Elder Statements
Elder statements are doctrines or church practices affirmed by any elder, deacon, or staff members serving at Redeemer Church. Generally, they are important topics that have methodological and staff culture implications where differences of opinion could create division. Covenant members are not required to affirm Elder Statements, but agree to teach nothing contrary and to minister alongside them without divisiveness.
Redeemer’s elders affirm the ongoing use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at conversion for all Christians.
A good book: Are the Miraculous Gifts for Today? Four Views edited by Gundry and Grudem
Redeemer’s elders affirm that man’s’ response to the Gospel is rooted and grounded in the free and unconditional election of God for His own glory. We believe God predestines all believers to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Synonyms for our position are: Reformed theology, Doctrines of Grace, and Sovereign Grace.
A good book: Putting Amazing Back Into Grace by Michael Horton
Redeemer’s elders affirm that growth is progressive. Faith and the resultant obedience to God will have an ebb and flow, but God will slowly move us forward in conformity to Jesus. We deny that it is possible for someone to be a genuine follower of Christ and fail to continue to believe and bear some measure of fruit.
A good book: The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance & Assurance by Thomas Schreiner
The baptism of children is a complex issue because of major differences in mental, emotional, and spiritual development in children from year to year as they grow. While many adults who were baptized at a young age can point to a real conversion experience leading to their baptism, many other adults recall faulty motives which led to their childhood baptism causing them now to struggle with the genuineness of their conversion.
At Redeemer, we want all believers to walk in full confidence of their faith and the grace of God. Therefore, we have developed a general guideline and equipping materials to help parents navigate the growing faith of their children. The goal of this guideline is to equip parents to identify the fruits of regeneration, faith, and repentance, guard against coerced or “false” faith, and equip them to helpfully be involved in their children’s spiritual development.
Generally, we favor delaying baptism for children until they are at least 10-12 years old so that their baptism will be meaningful to them as adults. Some children younger than this may be mature enough in terms of grasping the gospel and having a relationship with Jesus that they are ready to be baptized. In such a case, our standard is that any baptism candidate will need to be able to adequately pass a membership interview. This would include being able to articulate the personal effects of sin, a grace-based salvation (not of works), and a personal response to salvation including an age-appropriate devotional life. If in the judgment of the parents and Redeemer elders the child is ready for baptism, then we will go forward with the baptism just like we would for an adult.
The elders of Redeemer affirm the biblical position that marriage involves the committed, covenantal union of one man and one woman (each defined by biological sex at birth) (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:1-9, Mark 10:1-12). In the context of this covenantal union, a husband and wife are able to enjoy relational, spiritual, emotional, and physical intimacy (1 Corinthians 7:1-5).
Marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church. When rightly practiced, it leads to the recognizable flourishing of both sexes. Husbands should lead and love their wives like Christ does His Church. Wives should submit to their own husbands like all Christians do to Christ (Exceptions include situations where a husband’s leadership of his wife or family is abusive, or otherwise not Christ honoring.) Women owe no obligation to submit to men who are not their husbands, except in cases where all Christians must submit (i.e. government, elders, etc). The whole counsel of Scripture guides how husbands and wives interact and relate to one another (Romans 13:1-7, Ephesians 5:31-32, Colossians 3:18-20, 1 Peter 2:13, 3:1-8, 5:5-6).
The elders of Redeemer also affirm that singleness is a gift to the church, to the individual and to the community around. God has gifted His church with various gifts for the sake of reflecting His glory and making the Gospel more clear and when rightly practiced, singleness leads to a vibrant and recognizable flourishing of the individual. (Matthew 19:10-12, 1 Corinthians 7:6-8, 25-35).
Physical and sexual intimacy is only properly exercised and pursued within the confines of a marital relationship. Sexual immorality, defined as any sexual activity outside of the boundaries of the sacred marital relationship between one man and one woman, is clearly and expressly prohibited by the Lord (Matthew 15:19, 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Hebrews 13:4). The Church regards any and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, sex outside of marriage, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or even lustful intent toward such, as sinful and ultimately unsatisfying. The Church also regards as sinful the intent or act of altering one's biological sex (e.g. surgically, chemically) to a different sex. Since the body is a creation of God, the Church holds sexual identity to be biologically determined, and associated gender norms are to be observed in accordance with biblical standards (Genesis 1:27, Romans 1:26-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Although we maintain this biblical view of marriage, we acknowledge that same-sex attraction, gender dysphoria, and other desires contrary to the affirmations above are real and present feelings for many people who love Jesus. For those who struggle to honor God and not act on those desires, we affirm that the grace of Jesus is sufficient, and the community offered here at Redeemer is a powerful ally in the fight against loneliness and unmet desires.
