Harbour Church

At The Harbour we are endeavoring to establish healthy, biblical leadership. Ephesians 4:11 says that Jesus has called some in the Body of Christ to function as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors or teachers. According to the text, these gifts are given to the Body for two purposes: equipping the saints for the work of ministry and edifying the Body of Christ. As the verses that follow promise, when these gifts function in their correct purpose,

 “…we (will) all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12-13).

In a local church, we believe a team of Ephesians 4:11 equippers is who God has designed to lead and shepherd. We believe this happens with a plurality of equippers functioning as a team of elders (Acts 14:23, 16:4, 20:17, 20:28, 1 Timothy 5:1, 5:17-21, 1 Peter 5:1-5). The members of this team are ordained and set in place by a lead elder, which in many church settings is referred to as a Senior Pastor.

The role of the lead elder is to serve the other elders on the team by moderating, coordinating, envisioning and motivating, as well as functioning in the specific Ephesians 4:11 gift(s) that God has given him.

This team of elders’ works together to shepherd God's flock and bring believers into a place of spiritual maturity. In order to see the church grow properly in health, the elders also activate believers in their particular ministry gift, so that all can share in the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:16). God gifts each elder with a certain measure of "grace" in order to fulfill his particular role or function within the elder team. This grace is given to both oversee the local Body of believers and to function as an Ephesians 4 equipper with distinct gifting and anointing.

Overseeing a local church as an elder includes authority and responsibility (shared with the other elders) to establish doctrine, cast vision, administer church discipline and manage church resources. Functioning as an equipper is specific to each elder's gifting and calling, but usually consists of teaching, preaching, writing, counseling and leading.

Read our theological position on the 5-fold ministry gifts here.

Learn more about Harbour Equipping Classes and Events.