OPERATING A CHURCH WITHOUT A PASTOR (9)

0. Introduction

a) Can a church start WITHOUT an "ordained" person, be they a Pastor, Priest or Minister, present to lead the group? Are there certain functions and ceremonies within the church that should only be performed by those who receive a salary to serve? Below are several common practices and services that Christian churches commonly perform and how they can be handled by small groups and fellowships.

1. Baptizing new believers

a) This is another function typically performed by church pastors - baptizing new people.

b) On the day of Pentecost, after Jesus' resurrection, 3,000 people were put under the waters of baptism. If only the twelve Apostles did all the work required they would ALL have to labor constantly, without breaks, for eight hours (at least) straight! Yet, if all the disciples (the 120 gathered together in a room to celebrate the holy day) did the work, MORE time could be spent with each person wanting to be baptized AND they would finish in slightly more than 6 hours.

c) The Bible contains not one command that forbids certain people from baptizing others nor does it give anyone the exclusive right to do so (e.g. ordained ministry).

d) Interestingly, there is no "gift of baptizing" mentioned in any list of gifts given by God for the purpose of serving (see Romans 12, 1Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, etc.).

e) A new believer must understand that baptism is an outward action signifying an individual's desire to repent and follow Christ. It is not a "sacrament" or benefit of belonging to a church group. The fact that a mature believer agrees to baptize a new believer does not guarantee that the new believer has repented. A mature believer laying hands on a new believer does not guarantee that the Holy Spirit will be given. Jesus Christ guarantees that a repentant person will be forgiven and receive the Holy Spirit. One should not baptize people who appear obviously insincere or unrepentant; but it is possible that someone may pretend to be repenting when they really are not (especially if they need to "be baptized" to marry, qualify for a church position, etc.). Christ looks on the heart of the individual - He is not bound by the possibly erroneous decisions of those who baptize or lay on hands.