCA)
Coventry, CT
Deacon
________________

"Whatever is laudable in our works proceeds from the grace of God."
-- John Calvin, Institutes III:xv.3.

"Our Lord God must be a good man, to be fond of worthless fellows. I cannot like them, and yet I, myself, am one."
-- Martin Luther, Table Talk
Interim Pulpit Supply of New England

My Facebook

Owner/Administrator @ Reformed Theology Institute

If you study I Timothy 3, Titus 1, and even Acts 6 closely, you probably see a good case biblically for:

Elders especially gifted to teach (Pastor, evangelist)
Elders especially gifted to rule (administer, do church discipline, strategically and tactically plan church life)
Deacons gifted to oversee mercy ministry, encourage liberality, and oversee property stewardship

The beauty of the system, knowing that Scripture teaches absolute power corrupts absolutely (due to the fall) is that everything does not fall on one Senior Pastor, and there is not an expectation that it does. This even checks our tendency to "worship" people and over use them for what we ourselves could do. The Pastor is free to focus on the very, very important task of rightly teaching God's Word.

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Scott
PCA
North Carolina


"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)"
Hebrews 10:23

I agree that this one is a difficult topic, and I would like to look at it as objectively as possible. Thanks for the texts, and the comments.

Anyway, this is quite off the topic. But are you the same Scott Truax who held a seminar on Reformed Theology (organized by a Pentecostal pastor) somewhere in the province of Cavite (in my homeland) recently? Are you still in the country?

Those that believe the Scriptures teach three offices do not also believe that in that system all the "power" falls to the Senior Pastor.

Here is an excellent article from an OPC Pastor defending the Three-Office View.

Read it here.

-----Added 1/31/2009 at 09:09:01 EST-----

Actually in this book you can find a defense of a 5-Office View.

Elder and Deacon.

Pastor-teacher is a gift Elders should have.

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Jim
1689 LBCF
Independent Bible Church
North Texas, USA

The real answer (I believe) to the OP is that there are respected exegetes and theologians who teach a three-office view and there are respected exegetes and theologians who teach a two-office view.

Some three-office view men raise the distinction of elders to such a level that ruling elders are (practically) denigrated and some two-office view men flatten the distinction so much that pastors are treated as employees. Neither such example is Biblical, nor is it indicative of either view as such. They are practical outworkings that have been abused.

Anyone who believes that they can definitively show from Scripture the three- or two-office view to the exclusion of the other is fooling himself, I think. I don't mean that a better case cannot be made for one or the other from the Bible, but this is not a battle that will be "won" this side of glory.

In addition, I am not sure that it is a battle that needs to be won. I believe it is better for REs to respect and support the pastor (a-la Aaron and Hur) than to stand on their own "rights." I also believe that it is better for TEs to respect and involve (as heavily as possible) the REs in the ministry than to stand on their "distinction." After all, the glory is Christ's, not the man's or even the office's.

Having served now for several years as both an RE (7) and a TE (3) I think that I have a bit of perspective on this. Hence my somewhat humorous answer "2 1/2." Substance is better than form on this issue.

Blessings,

I appreciate the mention of Messiah as office because authority flows from Him and I've known many godly pastors to refer to themselves as "under shepherds." That said, the two on-going earthly offices would be elder and deacon.

How do you folks think "Bishop" fits into the picture? I've seen it explained that the original languages call for one office (elder) with two functions. The early church clearly used the title, though, and I've sometimes wondered if our Reformation Fathers were too quick to reject the title because of the abuses of the papists.

Whatever its use, I don't think the Episcopals and Lutherans have the right idea either because Jesus' pattern was to have multiple rulers (He appointed 12 apostles and the early church was careful to maintain that number by filling in behind Judas) and we see that pattern continued in the pastoral epistles.

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JWithnell
Member Bethel OPC
Virginia
http://learningyesican.blogspot.com/

Where did you find this book?

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http://www.villagecommunitychurch.org/


"Preparing a sermon is like cooking a meal. You need pots and pans and utensils, but you don't bring them out to the table where people are eating." Derek Thomas


Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Two: 1. Elder/Bishop/Pastor/Head Honcho and 2. Deacon (married to Deaconesses)/Music Minister/Drama Leader

OK. Forget the last two "slashed" titles.

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Bryan Wiley
Layman
Reformed Baptist Church
Louisville, Kentucky

"Seek the Kingdom of God first."

Hi. What I meant by that statement is that the book which I am reading teaches that elder = overseer = pastor. In other words, the authors of that book reject the distinction between ruling elder and teaching elder. For them, all pastors are elders, and all elders are pastors.

-----Added 2/1/2009 at 07:40:40 EST-----

I borrowed it from a friend. The book was published by Truth For Eternity Ministries of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI.

Pastoring and shepherding are what Elders are to do. Acts 20.28.

IMHO Scripture does not indicate directly or indirectly that "Pastor" is an office or a title. The fact that it has become such is lamentable.

Our church only has one office.

It's where we keep the recording equipment.

That aside, I've seen guidelines for elders and deacons in Timothy. Our church currently has two elders and no specific deacons, but there are several men(and their wives) who fill those positions. Most of the folks in our congregation do at one time or another, actually...

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Jonathan
Audio Engineer
Reformed Anabaptist
Ohio

Moroni's magical glasses of proper interpretation:

1Ti 3:1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
1Ti 3:2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

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AV
Baptist
VA