Quote:
Originally Posted by Sister Alvear
one question leads to another here in my office...now the question is: is voting for a pastor Biblical or any church office as far as voting is concerned?
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When the first ministers of the church (deacons) were selected, the apostles told the assembly to put forward the names, in other words the church nominated the guys who were going to be deacons. These men chosen by the church were then appointed by the apostles to their responsibilities.
Paul had an apostolic representative (Timothy) who was responsible for ordaining elders (bishops, overseers). It is clear from the text such persons needed to have support from the assembly (how can a person oversee a church that doesn't approve of them being in oversight?) but these elders/overseers were not just "voted on" by the congregation, either. Apparently there is a sort of hybrid method in the Bible, involving input from the assembly, as well as input from the existing oversight/elders/apostolic church planting ministry, working together through prayer to identify whom God has raised up to continue the work.
Biblically, a pastor is not appointed, ordained, or elected, but rather is gifted by God to function as a shepherd and teacher. Such a person's "pastorate" will manifest simply by how they are used (by the Spirit) in the assembly. Modern "pastors" are closer to bishop/overseer/elder than to a Biblical "pastor". What I'm saying is nowadays we have called bishops by the term "pastor" which in Scripture a pastor is not necessarily a bishop.
A church usually has a founder, a church planter, which is basically the apostle of that church. Such person needs to have serious input into who is going to handle the oversight of the assembly (see above in regards to Paul and Timothy). But most of this is moot since most churches do NOT operate completely Scripturally, nor do they want to.
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