Table Of Content"APPOINTIN EVERYCITYELDERS":
ACONSIDERATION OF PLURALELDERSHIP
IN CONGREGATIONALLYGOVERNED CHURCHES
ATHESIS-PROJECT
SUBMITTEDTO THE FACULTYOF
GORDON-CONWELLTHEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
IN PARTIALFULFILLMENTOF REQUIREMENTS FORTHE DEGREE
DOCTOROF MINISTRY
BY
WILLIAMTHOMAS BROUGHTON, JR.
MA'Y, 2015
Copyright© 2015 by William Broughton.All rights reserved.
to the memory ofClemaOleetaMcConnell Broughton
"Herchildrenrise upandcallherblessed... "- Proverbs 31:28
mumu xaptVU1tSAt1tOV <J'S tv KpiJrn tva 'taAsi1tov'ta S1ttOlOp9rocrn KaiKa'ta<J''ti]crn<;Ka'ta
1tOAtV1tps<J'~mspou<; 00<; syro <J'Otot€'ta~aflTJV
Forthis reason I leftyou in Crete: thatwhatremains youmay set inorderand appointin
every city elders as I directedyou...
-Titus 1:5
CONTENTS
LISTOF TABLES VI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Vll
ABSTRACT Vlll
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTIONAND HYPOTHESIS 1
2. THEOLOGICALFRAMEWORK 14
3. LITERATURE REVIEW 42
4. PROJECTDESIGNAND OUTCOMES 77
5. SUMMARYAND EVALUATION 109
APPENDIX
A. ANNOTATED READING LISTOF RELEVANT SOURCES 114
B. PROJECTLETTERAND SURVEYFORM 123
C. TABULATION OF SURVEYRESULTS 125
BIBLIOGRAPHY 133
VITA 138
v
TABLES
Table
A Shared Pastoral Dutiesby ChurchCategory 80
B Service Hours perWeekperLeader by Category 81
C Percentage ofMembership inLearningActivity by Church Category 87
D Percentage ofMembership inClose Friendshipby ChurchCategory 87
E Percentage ofMembershipRegularly atthe Lord's Supperby ChurchCategory 88
F Percentage ofMembership inRegular Prayerby ChurchCategory 89
G Percentage ofMembership Generously Giving by Church Category 89
H Mean Comparisons forAnswer Categories by Church Categories 90
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I amappreciative ofall the pastors andelders who aidedme inthis project
throughtheirsurvey responses andtime for conversations.
vii
ABSTRACT
Thisthesis-projectconsiderswhetherthe adoptionofanelder-based leadership
structure mightpositively contributeto spiritual healthofa congregational church.After
setting outabiblical and theological foundation, relevantliterature inthe field is
considered.Asurvey instrumentis usedto compare andcontrastcongregationally
governed churches seekingpossible correlationsbetweenleadership structuretypes and
churches' spiritualwell-being as reported bytheir pastors. The writersuggests that his
research providesevidencethe thesis is worthy offurther considerationand study.
viii
CHAPTERONE
INTRODUCTIONAND HYPOTHESIS
"Whatkind ofafuture isthere for a little churchlikethisone?"Tyleraskedthe
visiting preacher.l The little congregationhaddispersed, andTylerwas waiting to lock up
the churchbuildingwhile the ministerretrieved his Bible and notes aftergreetingthe
departing worshippers. Without waiting for ananswer, the youngermanwenton:
It's longpastits prime, sadto say. When I was a kid, there were morepeople here,
thougheventhenthe buildingwas rarely full. There was anactive Sunday school,
though, andevena children's choir-I sang inmyself. The women's missionary
group was active and Christianendeavorforthe youth-it seemedthat something
was always going onaroundhere. Butnow, our usual attendance is lessthan
twenty, andonly two families withchildrenattend more orless regularly. These
old buildings need constantupkeep thatwe canbarely manage. We move
downstairs for the winterto save heating expense, butevenwith sometrustfund
income, which isn'tthatdependable, we still can't afforda full time pastor. I'm
notsure how we've kept going as long as we have! The downtown areaaround
the church is run down and unattractive. Evenifthe localeconomyeverpicks up
which I don'tseehappening anytime soon-I'mnot sure thatwill bringmuch
change forthe church.
Sensingthe pessimistic tone ofhis words, Tylertriedto take a more positivetack
andcontinuedbefore his listenercouldrespond:
We're stubbornYankees, though! Overfifty years ago, the young pastorhere
wrote his master's thesis onthis church. 'Notmuchhope' was his verdict. The
town was mostly Catholics then, and what Protestants there were seemedto be
dwindling innumber. In his opinion, demographics were against us, sohe thought
the churchdidn'thave muchofa future, butwe've held on, making ends meet
somehow. I'll be honest, though; I'mdiscouraged! Those ofus here aren'tgetting
any younger; newpeople come, butdon't staywithus. The trustfund incomewill
remain, so long as the marketdoesn'tcrash, butthatwon'tbe enoughto do much
more thankeepthe doors open. Whatgoodisthat, ifthere's no congregation?A
I Tyleris afictional character, acompositedrawn from the writer'sobservations.
1
churchis people, notjusta building. Iwantto believethat things will getbetter,
but sometimes I wonder. Whatdo youthink, Pastor?
ThoughTyleris a fictional character,the challengehe poses is notfiction, but
reality for scores ofsmall churches, notonly inNewEngland, butinmany contemporary
settings. These churches canoftenpointto bettertimes inthe past, years whentheir
buildingswere newerandtheircongregations muchlarger. Retrospectmay have made the
picture more rosy than itwas in reality, butthere is no arguing the fact thatmany
churches like Tyler's enjoyedperiods ofprosperitythatcausethe present congregationto
seem like a shadowofits former self. Multipleworship services have dwindledto one per
week, budgetsthatonce supportedmultiple ministries have shrunkto survival size, and
social influence uponthe community has disappeared.
This paperis writtenfrom the vantage pointofaparttime pastorate injustsucha
small church.2 Fewnewmembers have beenadmitted inthe lastdecades, and the median
age ofthe small congregation(about25 inattendance) is relatively high. Almosttwo
hundredyears old, the church owns its buildings (ameetinghouse, parishhouse, and
parsonage), butthey are old buildingthat are expensiveto heatand maintain. The church
has notbeen able to afford more thana parttime pastoral salary for many years, even
withthe help ofinterestincome from trust funds. Ahandful ofpeople have keptthe
limitedprogramsofthe church (Sunday worship, Sunday school/summerVBS, and
sometimes a weekday study/discussiongroup) going overthe past severalyears.
2Thewriter's locale isaNewEnglandtownofabout2,000residents.
2
