Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

CHAPTER 7 The Acts of the Apostles

“Elders for them in every church.”

Acts 14223

Bruce (1910-1990), is “the second volume to a History of Chris tian Origins.”l The Gospel of Luke, of course, is the first vol ume. Because it records the inspired history of early Christianity and is the only historical backdrop to the epistles, Acts is the logical start ing point for the study of Christian elders. The book of Acts provides the foundational material for our study and includes two of the most significant texts on eldership: Acts 14:23 and 20217-38. Acts also pro vides helpful examples of the first Christian elders at work and is in dispensable to understanding Paul’s church planting practices and his distinctive, Christian teaching on eldership. T he book of Acts, according to New Testament commentator F.F.

JEWISH CHRISTIAN ELDERS

At the beginning, the twelve apostles were the official overseers of the Christian community. But at an early, unrecorded date, a body of elders emerged that was fully recognized by the congregation and the apostles as leaders of the community. It is commonly thought that the first Christians borrowed the elder structure of government from the synagogue. Whether or not that is true is difficult to say with certainty, and really is not overly important.2 No matter how much or how little

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