A friend forwarded me a link to bringbackpete.com, which was created after the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel, Denver, resigned. According to this article in Christianity Today, the board of Calvary was controlled by a former pastor of Calvary. Members allege that the Board remained loyal to the former pastor, and that Church funds were being siphoned to the former pastor’s new ministry in California.
As I’ve said before, I think ‘elders’ are biblical, and can be a good idea — but unaccountable elders can be just as bad as an unaccountable pastor, or an unaccountable deacon body.
nick kendall
Jon,
I could not agree with you more! Whether it is a group of elders or one senior pastor, a corrupt leader or leaders can lead to similar tragic results, but it is much harder for a plurality of elders to do it all together as opposed to one man. Bottom line! Where in the New Testament is there a Senior Pastor model?