Flocks and Shepherds
“Wherever the Bible has been readily available, understood and obeyed, the church has prospered. When it has been lost or obscured by tradition the church has languished.”
“Jesus himself had set the example. Even after his resurrection he had not only presented himself alive, but had made the disciples’ hearts burn within them as he explained in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Lk 24:27). He wanted their faith to rest not simply on the excitement of his resurrection experiences but on the sure and certain word of God.”
“In the present move of the Holy Spirit, informality and congregational participation (‘body ministry’) have become valuable features in the meetings. Concern to be ‘led by the Spirit’ has caused some to fear that a prepared message would be liable to quench the Spirit. ” Terry rejects this, pointing out that the New Testament demands that elders labour in the word (1 Tim 5:17, 2 Tim 2:15) and the charismatic gifts for corporate worship include bringing a ‘teaching’ (1 Cor 14:26).
“The preacher must make sure he is sharing what he has received from the word, not what he has put into it, sharing God’s truth not his own imagination.”
Church leaders are judged in terms of their pastoral ‘bed-side manner’ and their ability to preach and communicate in the pulpit. “What has to be demolished is the attitude that judges and evaluates pastoral ministry only in these terms. A pastor is a leader. He is responsible for the spiritual life of his sheep. He must not simply be able to impress them from the pulpit but must have enough access into the lives of his people to speak directly to them about areas where they fall short and to encourage and help them in practical matters.”
In championing a biblical approach to submission and authority in the church, Terry pushes back against prevalent accusations levelled at Restorationist churches of ‘heavy shepherding’: “The submission to spiritual authority being expressed in churches seeking restoration is totally voluntary.” He points out that Biblical ecclesiology demands a plurality of elders and this brings about a security for the flock.
With regards to training Terry notes “Elders are not merely Bible College graduates, though they might have gained some helpful theological training, but men who are gifted and have a calling from God which shows their ability to care for the flock.” This is written in reaction against highly trained professional clergy who might well not be qualified in the Biblical ‘1 Timothy 3’ sense, where the qualifications are those of character and specifically observable godly leadership of a household and good public reputation. This essential attention to the primacy of Biblical qualification of church leaders is still strangely countercultural in the church at large, and its foregrounding is a good thing. However, it overlooks the fact the many of the first generation of Newfrontiers pastors were theologically trained (having been participant in leading Anglican / Baptist / Brethren churches prior to forming Restoration fellowships) and had the unwelcome side-effect of an often intellectually under-nourished leadership in subsequent generations, at least in comparison to other denominations who had their own seminary qualification requirements.
In terms of decision making, the whole church is involved but it is not to be a voting democracy. Quarterly family meetings with prayer, worship, news and consultation along with discipline announcements took the place of ‘church business meetings’ which had been experienced in old denominations where Terry observes: “People were outspokenly angry and the godly pastor’s single vote had no more authority than anyone else’s. This amazed me, since it was evidently his God-given anointing that had gathered and blessed the large congregation. He was obviously qualified to lead the flock.”
Conclusion – In Newfrontiers, an emphasis on the indispensable union of ‘Word and Spirit’ in ministry is another high value. This was not unique but was certainly somewhat unusual amongst the church streams of the British New Church movement, and this is apparent in the argument Terry chooses to make in this chapter. The move of the Spirit was bringing a freshness of relationship and worship in the church, and there was a risk that the virtue of a well-prepared sermon or the presence of spiritual authority in leadership could be confused with the stifling formalism which was being over-turned. This happened in some quarters but Newfrontiers were discerning in these matters from the start. Real authority was to be exercised by pastors and members voluntarily received and submitted to this, under strictly Biblical parameters.