And when your missionary goes away on a mission then your Church is left without anyone that does what Timothy was instructed to do. I guess he can set up a Teams meeting these days.
Elders are Presbyters. So we're back to my original question: where are your Episkopos in your "Apostolic" Church?
A single congregation may have dozens of missionaries. And in what way are you speaking of him "going away"? Death? On a mission trip? Going apostate?
I have already said that many times.
What do you mean "where are the Elders"?
And? What if they're all on a mission trip which is what they're supposed to do. Then your Church is left without anyone that does what Timothy was instructed to do. I guess he can set up a Teams meeting these days.
I said "on a mission", so mission trip.
Why did you change Episkopos for Elders in my question? They are not the same. Elders are Presbyters, not Episkopos. So I ask again: Where are your Episkopos in your "Apostolic" Church?
No, the established congregation does not need continual services by a missionary. That is the established Elder's responsibility. Missionaries have the duty of oversight in the congregations they have established while those congregations are young, and untried.
The "episkopos" are the Elders, the Pastors, the Presbyters, the Bishops, the Overseers. All of these are the SAME OFFICE.
So your elders have regional responsibilities like Timothy had over all of the churches of Ephesus? If not then your church has the Protestant problem of hundreds of denominations.
Missionaries are transitory. The guarding of doctrine is not transitory. You've got a problem here.
The Episkopos is the Episkopos, not the Presbyter nor the Deacon. So does your Church have a regional Episkopos, like Timothy, who oversees the doctrines preached or do you have the Protestant problem of each congregation on its own?
Nope. The Elders have responsibility within their own congregation, and potentially over any congregations they plant through missionaries until those "child" congregations become mature and have established, qualified Elders of their own.
Yes, missionaries are transitory. That is why they establish Elders within each congregation to lead that congregation when the missionary is no longer present.
Never said the Elder was the same as a deacon. The Elder is the same as the Presbyter. But the Deacon is a separate office, subject to the Elder. The deacon does more of the hands on work of serving physical needs of the Church, while the Elder does more of the Spiritual work of teaching the Word and guidance within the Church. This is demonstrated in the early Church in Acts 6:1-6.
pres·by·ter
So the bottom line is that you're ok with having a church that is not modeled after the Biblical Church, that had a regional Episkopos like Timothy over the city of Ephesus who oversees the doctrines preached, so as to prevent the Protestant problem of each congregation from going off on its own merry doctrinal way.
Not at all. I am OK with the Biblical mandate for each congregation to have its own Elders (Episkopos/Bishop/Elder/Presbyter/Overseer/Shepherd/Pastor) to oversee the doctrine within that congregation. Timothy was an evangelist, a missionary, (like Paul), who traveled around preaching, establishing congregations of the Church, establishing leadership for those congregations in the form of Elders, and then supervising them as they grew into solid, established parts of the Body of Christ. Timothy's mandate was not to oversee those congregations forever. He was to get them started, make sure their doctrine was firm, and then let them continue the mission of the Church by continuing to spread the Gospel themselves.
First you say you're ok with a regional Episkopos, like Timothy who stayed only in Ephesus....
... then you say you're ok with just a Congregational elder....
... so which is it ... Regional or Congregational?
It is foolish to follow man-made 'church' practices that the Apostles have not bequeathed to us in their letters/writings.
It's a good thing that I do follow Church practices that Apostles did bequeath to us, as evidenced in the Roman Catacombs, like icons, intercession inscriptions, liturgical practices, etc... . Do you?
