apostles, about three thousand souls were added to them to
GODLY PATTERN IN CHURCH form the first members of the church.
ADMINISTRATION
Administration is the act of having charge or managing
something. Church administration is the act of governing
the body of Christ and making it fulfill its purpose of
“making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19 – 20 New
King James Version).
Why the Church
It must first be settled that Jesus Christ envisaged a
separate organization outside of the Jewish religious setup.
He talked of setting up His church in Matthew 16:18 after
the great confession by Peter that He is the Son of the
Living God. In that instance, He said these of the church:
1. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it, and
2. The keys of the Kingdom of heaven shall be given to
the church. Matthew 16: 18 – 19.
In determining an administrative style, it is important to first
determine the objectives of the organization. For the church,
the major objective is to reconcile all men to God and make
them true followers of Christ. We must not fail to also know
that the church is to make known to principalities and
powers in the heavenly places, the manifold wisdom of God
(Ephesians 3:10).
Establishment of the Church
The church was finally established on the day of Pentecost
when the promised Holy Spirit descended on the disciples
gathered in the upper room in one accord. On that day
following the preaching of Peter and the other eleven (11)
In fact, Jesus Christ established a visible church with no
particular pattern of government and administration, but He
entrusted the church in the hands of Apostles as authorized
teachers and rulers, with two sacred rites of baptism and
the Holy Communion to be observed to the end of the world.
Aside the administration of the sacraments, the other
functions attached to the ministerial office of the Apostles
are:
1. The preaching of the gospel
2. Church discipline or the power of the keys. This is the
power to open and shut the gates of the Kingdom of
heaven, in other words, to declare to the penitent the
forgiveness of sins and to the unworthy
excommunication in the name and by the authority of
Christ
3. The equipping of believers for the work of God.
In addition to these and in anticipation of growth challenges,
Jesus gave the Apostles the authority to take decisions on
His behalf. He told them that “whatsoever thou shalt
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven” (Matt 16:19 King James Version). The meaning
of binding and loosing is that of law making.
Therefore, the original rulers of the church or people
charged with administering the church are the Apostles.
Formation of Administration organs in the church
With the daily growth of the church and the attendant
problems, the administration of the church (the body of
believers), became a Herculean task for the Apostles.
Carrying out all the above functions require that more men
filled with the Holy Spirit be ordained by the Apostles.
Firstly, with the complain of the Hellenists against the
Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily
distribution, “the twelve apostles called the whole
group of believers together and said, "It is not right
for us to neglect the preaching of God's word in order
to handle finances. So then, brothers, choose seven
men among you who are known to be full of the Holy
Spirit and wisdom, and we will put them in charge of
this matter. We ourselves, then, will give our full
time to prayer and the work of preaching." (Acts 6:2-4
Today English Version)
Thus, Stephen, Philip and five other men filled with the Holy
Spirit and wisdom were selected by the multitude of
disciples as the first set of Deacons in the church. They were
ordained by the Apostles to be able to carry out their
function.
We should note that apart from the Deacons, no other office
was mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles in the first ten
(10) chapters.
In the eleventh (11th) chapter, mention was made of
Prophets (vs. 24) and Elders (vs. 30). Other offices
mentioned in the New Testament concerning the church are
Teachers and Evangelist.
From Acts of Apostles and the Epistles in the Holy Bible, the
offices/functions mentioned for the church aside that of the
Apostles are;
1. Deacons
2. Elders
3. Prophets
4. Teachers
5. Evangelists
6. Pastors
The office and role of the Deacons have been mentioned
above.
For the Elders, it must be noted that the word elder is also
the same used as bishops or presbyters. The use of the
word bishop in the early church is that of a leading
presbyter among others or a senior elder with oversight
functions over others. The word elder does not have
anything to do with age. This can be seen from 1st epistle of
Paul to Timothy chapter 5, where the words ‘elder’ and
‘older man’ were used separately.
From numerous usages in the Acts of Apostles and the
Epistles, Elders and Apostles were performing the same
tasks in Jerusalem. Among the Gentiles, Elders were the
rulers of their local churches. However, Elders (operating as
bishops) generally replaced the Apostles in importance after
all of them had died. The office of elders is that of today’s
priests and bishops.
