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Respect your elders? (What to call church leaders)

In the New Testament, there is no single, uniform designation for local church leaders. Aside from the unique office of the Apostles, who had seen the Lord, regular local church leaders were known as elders, overseers, pastors (the word is "shepherds"), teachers, "ministers of the New Covenant", leaders (Hebrews 13) or "those who labour among you and are over you in the Lord" (1 Thess 5:12). 

The name given to church leaders nowadays often depends on church denomination. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox have "priests", who may be addressed as "Father". In the Church of England, a common designation is "vicar". In presbyterian churches, the term is "minister" or, technically, "teaching elder". In "free churches" often "pastor" is the word used. In more recent times, as collective leadership has become the norm in free churches, the word "elder" is increasingly used, reflecting the common English translation of "presbyteros" (1 Timothy 3 etc.)  

In my case, my job title, as the main leader, in full-time employment, of a Grace Baptist church, is "pastor", however I prefer "minister", as that is more familiar to those outside the church, and reflects my primary role as minister of the word and prayer. Likewise, to underline the parity of ordained leaders, I am one of two elders. 

While I have no problem with the Biblical basis for eldership, the word "elder" doesn't, for me, send out the right message. "Elder" suggests age, and myself and my fellow-elder are very much in the younger 50% of the congregation. Likewise, "elder" suggests something far from dynamic, and possibly even resistant to change and adaptation. The "elders of the village" and all that. 

I want to argue that the variety of designations above, and, in particular, the interchangeable use of "elder" and "overseer" (sometimes translated "bishop") would appear to reflect a certain flexibility of use within the early church. While, in the 100s, the function of leading elder would morph into a separate office of "bishop", at the time of the New Testament, and for some time later, the two terms "elder" and "overseer" were interchangeable. In both cases, they were plural, because the leadership of local churches was plural. To the Jewish Christian, the Christian elder was a natural continuation of similar roles in a Jewish context. To the Gentile Christian, "overseer" (superintendent, supervisor, foreman, guardian) made more sense. The letter to the Philippians is addressed to "the church at Philippi with bishops (episkopoi) and deacons".

In the light of all this, I want to argue for wisely choosing designations for leaders that both anchor our role in Scripture and send out the right messages both for those inside the church and for those outside. As a starter-for-ten suggestion, why not just call all elders "ministers" or "pastors", or go for the obvious designation of "leaders"? Maybe there are alternative renderings of the Biblical "overseer" which might capture what we need to communicate about our role and what it is about. 

 

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