5.2 Elders and the function of administration

Church was free from both the state and everything referring to ecclesiastical organizations.52 In their eagerness for ‛a biblical Church‛ the pioneers were very eager, according to Sundstedt, to avoid the very words ‛organize and organization.‛ They also warned people of the word ‛establish or constitute‛ and ruled that ‛arrange‛ was considered to be more biblical.53

5.2 Elders and the function of administration

The Church is led by an ‛elder‛ (the local pastor). A Church can have one or more elders according to Willis Säwe.54 Pastor Blomgren explains that ‛the New Testament shows clearly and distinctly that during the apostolic times there were several elders in every local congregation.‛55 Pastor Sjöberg holds, that ‛every local Church had several elders or local pastors.‛ It ‛is a wonderful expression of God' s wisdom‛ and it ‛is the elders together who should lead the Church but not only one (underlined by Sjöberg) of them but all of them together.‛ God knows how easily a human being may be tempted to misuse his power. To counteract this abuse he has arranged for a balance of power.‛56 Of the documents referred to, it is revealed that the office of the elders is a spiritual service. In order to be able to hold real estate e.g. a Church or chapel, the Church must have its rules and statutes and appoint a board on a yearly basis.57 So far as I can judge the Philadelphia Church in Tumba near Stockholm and the Gilead Church in Gothenburg, are the only two exceptions to this rule. In these Churches they have made a distinction between the function of the elders and the board.58 The election of a board takes place at the administrative meeting. Then elders may be appointed or on other occasions. Säwe considers that ‛an elder was never (underlined by

_________________ 52 Sjöberg, 1960, p. 23. 53 Sundstedt 1971b, p. 229, 230. 54 Säwe 1962, p. 111-115. 55 Blomgren 1939, p. 12. 56 Sjöberg 1960, p. 27 ff. – Compare Sundstedt 1971a, p. 218 ff. 57 Ordet och tron, Nr 2 1968, p. 14-16, Harald Gustafsson, ‛Ledningen av Guds församling‛ . – Compare Säwe 1962, p. 111. 58 Regulations, ’Filadelfiaförsamlingen i Tumba’, 7.2.71. – Dagen 25.3.73, ‛Bredare bas för beslutsfattandet i Gilead, Göteborg. Interview with pastor Jean-Erik Mårtensson.‛ – Compare with Regulations, ’Filadelfiaförsamlingen i Bollnäs’, 14.2.70.