- The New Testament model of church leadership is one of each church being led by a team of pastoral elders (with no mention of a senior or lead pastor other than Christ). Our pastors serve in differing capacities depending on their gifting and available time, but they all share in the shepherding of the church.
- While some pastors may seem more prominent because of their gifting and availability, we guard against the unhealthy perception that a particular leader is the shepherd or pastor of the church.
- We only appoint as pastors those who are ministering pastorally by leading, teaching or tending. Those who are part of this team must be true pastors of the church, not just in name but in actual ministry.
- The New Testament doesn’t show the church to be a dictatorship of the pastors or a democracy of the people. The pastors must truly lead—gently, humbly and in a Christ-like way—but at times they must lead the people in reaching true, biblically-informed, spiritually-mature consensus on major issues.
- We’ll strive to apply this New Testament principle of plural leadership consistently throughout the church. The plurality of the pastoral team in shepherding the whole church should be an example to the teams of directors overseeing all other ministries within the church.