How to Avoid a Stagnant Church:
Associated Clergy or Biblical Assembly?
Jacob 2011-10-13
updated 2011-10-14
There are two major ways of assembling that can be identified, the Biblical method, which is a specific kind of house church network, and an "Associated Clergy" method. "Model" can refer to a combination of External Structure, Leadership, Activity, and Accountability. There is also a Process that happens independent of the model: Starting, Establishing, and Operating. It is important to understand the difference in process, not just the difference in model--both together could be called a method. It is important to honestly compare the two methods in order for us to decide which method is best, and whether the Bible recommends one above the other. This can answers questions like: Why are people leaving the church in droves and forming house churches? Why are so many pastors burning out? Why did all the young adults leave our Church? Why are people who are self-promoting (often the same people with sexual behavior problems) become leaders in our church? Why is it so hard to confront the pastor? Why do people who are not interested in doing acts of service gather at our church? Why aren't people interested in home meetings?
Biblical
| Stage 1: Starting | Stage 2: Establishing | Stage 3: Operating | |
| External Structure | One or Two People | House Church Networks—one network per region | (stays same) |
| Leadership | Fairly free reign, with group who sent them as consultants. | Apostle (one or more) stays as temporary "super-elder" to train people in Apostles tradition (eating & praying together). When apostle evaluates them & finds them ready, he (or one of them—Titus 1:5) appoints elders. | Roles are: apostle as consultant (checks on them once in a while but isn't directly involved); multiple elders as consultants; multiple overseers; preaching for evangelism—no permanent "preacher" role exists. There are many people using many gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-14) during the assembly. The monarch is no longer needed in order for the assembly to function. |
| Activity | Sent out by house church (even the 12 were sent out from a house church). Evangelize and find individuals to join their cause. | Meet in public for ministry, then in homes for the Lord's Table (Acts 5:42). Lord's table is considered irreplaceable (Acts 2:42; also, the Lord's table is continued during persecution--if public meetings were essential they would have had to continue them). | (stays same) |
| Accountability | Apostles are accountable to each other (example: Galatians 2:11-14). | Accountable to each other and to apostle. | People are accountable to elders. Elders are accountable to each other and to anyone who confronts them (1 Timothy 5:1). Confronting can be escalated (Matthew 18) so no one has ultimate power. |
Apostle means something different to
most people today (usually means one of the twelve).
For the sake of communication the word
"Church Planter" may be used, however, it would be best to not be shy
to use the word apostle once it is clarified.
This way we can be clear about what the Bible expects of Church
Planters
(apostles) when it talks about the 12 and other apostles as well.
Associated Clergy
This way of assembling is the modern European/North American method that uses the Clergy-Laity Model and usually operates under an Association. It has been almost universal since the era of Constantine, and the exceptions have usually been underground church movements. The differences from the Biblical method are italicized below.
| Stage 1: Starting | Stage 2: Establishing | Stage 3: Operating | |
|---|---|---|---|
| External Structure | One or Two _or several_ | Individual House Church, sometimes comprised only of the Church planters themselves. The group is often established by, joins, or becomes a Multi-regional Association. | Goal is to become a "real church" which is something different than a house church network. Usually the operating stage is considered achieved by having land and equity. |
| Leadership | Individual or group of individuals who are rogue, or tightly controlled by an association. If rogue, may have accountability with older Christians as consultants. | When church planter sees there is a core group, he sets up someone to be the permanent "leader". | Roles are: Clergy and Laity. Someone appointed by Church Planter, or even the Church Planter himself/herself, stays as permanent monarch ("the pastor"). |
| Activity | Find individuals to join their cause— _usually people who are already Christians._ | Meeting in public is called "church", and is considered irreplaceable. The Lord's table is performed as a ritual. Various gimmicks are used to get people to meet in smaller groups, but none of them are the core activity and none of them are considered to be a replacement for "church". | This stays the same as the previous stage, but what is constantly emphasized is that the group has to become bigger, so that they can do (afford) more & more things (activities & assets that cost money). Even though the church is considered established, one-way communication continues to be the core activity, & meetings are set up for that—sometimes even smaller meetings are arranged in this way. The goal of the Church planter is often to form some type of an association which can then create more building-centric "churches" (large, unidirectional, unstoppable juggernauts). In some cases, there is only one home meeting per age group (especially when it is called a "Bible Study"), and only less than a tenth of the "church" may attend one. |
| Accountability | Church Planters are either accountable to a multi-regional association or to each other. | Accountable to "the pastor" and to each other. _The pastor is_ accountable to the church planter. | People are accountable to each other—o _nce it is big enough they basically find whoever they can, since "clergy" is limited in number._ _The pastor is accountable to some type of team, which is technically under him._ _He (not a board) is usually registered with state as the "head" of the "organization"._ |
Many Christians would see these Associated Clergy methods, especially of
leadership, accountability & church planting, as the only possible
ones, but
this
could be remedied through a change across the board, including a change
in process.
This seems necessary since there are so many differences from the Bible's way. One thing that
is encouraging is that many churches are taking radical steps to go
back to a Biblical method and succeeding. One way
to maintain accountability while moving away from that which is
provided by
the association
is by having home meetings as the core activity like in the Bible—this
would force
out or bring correction for someone who is being self-promoting or, the
opposite,
being completely withdrawn. One way to
communicate that home meetings are the core activity is by having the
Lord's
table only at the home meetings, and during a meal, like in the Bible.
Ironically,
this may lead to true "communion",
which is that which is not equal to the Lord's table but, rather, is
that which the Lord's table brings: fellowship. Upon studying the
meaning of the word communion, this natural outgrowth from the Lord's
table is clearly what 1
Corinthians 10:16 means. Another way, which is becoming more
common, of communicating the importance of this is selling the church
building and only meeting as a larger
group in public places, sometimes less frequently than the home
meetings. Churches with the Biblical model still do not have a
perfect church, but they do have the same method as the Bible so
that it "applies" to them already without the effort of "applying" it
to another method. If we try to understand the Bible instead of
trying to make it apply to us, that would seem to help us follow it,
though it may require more patience and boldness. Thankfully, the Bible
will suddenly become a resource for helping us decide and order
our methods of assembly and deal with problems related to how we assemble.