Biblical patterns of church government in Acts: Holy Spirit and church structure

Book Of Acts

Does Acts offer a pattern for how Church government should be structured?

Actually, there is nothing this writer has found in Acts that specifically tells how to set up a church government. However, the establishment of a Christian church is explained in numerous accounts and passages. In Acts 2:38 Peter is telling his audience that if they repent, and agree to be baptized, they will be forgiven of their sins and "…will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." But just being relieved of one's sins, and accepting Christ as one's savior isn't an answer to how a church should be governed. The spiritual world and the physical world must come together for the Christian Church to be effective. And the Book of Acts does provide that guidance, according to Thom Rainer of the Green Valley Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Yes, Rainer admits, the Book of Acts is noted for its evangelism (Peter's preaching as referenced in the opening paragraph of this paper is an example of Acts' evangelism), but it also included the way in which the Apostle Paul approached the growth of the church. Because before church government can be created, there needs to be the establishment of a church. People need to believe and to have faith that the church brings them something valuable. Then, as the movie "Field of Dreams" pointed out, "if you build it, they will come…"

Reaching out for church membership is the start of putting together church government, according to Paul. He said (Acts 24), "If religious people can be reached in religious buildings, secular people have to be reached in secular buildings." Paul spent two years at Corinth (setting up church governing strategies and building the attendance), and he spent three years at Ephesus.

"Church growth writers understand the importance of leadership longevity," Rainer explains, and "…pastoral tenure is one of the highest correlative factors in growing churches."

But as to church government, in Jack Deere's book Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, he asserts that the Book of Acts is…crucial in determining what we believe about church government" (Deere, 2010). "Be shepherds of the church of God," Paul told the elders of the church in Ephesus. He clearly meant that the church had to be governed with grace and order.

Adrian Warnock writes that church governments are not supposed to be part of "some dominating hierarchy," which implies that the denominations that are hierarchal (like the Roman Catholic Church) are not what Christ and his apostles had in mind. "Churches are not meant to be either wholly independent from each other…" either. Leadership and "mutual service" between and within churches are important ingredients.

Holy Spirit Passages in Acts

Acts 8:14-17 -- By placing their hands on the Samarians, Peter and John brought the Holy Spirit to them. It seems a bit of a stretch that the Samarians could be "believers" but not have any link to the Holy Spirit. Would a Samarian need to have the hands of Christ's Apostles to be truly touched by the Holy Spirit? That seems hard to fathom because that would mean the John and Peter (or one of them) would have to lay hands on every person for them to achieve the Holy Spirit, a difficult task indeed.