1. We need to know what the church is⤒🔗

a. The assembly of true believers←↰⤒🔗

• The church is the assembly of true believers. It is different from the world (1 Pet 1:1; 2:4-5, 9-12). It is not a social club, cultural institution, or political party, but a gathering of true believers who are led to each other by finding that God has put the same faith in each of them (Acts 11:17-18). They hear the Spirit calling them together to worship God in the unity of one faith, fully based on God’s Word (John 4:24).

b. Gathered from all nations←↰⤒🔗

• The church is the gathering of true believers from every nation under heaven into one body (Isa 49:6, 22; 56:8; John 17:20-21; 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:4). This one body is spread over many places because the believers live in different places and speak different languages (Rev 5:9).

c. Under Christ as Ruler and Head←↰⤒🔗

• The church is the body of Christ and its only Head is Christ. This means he rules and governs the church (Eph 1:22-3; 4:15; 5:23-4).

2. We need to know what Christ uses to govern and guide his church←⤒🔗

a. His Word, given by the Holy Spirit←↰⤒🔗

• Christ rules the church by his Holy Spirit, whom he poured out at Pentecost (Acts 2). The Holy Spirit speaks to the church through the holy Word of God, which is now complete (2 Tim 3:16-17; 1 Pet 1:16-21; Rev 22:18-19). See Revelation 2:7 where the speaking of the Spirit is precisely what is written in the previous verses.
• The Holy Spirit gave the church the Word of God so that we might know how we should conduct affairs in the church (1 Cor 4:6). The same Holy Spirit now enlightens us to understand the Word he gave (1 Cor 2:12).
• All true believers must put themselves under the authority of God’s preached word by a minister (pastor) ordained in and serving an instituted church of Jesus Christ. This is how the church is gathered.

3. We need to know who Christ uses to govern and guide his church←⤒🔗

a. Pastors and Elders←↰⤒🔗

• To apply God’s Word to his people today, God has given pastors who must preach his Word, and elders, who must govern the church together with the pastors (1 Tim 5:17; Heb 13:17; See already in the Old Testament: Exo 3:16; 17:5; Num 11:16; Deut 27:1)

b. Groups of elders, not a man acting alone←↰⤒🔗

• The church is to be governed on earth by “bodies” of elders, that is by groups of elders who are called and ordained by the Lord through his church (Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22; 20:28; Tit 1:5; 1 Tim 4:14).
• New groups of elders need to be trained and ordained by existing groups of elders and pastors, just as the “body of elders” (likely in Ephesus) ordained Timothy, and as Titus appointed elders in every town in Crete (1 Tim 4:14; Tit 1:5). Timothy was commanded to continue teaching other men who would be able in turn to teach others (2 Tim 2:2).

c. Elders who are mature and godly men←↰⤒🔗

• Only the brothers in the church are called to govern the congregation in spiritual matters, not the sisters (1 Cor 14:33-4; 1 Tim 2:11-15). The brothers must take this responsibility very seriously. The qualifications for serving are found in Scripture (1 Tim 3:1-10; Tit 1:5-9).
• The church is not a democracy but is governed by God’s Word

4. We need to know the main things the church has to do←⤒🔗

a. Preach, administer the sacraments, and govern the people spiritually←↰⤒🔗

• True believers are called to join churches that preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27; Eph 4:11-16), administer the sacraments as Christ ordained them (Matt 28:18-20; 1 Cor 11:23-29), and carry out church discipline according to Christ’s command (Matt 18:15-20). No believer should be happy to be by him/herself, cut off from the body of Christ (Rom 12:3-8; 1 Cor 12:12-31).
• Governing God’s church is a spiritual matter, where the leaders simply speak what God has revealed in Scripture and apply that to his people (1 Cor 10:3-6). There is no physical power involved, rather, they speak by the greater power of the Word and Spirit. The civil government has the sword, but the church’s government has the Word (Rom 13:1-8).
• We may make a distinction between what the church does officially and what its members do. Officially the church is in the business of preaching the gospel, seeking conversion, comforting the weak, and aiming for maturity of faith. Other activities such as Christian involvement in politics and setting up Christian day schools for children are good Christian things to do, but don’t really belong to the official spiritual work that the elders and pastors should be doing.

5. We need to know who can help us←⤒🔗

a. We should seek the advice and oversight of an existing body of elders←↰⤒🔗

• Groups of believers who want to start a church need to ask an existing body of elders from an existing church to take these believers under their spiritual care for the purpose of helping them regulate their affairs according to God’s Word
• The existing church should train and test the men who want to serve the new group of believers and, when they are prepared, the existing church should ordain these men officially to serve as elders or deacons (1Tim 3:1-10; Tit 1:5-9)
• The existing church could structure the new group of believers as a mission congregation while training men to serve as leaders.
• No man can take ordination upon himself; he must be called through the church and then officially “sent out” to do his task of preaching (pastors) and governing (elders) and helping (deacons) (Rom 10:14-15). Even the Apostle Paul, whom God had already called his chosen instrument to bring the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15), was officially ordained in the church of Antioch for his missionary work (Acts 13:1-3).

b. We should link up with other churches of like confession←↰⤒🔗

• When a church is being formed, it should also enter into an agreement or covenant with other churches of the same denomination so that they can work together, as the churches did in the New Testament (Rom 16:16; Col 4:16; 1 Thess 4:10). This allows the new church to offer its gifts, insights, and encouragements to others (Rom 12:3-8; 1 Thess 1:7; 2Thess 1:4). It also allows that church to receive financial help from the other churches (Gal 2:10; 1 Cor 16:1-3; 2 Cor 8-9; Acts 24:17). Finally, if that church has some internal troubles or even if it simply is looking for advice, it can receive wise counsel and guidance from the other churches (Acts 15; 1Cor 6:1-11; 14:33). This structure of accountability is very important for the spiritual well-being of all the members of the church.
• In Scripture, the Lord sometimes addresses the churches together, expects them each to hear what he says to the other, and to follow his commands together (Rev 1:4, 11).

