Understanding Eldership

When we read the New Testament, one of the most surprising discoveries is how different the early leadership structure is from what we see in our local church context.

Today we often speak about pastors, bishops, elders, deacons, apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers, as though they are separate offices within a complex leave hierarchy. Over the centuries, the Church has built elaborate structures around these terms, assigning ranks, titles, and institutional positions to them.

Yet when we return to the Scriptures themselves, a different picture emerges.

The New Testament writers consistently describe leadership in relational and functional terms, not in the layered hierarchy that later developed within the Greco-Roman church structure. Words that we have come to treat as titles were often descriptions of responsibility, posture, or spiritual grace rather than separate offices.

In fact, when we examine the language of Scripture carefully, we find that the New Testament consistently recognizes one primary leadership office within the local assembly: the elder.

Terms such as overseer, pastor, and deacon do not describe separate offices, but rather different dimensions of leadership expressed within that same role.

Understanding this distinction is not merely an exercise in semantics. It helps us recover the original blueprint of leadership that Jesus and the apostles established for the Ekklesia, a structure rooted not in institutional rank, but in spiritual maturity, servant leadership, and relational authority.

To see this clearly, we must examine how Scripture uses these terms and how the apostles themselves understood leadership within the Body of Christ.

WHAT ELDERSHIP IS NOT

Elder, pastor, deacon, and bishop are not different offices in the New Testament Church.

They are different terms describing the same leadership office, viewed from different angles of responsibility and function.

The actual office named in Scripture is elder, not pastor.

The Office: Elder

The Greek word for elder is presbyteros (male) and Presbytera (female). The term means “elderly or older.”

This is the term used in Scripture for formal church leadership (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5; 1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Timothy 3:1–7; Titus 2:3–5).

In the New Testament pattern, elders are the recognized leaders of the assembly.

Overseer/Bishop: The Authority of the Office

Scripture also uses the word episkopos (overseer/bishop).

This does not describe a separate office, but rather the authority and responsibility carried by elders.

Scripture treats elder and overseer as the same office. (Titus 1:5–7; Acts 20:17, 28)

In other words: An elder is the office, and an overseer describes what that elder does.

Pastor/ Shepherd: The Function of the Office

Another word used in connection with leadership is poimēn (pastor/shepherd). This word does not name an office, but describes the caregiving function elders perform.

…shepherd (Poimen) the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, (Episkopeo) not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly.”

1 Peter 5:2

Elders are commanded to shepherd the flock entrusted to them.

The Greek word Poimēn literally means shepherd.

It appears formally only once in reference to leadership gifts in Ephesians 4:11. In the remainder of Scripture, the concept of “pastoring” appears primarily as an action, the work of shepherding the flock.

Therefore: Elders shepherd (pastor) the flock. Pastor is a function, not the office title.

If not for Ephesians 4:11, pastor would remain entirely a descriptive term. Because of Ephesians 4, we understand that the word also describes an ascension gift embodied as a leadership grace in individuals.

The primary usage is an action word that should describe every leader in Christ’s body.

Deacon: The Posture of Kingdom Leadership

The Greek word for deacon is diakonos. This is also an action word, meaning “to be one who serves”. When referring to a person it is most literally translated as “servant” or “waiter.” Scripturally, it describes a leadership function of serving.

For the early believer, this description of a leader would bring to mind Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. Jesus took on the role of a servant.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.

— Matthew 20:28

Jesus made the principle clear:

The greatest among you must be a servant.” — Matthew 23:11

Leadership in the Kingdom of God is therefore defined by service.

How the Apostles Spoke About Ministry

The apostle Paul never emphasizes a rigid distinction between elder, bishop, or pastor as separate offices.

His preferred terms for fellow ministers were:

coworker

labourer

apostle

diakonos (servant)

Paul uses these descriptions for both male and female ministers.

Scripturally, we understand these roles through function, not institutional rank.

ELDER = the office.

OVERSEER / BISHOP = the authority and governance within that office.

PASTOR / SHEPHERD = the caregiving function of that office

DEACON = the servant posture required of kingdom leaders.

The New Testament is not describing multiple church leadership offices; it is describing one office with multiple responsibilities. The authors of the New Testament focus on spiritual authority through the Holy Spirit rather than institutional structures with official titles.

Paul and the other New Testament authors primarily describe leadership roles in relational and functional terms, not positional and institutional ones.

