The Church is formed under the authority of Jesus Christ and is called to worship, love and serve God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Over the last ten years, under the leadership and teaching of Matthew Sheffer, our church body has undergone quite a few changes to conform our worship and church government structure into the model laid out in scripture. We believe that a biblical local church body
consists of men, women and children who have personally chosen to submit themselves as members to the leadership and shepherding of a plurality of elders, with the elders assisted by a team of deacons ministering to the physical needs of the body. It was therefore necessary that our church constitution reflect this biblical definition,
This was no easy task. We had many key requirements for this document:
We wanted a document that, most importantly, defines our churches ultimate purpose: "to bring glory and honor to God's name by making disciples of all men" and teaching them to observe all things. We wanted a document that defines the source of all legitimate authority: Jesus Christ
We wanted a document that structures our churches leadership after the biblical model: Elders and Deacons. We wanted a document that defines a membership process, and a document that defined God's expectations for members of a local church body. We wanted a document that defines a biblical process for adding elders and deacons to our leadership team. We wanted a document that allows for the church to maintain its witness of purity in orthodoxy (doctrine) and orthopraxy (life application), outlining a process for church discipline when necessary. We wanted a document that can help legally protect us from the depravity of man. We wanted a document that allows us to make changes as God continues to conform our church into the model laid out in scripture. And lastly, we wanted a document that can be used as the constitutional foundation for the churches we plant out of our body.
As we found out, the task was even more difficult than originally anticipated. After nearly two years of much study, prayer, meditation and legal review, the members unanimously voted in our church constitution, defining the necessary foundation of our church body. We knew our next crucial step was appointing a team of elders to lead and shepherd our flock. We soon realized we were in a bind. Our constitution defined the process for adding additional elders, but we had not defined the process for choosing the first team of elders. What should we do?
Initially we agreed to a simple majority vote of the members to chose our first team of elders. We even conducted an election voting in the eldership team. But this decision didn't rest well with us. We felt we had rushed the process, contradicting God's command in 1 Timothy 5:22, "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands". Additionally, we realized the process we followed didn't seem to follow the model laid out in scripture for selecting the first team of elders. In Titus 1:5 we see Paul telling Titus "This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you"; in Acts 14:19-23 we read about Paul appointing elders in every church; in Acts 6 we read of the church members choosing or nominating men who the apostles appointed as deacons; and in Exodus 18 we read about Moses choosing or appointing elders to rule over the people. In these biblical examples we saw a common theme: a pre-existing apostle team or elder issued the final appointment of new elders.
To follow God's model, we unanimously agreed for pastor Matthew to choose the first team of elders. For over 10 years, Matthew has faithfully served Church of the Word as the lead preaching and teaching pastor. Matthew has led our church through some very difficult times, even times when our church considered closing the doors. Without Matthew's faithful service to God and to our church, none of us would be there. We all loved Matthew, we all loved his family, we all loved his teaching and we all loved his heart for God. To follow the model laid down in scripture, we knew Matthew should appoint our first team of elders.
Three weeks later, after much fasting, prayer and inspection, Matthew appointed Jerry Suerman and Steven Benner as elders of Church of the Word. We now knew we had a biblically appointed, biblically qualified team of elders to lead, shepherd and serve our church body.
Immediately our elder team knew we needed at least one deacon to help with the necessary administrative work of the church. In Acts 6 we see the apostles call a team of deacons to meet a specific need in the body - the Hellenist widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. In our case, God has blessed us with a building, a financial capacity to support missions, a worship team and many willing hands to serve and help the church. We needed a qualified deacon to administrate this work. By God's grace, we already had someone dutifully and joyfully fulfilling this position - Michael Thomas. Two weeks after the appointing of the elder team, Matthew, Jerry and Steven unanimously agreed to appoint Michael to the office of a deacon.
But this is only the start of our story. We know God has lead and guided us this far, and we expectantly look forward to our next steps forward as a local church body. As our constitution opens, "Church of the Word exists to bring glory and honor to God's name by making disciples of all men." This is our vision, our goal and our aim. By God's grace, we hope to grow as a body first in holiness and second in numbers. We hope to multiply and divide, to plant many, many churches in the greater Saint Louis area, and to see many grow to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. Come grow with us and be a part of God's desire to make disciples of Saint Louis.
