There seems to be a lot of debate about the role of Elders in the Church and how they relate to the Pastor. It was reported in in May 2006 that the senior pastor(Sam Shaw) at Germantown Baptist Church might have a few problems on his hands. Sam along with others want to elect elders, problem being that others don't. Lets go over to Sam to see how things have progressed .............. er! he's not there any more.



Sam wanted a more biblical model of church leadership, of shared responsibility the church, membership was 9000 a mega church. "Another reason for wanting to update our CBL has been to address the need for a broader base of spiritual leadership and oversight. The model of church leadership portrayed in the New Testament is a plurality of elders who meet demanding, biblical qualifications before they are appointed to direct the affairs of the church" Was this to much to ask ? Was it a question of status ?



Bad leadership is divided leadership, and divided leadership cannot function as leadership in God's church so what happens.... Sam goes, was Sam wrong? I don't thinks so ? "a house that is divided against itself will not stand" and God will not allow that to happen to His church.



Traditionally , Baptists adhere to strict democratic governance with every member eligible to vote on important church decisions. However the imagery we see in the bible is quite often one of shepherd and sheep. Shepherds lead.. sheep follow.. and goats go wherever they want to they certainly don't like the idea of shepherds and call for fredom of the individual. Some think that the business meeting where decisions are made provides repeated opportunities for persons to exercise their carnality. The opposite could also be true.


In a world that is constantly at odds with itself. The church needs to be a place of peace, a place where we can come before God and worsip Him as Lord and thank Him with praise and adoration for his Son, then go and tell the world, so they can join in and be about their Fathers business