Skip to content

Course 7 · Lesson 7.4

Offices and order in the first churches

12 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 7 outline

Module 1: The World of the New Testament

  1. Second Temple Judaism in the time of Jesus
  2. Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and other movements
  3. Rome, the Herods and the province of Judea
  4. Hopes, protest and revolt in Jewish political life

Module 2: Jesus in History

  1. Sources for Jesus: Christian, Jewish and Roman
  2. The quests for the historical Jesus and their methods
  3. Criteria of authenticity and their limits
  4. Historical results and Christian confession

Module 3: The Gospels as Books

  1. The gospels and ancient biography
  2. Traditions of authorship and the arguments about them
  3. The synoptic problem: the evidence of agreement and difference
  4. Solutions: Markan priority, Q, Matthean priority and others
  5. Four portraits of Jesus: the distinct emphasis of each gospel

Module 4: Acts and the Spread of the Church

  1. Pentecost and the Jerusalem church
  2. The mission to the Gentiles and the council at Jerusalem
  3. Paul in Acts and in his own letters
  4. Acts as history and as theology

Module 5: Pauline Theology

  1. Paul and his letters: occasion, authorship and order
  2. Gospel, faith and righteousness in Romans and Galatians
  3. Christ, the Spirit and the body of Christ
  4. Reading Paul: traditional, new perspective and other approaches

Module 6: Johannine Theology

  1. The Gospel, the three letters and Revelation: authorship questions
  2. Word, light, life and love in the Gospel of John
  3. The signs and the I am sayings
  4. The Spirit, the community and the Johannine letters

Module 7: Hope, Authority and Church Order

  1. The kingdom of God and last things in Jesus and the apostles
  2. Ways of reading New Testament eschatology
  3. What an apostle was and how apostolic authority worked
  4. Offices and order in the first churches
  5. How Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches read the evidence

Module 8: The Testaments Together

  1. Fulfilment and continuity: how the New Testament uses the Old
  2. Law and covenant across the Testaments
  3. Comparing Paul and John: a method
  4. Shared convictions and meaningful differences

All courses

Program / Course 7: New Testament Theology and History / Lesson 7.4

What you will learn

  • Describe the offices and ministries named in the New Testament: apostles, prophets, teachers, elders, overseers and deacons.
  • Explain how church order differed among Jerusalem, the Pauline churches, the Pastoral letters and the Johannine community.
  • Describe the development of the three-fold ministry in the writings of Ignatius.
  • Identify the roles of women in the early churches and the debates about them.

The big idea

The New Testament does not give a single blueprint for church order. Jerusalem was led by the apostles and later by elders with James. Paul’s churches list gifts and ministries such as apostles, prophets and teachers, and in Philippians greet overseers and deacons. The Pastoral letters describe elders, overseers and deacons, and about 110 AD Ignatius of Antioch writes of a single bishop with presbyters and deacons in each city. Scholars debate how and when the structures took shape, and the churches draw different conclusions from the evidence.

Key terms

Elder (presbyteros)
A Greek word meaning older man. In the New Testament, a leader of a local church, often serving as part of a group of elders. It is the root of the English words priest and presbyter.
Overseer (episkopos)
A Greek word meaning one who watches over. It is the root of the word bishop. In the earlier New Testament it seems to be used for leaders of a local church, sometimes interchangeably with elder.
Deacon (diakonos)
A Greek word for servant. In the New Testament it names those who assist in the church’s service, including Phoebe (Romans 16:1).
Charism
A gift of grace, from the Greek charisma. Paul describes ministries as gifts given by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12).
Monepiscopate
The system in which a single bishop heads a local church, with presbyters and deacons beneath him.
Ordination
The act of setting a person apart for ministry, in the New Testament often by prayer and the laying on of hands (Acts 6:6, 1 Timothy 4:14).
House church
A congregation that met in the home of a member, as in Romans 16:5 and Colossians 4:15. Most early churches met this way.

Background

The earliest churches met in homes and were small. They were led by the apostles who founded them, by local leaders who emerged, and by people with gifts of teaching, prophecy and hospitality. Their structure was shaped by Jewish models such as the synagogue, which had elders, and by the Greco-Roman household and association, which had patrons and officers.