6. We need to know what we stand for←⤒🔗

a. We need to have a statement of faith←↰⤒🔗

• Through the ages the church has carefully defined the teachings of God’s Word and carefully rejected false teachings. Any new church should carefully study these things and unite itself with the church of all ages by testing these teachings by God’s Word and agreeing with the time-tested Christian Creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds).
• Because of human sin, various false teachings arose in the church and reformation of the church was required. The Lord has warned the churches about this (Gal 1:8-9; 2Pet 2; 1 John 2:18-27; 4:1-6). This has resulted in more elaborate confessions like the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, Canons of Dort, Westminster Confession and Catechisms, and others. These were made at very special times of reformation in the church. Today the church should learn from these times. We should avoid making more statements of faith unless this is really necessary. We are better off acknowledging the unity of faith we have with our ancestors in the faith by adopting the same confessions of faith that they adopted. We are united across the ages, as children of Abraham (Rom 4:11-12, 16-18).
• Confessing Christ before the world must be done in word and deed, according to Christ’s command (Matt 10:32-3) and according to the New Testament pattern (Rom 10:9-10; 1 Tim 6:12).

b. We need a process of membership←↰⤒🔗

• Those who wish to be members need to agree with the doctrine held by the members already there, so that the church will be one in faith, as much as possible (1 Tim 1:3-10; 6:3-5; Tit 3:10).
• People must officially agree to become members so that they willingly submit to the leadership of the elders and pastors. If people will not become members of the church, the church cannot officially administer any church discipline against them if they persist in sin. This would deprive them of a great blessing – church discipline is one of God’s loving ways of correcting us when necessary (Matt 18:18; 1 Cor 5:1-5; 2 Cor 13:2; 1 Thess 5:14; 2 Thess 3:6,14-15; Heb 12:7-13).
• The privilege of participating in the sacraments (being baptized, coming to the Lord’s Supper) should be restricted to those whom the elders know to be members in good standing, since these are holy ordinances given by Christ (1 Cor 10:21; 11:17-22, 27-30).

c. We need to agree on a proper church structure←↰⤒🔗

• Every church needs some kind of church order to regulate its affairs. A constitution, bylaws, and rules of order are very important for regulating how men are chosen to be officers in the church, how the worship services and sacraments are ordered, how churches of the same confession should work together, and how church discipline should be justly and lovingly administered (1 Cor 11:16; 14:32, 40). These structures will help the believers feel more secure and grow in their faith (Col 2:5).
• Any group forming a new church should study the structures of other faithful churches (1 Cor 7:17; 1 Cor 16:1; 2Cor 1:4). These are commonly called church orders.

7. We need to be prepared for Satan and the world to attack us←⤒🔗

• Satan does not want the church to grow in numbers or in maturity. We should not be surprised when the church encounters spiritual attacks. We should not give up trying to obey the calling of Christ to be faithful to him in all things. Rather, we should always be ready to open his Word together to convince each other of the right way to honour Jesus Christ, who is the Saviour and Head of his Church.
• When some in the church do not share the true faith and break up the unity of the church, the true believers should humbly pray for grace to grow in their faith in Jesus as Saviour, their obedience to him as Lord, and their love for one another.

In order to form a church that will last we must also think of our children. They need to be nurtured in the fear of the Lord so that they too will learn to serve him. They need a good structure, not only in our families, but also in the church. They need answers about why we do things as we do. Then they will be able to pass on to their children the same faith and the same good traditions, and the church will remain. Sometimes the church’s name has to change and its membership be shaken up. This happened in the Bible too. But if that church has been raised on God’s Word, then the true believers will remain firm in their faith, will recognize the value of good order, and will re-organize the church on the basis of God’s Word. Thankfully, because of God’s great work, there will always be a faithful church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even if it becomes small, it will still be worshipping him when he returns.

Notes←⤒🔗

1. This paper was purposefully written with references to Scripture only, to facilitate Scripture study on God’s will for the church. Those studying the document might well be loose-knit groups of believers who have never considered ecclesiology and quite likely don’t have a background with confessions of faith. Please use the texts not as “proof-texts” but as supporting texts which are meant to stimulate discussion and study about the nature and task of the church.
2. Those who are working with such groups need to apply biblical principles with spiritual wisdom. Pastor Ken Wieske, a missionary of our church working in Brazil, wrote to me, “My approach has always been to look for the most basic principle first, and then slowly work with the group as they mature and grow in an ever more biblical direction.  If the foundational principles are laid well, then any group of real believers will delight to build more and more upon them, and the process will occur naturally, even if it takes a number of years.”
3. Again, from Pastor Ken Wieske, “I would suggest that even before speaking about the structure of the church and how to set things up, it is important to convey to people that they need to be under the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments; only an instituted Church of Christ can offer this to them.  A very tentative first step would be to get them to accept weekly preaching; after some months of being fed by the gospel (preaching touching on the very basics of the faith and how it is worked out in the body of Christ) they could be encouraged to consider receiving pastoral visits in their homes in order to work towards a defined membership based upon profession (or reaffirmation) of faith.”