Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

The Acts of the Apostles

Furthermore, Luke doesn’t refer to the “churches of Ephesus,” he refers to the “church” (Acts 20:17). Later he refers to the “flock,” not “flocks,” over which the Holy Spirit placed the elders (Acts 20:28). The natural reading of the passage, then, indicates that there is one church in Ephesus and one body of elders to oversee it. The same is true nearly forty years later when John addresses “the church in Ephesus,” not the churches (Rev. 221). And nearly twenty years after John’s letters, Ignatius also writes to “the church which is in Ephesus.”23 This is not to deny that there were house churches in Ephesus, because there were (1 Cor. 16:19). But the biblical information on the interre lationship of the house churches is very sparse, so we are unable to recreate a detailed working model. What we do know from Acts 20 is that a council of elders was responsible for the pastoral oversight of the church (singular) in Ephesus. How that eldership organized itself among the various house churches, however, we simply do not know.24 The same single-church concept describes the church in Jerusalem. Although there were thousands of believers in Jerusalem (Acts 4:4; 5: 14; 621,7; 21:20), the inspired historian speaks only of the church in Jerusalem, not churches (Acts 5211; 821,3; 11222; 1221,5; 1524,22; 18:22). Luke portrays the believers in Jerusalem as viewing themselves as one united congregation (Acts 2244,46; 5212; 622) under the leader ship of twelve apostles and later the elders and James (Acts 2:42; 4235,37; 522 ff; 622-4,6; 8214-17; 9227; 1524 ff.). Until times of severe persecution, the first Christians in Jerusalem met regularly on the east side of the outer court of Herod’s Temple, in a place referred to as Solomon’s colonnade: 0 And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common. And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple. (Acts 2244,46a). 0 And at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one ac cord in Solomon’s portico (Acts 5212; cf. 3211; italics added).

0 And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ (Acts 5242).

What was more natural for God’s family than for all those in

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