Every church has leaders

Dear LTCC Family,

I recently spoke with someone new to LTCC who has been attending since early January. She has enjoyed the messages on Sundays and has already jumped into one of our Bible studies. One of the things that blew her away was that when she came the second and third time to our Sunday services, some of you remembered her name! She has made some great acquaintances in a short period of time. God’s Word is feeding her. God’s people are loving her. Way to go!

 

LTCC is an outpost for the gospel, a place to hear God’s truth and apply it in love toward one another and in taking it to the world. It takes structure for this to happen in a group of people. Structure is something we have been wrestling with at LTCC. On Tuesday night the elders and deacons met for over three hours to discuss our leadership structure. Regardless of our convictions about church leadership or even past experiences with church leadership, one thing we can all agree on is this:  Every church has leaders.

 

The question that follows is, “Who are those leaders to be? What should the leadership structure look like?” We started from ground zero and spent the last number of weeks before our meeting revisiting the Scriptures. Our study reminded us of the biblical emphasis on two groups of leaders referred to as elders and deacons.

 

God provided shepherd-leaders for his people in the Old Testament (Moses, Samuel, judges, etc). All were fallible, including David, and so the promise of a “greater David” to come was finally realized in God sending Jesus Messiah, the Son of David, as the Good Shepherd who would lay down his life for his people. Jesus appointed apostles to lead and then elders and deacons to tend and serve the flock and lay down their lives for God’s people until he returns (Acts 6:1-6, 11:29-30, 14:21-23, 15:1-6, 20:17; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3; 1 Tim. 5:17; Titus 1; Heb. 13:7; James 5:14; 1 Pet. 5:1-4).

 

Though we know there are and have been many churches over the last few thousand years that do not or have not had elders and deacons in their leadership structure, we believe it is a model consistently found in Scripture and therefore wise to pattern ourselves after. We very much realize the practicality of how an elder-deacon structure works itself out in a local body can vary and understand that certain details need to be clarified or adjusted (affirmation, elder development, how a senior pastor fits into the model, lines of authority, etc). Working on those important nuances in the coming weeks and months will be our focus. To do this, we will be continuing to study the Scriptures, looking at other churches for how this model plays out, seeking wise counsel, and consulting other reputable resources. We would invite you to do your own research and provide any input you have via the “Connect Form” or by talking to any of us.

 

As we work through these details, one of the areas we understand we need consistency is in the pulpit. We have been so grateful for the Word continuing to be faithfully preached each Sunday. However, seeking an interim pastor that can fill the pulpit each week will allow the elders and deacons to focus on the structural work at hand. In fact, after Bert Downs preaches this Sunday, we will be meeting with him to discuss the next steps in securing an interim pastor. Completing this work on our structural questions will then allow the work of the Sr. Pastor Succession Committee to resume. 

 

Our desire is to serve you well such that LTCC would continue to be a beacon of truth where the gospel is proclaimed, and where love reverberates as a result of the gospel between us and through us to the world.

 

On behalf of the elders and deacons,

 

Brian             

 

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Brian Peterson