When I studied at Fuller seminary, we surveyed a range of Church leadership models (at least, we had a glimpse of those which were not favoured). I appreciated this model, described in Banks and Ledbetter (2004):
“For Paul, what happens at church gatherings originates in the Spirit and flows through the entire membership for the benefit of all. Everyone is caught up in this divine operation (1 Cor. 12:7). The process itself is described through the use of action verbs that stress its dynamic character: Contributions to the meetings are ‘energized’, ‘manifested’, and ‘distributed’ by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:6-7, 11). Paul uses a variety of nouns to capture the diversity of what takes place: It is an exercise of ‘gifts’, a variety of ‘services’, different kinds of ‘working’ (1 Cor. 12:4-6).”
OBSERVATION: This would seem to be to be a Congregational model, from the point of view that there is spiritual equality and spiritual participation, which is not merely a style of leadership but a “divine operation” and therefore sacred. Nothing and no one should take precedence over the spiritual dynamic.
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