The Leadership Team


JESUS

The Scriptures are clear that Jesus Christ is the Head of the church (Eph. 1:22–23, 4:15, 5:23), and He has established His church to be lead by teams of Elders.

ELDERS

The House is an elder-led church. We believe elders are the biblically designated officers of the Church. Elders serve under Christ - the Head - and over the congregation as servant leaders (1 Peter 5:1-5), and must meet the biblical qualifications described in 1 Timothy 3:1-13, and Titus 1:5-9. The Elder Board of The House currently consists of three men: Family pictures
The Scripture uses three different words interchangeably when referring to the role of an Elder. These words refer to the three different aspects/functions of the Elder.

1.    “Presbuteros” – means Elder (The Man- he must be a elder/mature male believer)
2.    “Episcopos” – means Overseer or bishop (The Ministry- of oversight)
3.    “Poimain” – means Shepherd or pastor (The Method- of tending God’s flock- shepherding, nurturing, feeding, protecting…etc.).

All three are the same role but the different words distinguish different aspects of their role…The Ministry of oversight is accomplished through The Method of shepherding, and The Man must be an elder/mature believer; Acts 20:17,28; Eph. 4:11; 1 Peter 5:1-4).

The Elders in Scripture are always spoken of in plurality because God intends for more than one man to lead and rule over the church as a safeguard for both the church and the man. The doctrine of plurality accommodates for leaders amongst leaders (1 Tim. 5:17), but this is for the purpose of functionality rather than superiority. It is more of a ‘first among equals’ rather than a hierarchy. At The House the Elders work together in a plurality seeking consensus on decisions of doctrine, direction and discipline with Drew Davis serving as the lead Elder.

Drew Photo Geoff Photo Joel Photo
 Drew Davis
Geoff Miller 

DEACONS

This is the only other office mentioned in the scriptures in the local church (Phil. 1:1). The Greek word for deacon is “diakonis” and means “servant”, or “one who ministers alongside”, “helper.” This does not mean that our deacons are servants in the sense that they do menial jobs. Everyone in the church should have a servant heart. What it does mean though, is that the deacons come alongside the elders, assisting them in the pastoring of the church, releasing them “to prayer and the ministry of the Word.” (Acts 6:1-8). Deacons are recognised servants of the church who must be qualified for the area of ministry they are serving and caring for God’s people in (1 Tim. 3:8–13). Unlike elders, deacons can be either male or female, as with the example of the woman Phoebe (Rom. 16:1–2). Our deacons, together with and under the oversight of elders, exercise oversight in Gospel Communities and other ministries.

Unfortunately the terms Bishops and Deacons may be less helpful in our modern age since they carry in many people’s minds an understanding of highly religious roles of authority that are not in line with their Scriptural meaning. Therefore, it may be more useful at times to use terms that carry less religious baggage and are more in line with their biblical meaning such as Pastor/Elder instead of Bishop, and ministry leader or someone who is part of a Servant Team instead of Deacon.

ACCOUNTABILITY

We believe in the autonomy of the local church, in which the elders are the highest human governing authority in that church, but we do not believe it is healthy or wise for a church to be independent. As a team we actively seek accountability and counsel from independent organisations, other churches and ministries with whom we have relationships.
 
COMPLEMENTARIANISM

The doctrinal stance of the leadership of The House is that Scripture teaches that only men are to be Elders/Pastors while the role of Deacon/Ministry leader, can be either male or female, and that the church family is a reflection of the household family where the man is to function as the head of the house. We understand that in using the word “head” it communicates too many people that inferiority of women to men is implied, but that is not a biblical conclusion, but rather “head” carries with it the meaning of governmental authority in the sense of leadership responsibility not superiority. 

The creation narrative (Gen. 1:27) and all the rest of Scripture (1 Cor. 11:11-12; Gal. 3:28…etc.) views men and women as equally created in the image of God and as having equal value to God. Therefore, any discussion of a distinction within male and female roles must not be assumed as a discussion of equality, for neither is a discussion of the distinction of roles within the Godhead (Father, Son, and Spirit) a discussion of equality (1 Cor. 11:3, Phil. 2:5-6 - The Father is the head of the Son but they are both equal).

God has made men and women equal but the distinction within our roles and personalities has been designed by God in order to reflect the glorious image of God. Therefore, to remove those distinctions is to distort the reflection of Gods glory imaged within men and women.  Therefore the House values women’s spiritual gifts, and recognises that these are sometimes greater than that of men, and we recognise that a failure to take full account of the wisdom that God has given to women, with respect to important decisions in the life of the church and family, is detrimental to the life of the church.