The Church’s Statement of Marriage and sexuality does not provide grounds for bigotry, bullying or hate, as we fully believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity, regardless of his or her lifestyle. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated as sinful and are not in accordance with the Scriptures nor the doctrines of the Church.
ELDER-LED
Redeemer Church is an elder-led church, meaning that our church is overseen by a plurality of qualified and vetted men who serve as spiritual leaders.1 The Bible interchangeably uses synonyms to refer to unique aspects of these leaders’ role and office, such as elder, pastor, overseer, shepherd, and bishop.2
We see this structure in the Ephesian church in Acts 20 and all throughout the New Testament. In Acts 20:28, Paul speaks to the Ephesian elders saying, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”
Hebrews 13 charges elders with keeping watch over our souls, which carries tremendous weight and significance. In accordance with Scripture, our elders are men who have been tested, examined by our covenant members, and approved as meeting the qualifications that we see in both 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
We also believe in a plurality of eldership, where all elder votes are equal.3 We hope that a plurality of gifted leaders will meet needs where they exist and provide effective leadership while also holding one another accountable, both in ministry and in personal devotion to Jesus.
TEACHING
In addition to the passages above, we also see in 1 Timothy 2:12 that the definitive teaching and exercising of authority in the church was limited to elder as well. However, Paul didn’t have every conceivable form of teaching in mind when he said this. For instance, we see from other places in Scripture that women can teach other women4, prophesy in church5, and that they should teach and admonish one another6.
From the context, we see the coupling of “teaching” with “exercising authority over a man” (1 Tim 2:12). We believe teaching which is public, authoritative, and among the gathered local church is reserved for elders and elder-qualified men7.
In teaching roles in most other contexts, qualified and gifted women and men are encouraged to use their gifts fully to build up and serve the church. We see in 1 Corinthians 12:4-12ff that God gives different gifts to believers so that we can all work together towards spreading the gospel and building up the body of believers.
ROLE OF ELDERS
The elders are charged with three primary tasks at Redeemer Church:
- Lead and teach the church to spread Jesus’ gospel to the ends of the earth
- Guard the doctrine of the church, which is articulated in our Doctrine and Elder Statements
- Shepherd the church through serving, equipping, empowering, protecting, praying for, and caring for the flock including exercising discipline according to Matthew 18:15-20 and other Scriptures
The elders have been entrusted by God with the responsibility of watching over the souls of the people in our church. Elders will have to give an account to God one day on how faithful they were to the people He entrusted to them8. Therefore, we believe it is God’s will that only qualified men bear the responsibility for this office and this role.
1 For more, see “Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership” by Alexander Strauch.
2 Acts 20:17,28; Ephesians 4:11; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; 5:17,19; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-2.
3 "By definition, the elder structure of government is a collective form of leadership in which each elder shares equally the position, authority, and responsibility of the office" (Strauch, Biblical Eldership, 39). In nearly all cases biblical references are to “elders” in the plural (Cf. Acts 14:23, 20:17-18, 28; 1 Timothy 5:17; Titus 1:5; 1 Peter 5:1-2).
4 Titus 2:3-4.
5 1 Corinthians 11:5.
6 See Colossians 3:16 where Paul “does not refer to authoritative public teaching but to the informal mutual instruction that occurs among all the members of the body” (Köstenberger and Schreiner, Women in the Church, 192). Also Cf. Acts 18:26 where Priscilla and Aquilla privately taught Apollos.
7 Cf. 1 Tim 2:8. “When Paul calls on men to pray “in every place” (ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ), he is probably referring to house churches. Thus, the directives here relate generically to a public church meeting where believers are gathered together” (Köstenberger and Schreiner, Women in the Church, 175).
8 Hebrews 13:17.