Aside the office of the Elders/Presbyters/Bishops and
Deacons which are ministerial and carries with it special
ordination; the others were rather that of functions and gifts
than that of an office. According to Ephesians 4 : 11, Jesus
Christ through the Holy Spirit “gave these gifts to the
church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is
to equip God's people to do his work and build up the
church, the body of Christ” (New Living Translation)
These gifts are available for every member of the church, as
the Holy Spirit gave to all as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:11).
We should note that the Apostles, Elders and Deacons were
also gifted with some or all of the other functions.
In his letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 12 : 28, Paul
gave a hierarchy of positions in the church as appointed by
God.
“And in the church God has appointed first of all
apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then
workers of miracles, also those having gifts of
healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of
administration, and those speaking in different kinds
of tongues”. (New International Version)
From the verse, the order is as follows:
1. Apostles (Elders/Bishops/Presbyters and Deacons as
helpers)
2. Prophets
3. Teachers
4. Workers of miracles
5. Other lesser gifts.
There is no doubt that some gifts are higher that the other.
In Vs. 31, Paul talked of desiring the best gifts. So whoever
wish to administer a church, should desire the gift of the
Apostle or Elder. Also, all members of the church should
desire a gift of the Holy Spirit, so that they can be part of
the administration of the church they belong.
Positions in the administration of the church is for only those
who are filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom, those who
are of good repute as stated in Acts of Apostles 6 : 3
However, just like Paul showed the Corinthians a more
excellent way of love, we must all use our gifts with love.
The leader should exercise his authority with love and the
follower should love the leader.
It should be know that God places those he has called for
leadership in the high positions in His church and He equips
them with special gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Now a question arises for us in the Anglican Church, are we
following this pattern? My answer is yes and no.
Yes in that we give the Bishop his due place as the
administrative head of the diocese which represents a local
church. There is nothing that can be done in the diocese
without the knowledge of the Bishop. All (both clergy and
laity) defer to him in almost all matters.
No in the sense that in our parishes, the laity regards the
Priest (who is representing the Bishop) as a person they can
control. To most of us, the Priest should and could not tell us
what to do. In fact, the Priest should be at the beck and call
of the members of the parish Council and the Baba Ijo (if it
exists).
For the parish, the Godly pattern for administration is that
the Vicar presides over the church and carrying out all the
functions stated earlier for the Apostles of old. This he does
in the name of the Bishop. He is to be assisted by other
ordained men of God in that parish.
For the laity, as many as are filled with Holy Spirit are to be
involved in the administration of the parish to ensure that
the parish carry out its mission of reconciling men to God
and make them true followers of God.
The Parish Council which is to assist the Vicar in his work
should comprise men of repute, filled with the Holy Spirit
and wisdom. The members should be men on fire for God,
involved in a ministerial work in the church, winning souls
for God.
I want to ask, how many of our Parish Council members can
either conduct a bible study, talk at a revival, preach at a
service or even effectively explain the new birth to an
unbeliever?
If there is any among them who cannot do any of these,
especially explain what it is to have a new birth to an
unbeliever; such a person does not deserve to be a member
of the council.
Anybody that is involved in the administration of the church
(either member or staff) should be a child of God, born
again and filled with the Holy Spirit.
For the church of God to find its footing again and live up to
her purpose, we need to:
1. Really turn to God and uphold righteousness. There is
so much celebration of worldliness in the church. We
must work tirelessly to remove all forms of worldliness
in the church of God
2. We must identify our calling as Christians and follow
same with all our mind
3. We must prayerfully replace the composition of our
councils to reflect the pattern God intended. Let us
bring in more men/women filled with Holy Spirit and
let all parts of the church be represented by its
leaders in the council. All unfit people heading units in
the church should be changed with those whose
desire is the expansion of the Kingdom of God.

By Revd Dr. Adeolu Olusodo

adeolusodo@yahoo.com
www.adeolusodo.blogspot.com
234 – 8080445336, 234 – 1 – 4033785