The evidence is scattered and incomplete, and scholars have long argued about what to make of it. J. B. Lightfoot, a nineteenth-century Anglican, argued that bishops arose from among the presbyters. Others argued for a gradual development from a charismatic to an institutional church. Catholic and Orthodox scholars generally hold that the apostles established an ordered ministry from the beginning. More recent work stresses diversity: churches in different cities were organized differently, and the pattern became uniform in the second century.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: Jerusalem and Paul’s churches

In Jerusalem the apostles led, and Acts reports that famine relief was sent to the elders (Acts 11:30). At the council of Acts 15, the apostles and elders met together, with James giving the judgment. James, the brother of the Lord, seems to hold a special leadership role (Acts 12:17, 21:18, Galatians 2:9).

In his earlier letters Paul describes ministry in terms of gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:28 lists ‘first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers’, and then miracles, healings, helps and governments. Romans 12:6 to 8 lists prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership and mercy. Paul greets ‘the bishops and deacons’ in Philippians 1:1, one of the first mentions of overseers and deacons. He urges the Thessalonians to respect those who labor among them and are over them in the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:12).

Step 2: The Pastoral letters and other books

1 Timothy 3 lists the qualifications for an overseer and for deacons: good character, sound teaching and a well-ordered household. Titus 1:5 to 9 tells Titus to appoint elders in every town, and then describes the qualities of the ‘bishop’ as if elder and overseer were the same. Timothy is told not to neglect the gift given through prophecy ‘with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery’ (1 Timothy 4:14). Scholars who consider the Pastorals later see here an effort to secure order against false teaching.

Other books show similar patterns. 1 Peter 5:1 to 4 speaks of elders as shepherds of the flock. James 5:14 tells the sick to call the elders of the church to pray and anoint with oil. Hebrews 13:17 tells readers to obey their leaders. In the Johannine letters, the author calls himself the elder, and 3 John shows conflict about who has first place in the church.

Step 3: Women in ministry

Women appear in leadership roles in the New Testament. Phoebe is called a deacon (or servant) of the church at Cenchreae and a patron of many (Romans 16:1 to 2). Priscilla and Aquila taught Apollos (Acts 18:26), and the church met in their house. Lydia hosted the church at Philippi (Acts 16:15), Junia is among the apostles or esteemed by them (Romans 16:7), and women prophesy in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:5). Paul names Euodia and Syntyche as fellow workers (Philippians 4:2 to 3).

Other texts have been used to limit women’s roles: 1 Corinthians 14:34 to 35 and 1 Timothy 2:11 to 15. Churches and scholars disagree about their meaning and force. Complementarian traditions, including the Catholic and Orthodox churches and many Protestants, hold that certain offices are reserved for men, with differing reasons. Egalitarian traditions, including many Protestant churches, ordain women, arguing that these texts reflect a particular setting and that the wider witness of the New Testament supports their ministry.

Step 4: Ignatius and the three-fold ministry

Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, wrote letters on his way to martyrdom in Rome about 110 AD. He insists on the unity of the church around one bishop, with presbyters and deacons: ‘Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop’ (Smyrnaeans 8). He speaks of the bishop as presiding in the place of God, the presbyters as the council of the apostles, and the deacons as entrusted with the service of Jesus Christ (Magnesians 6).

Ignatius’ letters show that in Asia Minor and Syria, at least, the pattern of one bishop was in place by the early second century. His letters do not mention a bishop in Rome, and 1 Clement and the Shepherd of Hermas speak of a group of presbyters there, which has led some scholars to think that Rome moved to a single bishop later. Others think it came earlier. By the end of the second century the threefold pattern was nearly universal.

  1. What does the list of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 suggest about the early church’s idea of leadership?
  2. Why might elders and overseers have been the same people in some New Testament texts?
  3. What do the roles of Phoebe, Priscilla and Lydia show about women in the early church?
  4. How would you explain the difference between a charismatic and an institutional pattern of church life?
  5. What does Ignatius hope to accomplish by insisting on one bishop in each city?
  6. How should a church today use the New Testament evidence when deciding how to organize itself?

Examples

Titus on elders

Paul tells Titus to appoint elders in every city, and describes them using the term overseer. A reader can see here either an early stage in which the two titles were the same, or a pattern in which elders were commonly chosen and one served as overseer. Churches interpret the evidence in both ways.