Paul refers to himself as an apostle.
(1 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:1)

Peter refers to himself as an elder.
(1 Peter 5:1)

They were both elders and apostles.

Each man clearly carried authority, yet they described their roles through function and relationship rather than institutional rank.

Leadership in a Non-Hierarchical Framework

How did all of this get so convoluted?

Our confusion with these ‘titles’ have arisen due to our Greco-Roman lens in which we read Scripture. We place a hierarchical reading upon scripture. The early Church was not subject to this when these books were written. This worldview was placed upon the New Testament by Roman converts.

Let me throw another Greek word in the mix. Then I will unpack how we have come to use a descriptive term as our “main office” in our 21st century expression of church.

The word hiereus meaning “sacred one”. This word has been translated as “priest” in many translations of the Bible.

I would say this would be the proper translation.

Unfortunately some translators have chosen to take the word for “elder”, presbyteros and transliterate it into the Latin as “presbyter” and shorten this to “priest” in English, which in my opinion, is a mistranslation.

This caused confusion.

Under the new covenant there is no scriptural evidence of a leader formally called priest (hiereus). Thereis no office of priest within the New Testament or church history other than Jesus as our High Priest.

We are all ‘holy ones’. This is the priesthood of all Believers.

The Roman/ Pagan influence upon the Church led to the institution of priests rather than elders, selling our inheritance to a select few leaders.

We are all Saints. This is not to be a term used to describe an exclusive leadership roll.

We are Priests and Kings through our Lord Jesus Christ! (Revelation 1:6)

At the time of the reformation, the early leaders replaced “priest” with “pastor” but the fundamental issue was still present.

This is not a simple issue of semantics but of governmental authority.

Do we wish to follow along with the syncretism of past traditions or return to the Biblical framework of proper Church governance?

The Five Fold

‘Priest’ is not to describe leadership in the Body of Christ. However, there are other neglected rolls which are to take precedence in the Assembly.

Steve Wilson says this regarding how the five fold grace gifts fit into the Biblical paradigm:

While this word episkopos is transliterated “bishop”, it would appear that it could also be used to refer to the role of any fivefold ministry gifts that give care to the body.

Thus the idea of elders or fivefold ministry indicates a category of leadership separate from our priesthood as believers. There should not be confusion here; there are two categories of function within the body of Christ, one that carries authority to minister and one that carries authority to Lead or govern in the Body.

The Fivefold ministry gifts described in Ephesians 4 are entirely relational and describe function rather than formal position.

They are not institutional offices.

The five describe individuals given as gifts by Jesus to His Bride.

These gifts are indispensably necessary to the health of the Body. They are established and operate through relationship with local and regional assemblies rather than through institutional structures.

Recovering the Biblical Blueprint

The modern idea that “pastor” is a separate office developed later in church tradition.

Some have attempted to correct this by creating separate hierarchical offices for apostle, prophet, evangelist, and teacher. This repeats the same structural mistake. Those who attempt this have ignored the biblical framework.

The Fivefold must be restored within the Body—Yes. But they must be restored according to the blueprint of Scripture, not according to inherited Greco-Roman institutional structures.

Different Functions, Same Office

Elders govern.
Elders oversee.
Elders shepherd.
Elders serve.

Elders may also function as:

apostles

prophets

evangelists

teachers

pastors

These represent different graces and functions, but they do not create separate leadership offices.

Different functions.
Different graces.
Different gifts.
Same office.

The Biblical Pattern

The office is elder.

Pastors are elders exercising shepherding within that office.

Apostles are elders exercising representative authority within that office.

Prophets are elders expressing revelatory authority within that office.

Evangelists are elders leading the Body of Christ in reaching the lost within that office.

Teachers are elders leading through instruction, exegesis, and bringing clarity to the Assembly through the Word of God.

These gifts described in Ephesians 4, were never meant to form a rigid institutional hierarchy. They describe graces given by Christ to His Body, expressed through individuals who serve and strengthen the assemblies through relationship rather than rank.

Conclusion

Considering all of this, the New Testament’s vision of leadership comes into focus.

Leadership in the Assembly is not built on titles or position. It is built on maturity, service, responsibility, and spiritual grace.

Elders govern.
Elders oversee.
Elders shepherd.
Elders serve.

Different functions.
Different graces.
Different gifts.

But the same office.

Recovering this understanding does more than clarify terminology. It helps the Church return to the original apostolic blueprint, where leadership is defined not by hierarchy, but by faithfulness to Christ and service to His people.