Steve Stanley’s Reviews > Baptist Foundations: Church Government for an Anti-Institutional Age > Status Update

And in this community meal [the Lord’s Supper] we bolster one another’s faith by looking together to Jesus in the present, based on his completed work for us in the past, knowing that he will take us to be him in the future.

Still, the fact that a regional synod was called to discuss infant baptism suggests that the practice was not universal, even in the mid-third century.

In the history of the church, the so-called sacraments came to predominate over the gospel, which gives us some reluctance about the term...We believe *ordinances* is the better term. The term *ordinances* refers to the fact that Christ has ‘ordained’ these rites as a means of visibly portraying the gospel.

It is a sign of an unhealthy church when the pastor is gone and no one in the congregation can step in and fill the pulpit. Biblical eldership includes training others to do the task of preaching and teaching [2 Tim 2:2].

Biblical leadership is humble, servant leadership [Mark 10:42-44; John 13:1-20; 1 Pet 5:3].

The emphasis of the qualifications given in 1 Timothy and Titus stresses the present situation of a man’s moral and spiritual character. The real issue is not so much where he has come from but who he is now by God’s grace. If a man is currently faithful to his wife, being above reproach [1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:6], and has proven himself in that relationship, then it is possible for him to become an elder.

[It] is doubtful that Paul was holding elders to a higher standard of morality than he required of all believers. All of the moral and spiritual qualifications given to the elders are what is expected of all believers.

The qualifications of an elder are generally the basic character traits expected of all believers. Elders are not superspiritual people but are those who are mature in their faith and live consistent, humble lives. They are not content to look spiritual on Sundays or Wednesdays, but their spirituality pervades their entire lives. . . . He is not perfect, but his life is characterized by integrity.

[The] qualifications to be an elder are basic characteristics all Christians should have. The only exceptions are that an elder must not be a new convert and must be able to teach. The focus of the qualifications is on who a person is more than what he does.

It should also be noted that “elder” (presbuteros), “overseer” (episkopos), and “pastor” (poimēn) refer to the same office... the terms *elder*, *overseer*, and *pastor* represent the same office [because] they are used interchangeably [Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5, 7; 1 Pet 5:1-2].