The Didache on leaders

A very early church manual, the Didache, says that churches should appoint for themselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, and treats them as equal in honor with the prophets and teachers (Didache 15). It shows a church in which charismatic and local ministries stood side by side.

A house church

In Romans 16:3 to 5, Paul greets Prisca and Aquila and the church that meets in their house. Archaeology of houses from the period shows that a room could hold perhaps thirty to fifty people. The size and setting shaped how early churches worshiped and were led.

Different perspectives

Catholic view

The Catholic Church teaches that Christ established a hierarchical ministry, that the apostles appointed successors, and that the threefold ministry of bishop, priest and deacon is of divine institution. Catholic scholars accept that the terms were fluid at first, but hold that the substance of the ministry goes back to the apostles.

Orthodox view

The Orthodox Church holds that the threefold ministry is apostolic, with the bishop as the center of the local church’s life and the Eucharist. It sees Ignatius’ letters as a witness to an ancient pattern and not an innovation.

Protestant view

Protestants hold diverse views. Anglicans and Lutherans in many places keep bishops. Presbyterians hold that the New Testament elders are the model and that bishops and elders are the same office. Congregationalists and Baptists emphasize the authority of the local congregation. Many Protestants ordain women, and others reserve eldership to men.

Scholarly view

Historians generally hold that church order developed over time and varied from place to place, with the monepiscopate emerging in the early second century in some areas. They debate the role of the apostles in setting it up, and the weight of the Pastoral letters as evidence.

Why it matters

Church order is a practical question that touches every congregation, and one on which churches have been divided for centuries. Knowing the New Testament evidence lets a student see the range of early practice, understand why traditions differ, and discuss the question with fairness.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: The New Testament describes one fixed church organization.

Correction: It shows several patterns: apostles and elders in Jerusalem, gifts in Paul’s churches, overseers and deacons in Philippians, elders and overseers in the Pastorals. The picture is not uniform.

Misunderstanding: The early church was entirely unstructured and spontaneous.

Correction: Even the earliest letters mention leaders and recognized ministers, and Acts shows the choice of the seven and of elders. Structure was present from the start, in simple forms.

Misunderstanding: Ignatius invented the office of bishop.

Correction: Ignatius reports and defends a pattern already in place in his region. Scholars debate how long it had existed.

Misunderstanding: Women had no role in the first churches.

Correction: The New Testament names women as deacon, patron, prophet, teacher and fellow worker. Churches differ on what this implies for ordained ministry today.

Knowledge check

What ministries does Paul list in 1 Corinthians 12:28?

Apostles, prophets and teachers, followed by miracles, gifts of healing, helps and governments. The list presents ministries as gifts given by God for the common good of the church and not as offices in a fixed structure.

What did Philippians 1:1 add?

It greets the saints with the overseers and deacons, giving one of the earliest references to those two offices in a local church. The letter does not mention elders, which suggests that terms varied from place to place.

What is notable about Titus 1:5 to 7?

Titus is told to appoint elders in every town, and the passage then describes the qualifications of the overseer, as though the two terms referred to the same people. Many scholars take this to mean that the two titles were interchangeable at this stage.

What did Ignatius teach about the bishop?

That each church should be united around one bishop, with presbyters and deacons, and that the Eucharist and other acts of the church should be done with the bishop. He sees the bishop as presiding in the place of God and the unity of the church as dependent on this order.

Name three women with roles in the New Testament churches.

Phoebe, a deacon and patron at Cenchreae; Priscilla, who with Aquila taught Apollos and hosted a church; and Lydia, in whose house the church at Philippi met. Others include Junia and Euodia and Syntyche.

Think it through

  1. Which pattern of early church order appeals to you, and why?
  2. How much weight should the earliest forms of church life have for churches today?
  3. How should a church decide between competing readings of 1 Timothy 2?
  4. What would a church lose if it kept only charismatic ministry, or only institutional office?

Independent assignment

A map of ministries

In your own notebook, write 300 to 450 words. Make a table with these columns: text, ministry named, what it does. Include at least eight entries from Acts 6, Acts 15, 1 Corinthians 12, Philippians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 and Romans 16. Then write a paragraph on what the table shows about the variety of early church order. Do not send this to anyone.

Further study