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Church Study Series: The Bible-Presbyterian Church Government 1

Dear BPCWA worshipper, I wish to summarize our recent Church Studies Series as it is a crucial topic for peace and unity in a church. It is important for everyone in BPCWA to know this topic well. Since there are too much details to cover, I am summarising the lessons taught during the series of lessons. The videos and audio recordings of two of the three parts of the study are available on both our YouTube and church web sites and I hope that those who are reading this pastoral but did not attend the sessions will make the effort to watch and listen to the more complete lessons online. Do remember that this topic is not just important to the adults, but especially to the young ones in our midst because one day they will be the adult worshippers in this church. The peace and unity of the future BPCWA depends on you developing and abiding by the understanding of our church governance (which is also known as church polity).

The importance of understanding church governance. Many of us come from different church backgrounds and denominations before joining BPCWA. We cannot run away from how our backgrounds influence what we expect church to be. One of the most significant reasons for denominations is its governance of the church. Many problems occurring in churches can be because of a failure to understand how the church functions, the roles of offices, and the responsibilities of individuals. Where there is a proper understanding, it will help the church to enjoy unity and the individual to think and respond in ways that helps one to have joy as a worshipper in the church. These are the reasons why I chose this year’s church study series to be about “The Bible-Presbyterian Church Government”. This topic is often not particularly “appealing” or of interest to many Christians, even church leaders today. As a result, many do not care, resulting in more problems in the churches and unnecessary frustration in the worshipper himself. A church can have the best and soundest teachings, but disunity and disorder will destroy all of that because of unnecessary anger, bitterness, and infightings due to failure to understand and a lack of submission to needed church governance.

The importance of church government. God ordains governments. Consistency in church governments brings order to a church (1 Cor 14:40) and governs how we must behave ourselves in the house of God (1 Tim 3:15).  That is why it brings peace and unity. A government means that those under its rule are obligated to follow it. While we often only think of governments in the civil realm, we must remember that God does give His church a system of government too. Hebrews 13:17 teaches us to “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you”. How a government runs its affairs and how we submit to it affects our everyday lives. Likewise, church government and your response to it will affect your church life. Church government will determine how leaders are selected and appointed, authority for decisions, who does what, and the process for discipline.  When one does not care about or refuses to submit to the particular form of government of the denomination he is in, he will naturally feel that church should not be run “this way” or that it should be run based on what they were used to, and may even seek to influence others or change the structure of the church to their own beliefs. Such ones may even think they are doing the church “a favour”. When one chooses to join a church, or take up any position of service, he must be conscious of and abide by the denomination’s polity. To do otherwise is disrespectful. Members and worshippers also must resist all efforts to undermine our biblical church model. Church office holders, if appointed, must also be clear of their roles so that they will fulfil their duties according to those designated roles. Some vaguely know the Presbyterian church government, yet may not like how things are done, who does it, how things are decided, or when they or others get counselled or disciplined. Much of this can be avoided if people understand and accept that we cannot choose to be a member of a church in a denomination but yet resist its form of government. Hebrew 13:17 emphasizes that submission is for the profit of all.

Elders in a Presbyterian Church. Weare Presbyterians because we believe that the rule of the church is by the plurality (ie, more than 1) of elders (presbyters). We see the continuity of such a model from the Old Testament (Num 11:16-17) to the New Testament (Ac 14:23, Tit 1:5). As is taught in Scriptures, the Westminster Directory for Church Government and the Bible-Presbyterian Form of Government biblically and rightly differentiates between the 1) Teaching Elder (who is also known as the pastor, who labours in the word and doctrine (1 Tim 5:17) through preaching on the pulpit) and the 2) Ruling elder. Both elders are active not just in the administration of the church, visitations, and counselling weaker members, but also in the exercise of discipline. Few (if any) who are admonished, rebuked, or disciplined will be happy at having been chastised. Hence, an elder must be willing to risk losing those members’ votes and continue to make hard calls and stand by tough decisions for the good of God’s church. Since the ruling elder(s) may need to oversee the church, his direction and rule can change the very fabric of the church if there is no pastor and he needs to care for the church on his own for that period. Therefore, we must be absolutely sure that anyone who becomes an elder of BPCWA must be trustworthily steadfast and genuine in his Bible-Presbyterian beliefs. This being an important God-ordained role, we must also remember that being an elder is not a promotion of long- serving deacons, nor based simply on how active the person has been, how willing he is to serve, or how popular he is. There are clear biblical qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. When we seek a pastor in the future, it must be someone who declares that he is called to a pastoral office in BPCWA and be properly ordained. In other words, he must complete his theological studies in the Bible-Presbyterian Bible college to be trained in our denomination’s faith, including the study of the original languages. And only after a sufficient period of assessment to prove his calling and faithfulness to the Truth, ability to feed the flock through his preaching, courage to do what is needed for the church, and examination by other pastors, then should he be ordained. Not all denominations adopt this process, appointing even lay people who have not been trained or examined as pastors, or have a much-simplified pathway to expedite someone as their pastor. But the pastoral office is an office of serious responsibility and unlike other denominations, our Constitution recognises that only after ordination by likeminded BP Ministers can such a one be elected as pastor and be a church office holder. Even in the absence of a pastor, BPCWA must not be anxious and rush through or skip parts of this due diligence. Don’t simply appoint someone and call someone your pastor if they have not studied fully, been tested in service and preaching, been officially examined by pastors, been ordained, and been elected into the role of a pastor of BPCWA.

To reiterate, the lack of unity of understanding and practice of the Bible-Presbyterian Church polity may indeed lead to murmurings in the church. Some who are used to a different way of doing things may feel that it is too restrictive, unfair, or impractical, even when the right process is practiced and followed. So, one who is doing what is right by our polity may even be deemed to be doing things wrongly by such a worshipper! But once we understand church governance and submit to it, it profits us all. We must remember that for order in the church, God does intend there to be a rule and a system of doing things to maintain order in the church. Let us seek the unity of the church.

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor