In Php 1:1 the saints were given equal billing with the overseers and deacons. In Col 1:2 the salutation went to “the holy and faithful brothers in Christ.” All of this implies that the elders were themselves also sheep. The elders were a subset of the church as a whole. There was no clergy/laity distinction.
The New Testament knows only of “saints, bishops and deacons” (Php 1:1). “Bishops,” “pastors” and “elders” all refer to the same body of men (Ac 20:17, 28). The oversight of the church is conceived of as a body of elders (1Ti5:17; Jam 5:14). However, the traditional practice of “calling a pastor” separates this “office” from eldership at virtually every point. Under the New Testament pattern, laos (people) and kleron (clergy, inheritance) refer to all of God’s people; hence, elders and deacons are part of the “laity/clergy,” not separate from or above it. “Most denominational churches have departed from this pattern by distinguishing between the pastor and the elders. Common practice makes the pastor a full-time employee of the church, while the elders are laymen who function much like a board of directors”
In the traditional Protestant pattern, the pastor has a “call” that the other elders do not possess, the pastor is trained differently than the elders, the pastor is ordained in a different way than elders, the pastor comes from outside the body whereas the elders come from within the body, the pastor can be led to another church whereas the elders are resident, the pastor can have “Rev” next to his name but not so elders, the pastor is paid to carry out various duties (but not the elders), texts that apply to a body of elders are applied to “the minister”only, the pastor can occupy the pulpit while the elders rarely (if ever) can, and the pastor determines the direction of the worship service. Interestingly, the traditional Protestant way of doing things actually parallels a non-gospel religious model (with priests and witch doctors) more than it does the simple NT pattern.
Since communion has to do with being in communion with Christ (Christ-centered) and not the Church itself, (man-centered), then I would think yes. And, what other "denominations" were there in the 1st century? There was the church in Antioch, church in Jerusalem, church in Thyatira, etc, etc.
I actually agree with you, on all of this.
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