OPERATING A CHURCH WITHOUT A PASTOR (4)

0. Introduction

a) Can a church start WITHOUT an "ordained" person, be they a Pastor, Priest or Minister, present to lead the group? Are there certain functions and ceremonies within the church that should only be performed by those who receive a salary to serve? Below are several common practices and services that Christian churches commonly perform and how they can be handled by small groups and fellowships.

1. Appointing leaders

a) A vital function of "ordained" church leaders is "ordaining" other church leaders so that the cycle may continue. However, when one realizes that the Bible does NOT teach a chain of human ordination, then having such a need goes away. God continues to give spiritual gifts and congregations choose people to become their leaders (Acts 1:23; 6:3; 11:22; 15:2, 22, 25, 40; 16:1 - 2; 1Corinthians 16:3; 2Corinthians 8:19; 1Timothy 3; Titus 1). A system where people choose each leader sometimes is not stable, but it is a far better system than bad church leaders picking future bad leaders (or those even worse than they!) that continues a perverse cycle of leadership.