Oceanside Christian Fellowship (OCF) is led by a plurality of pastor-elders. In the New Testament, pastor/elder/bishop are used interchangeably to describe the local church leaders. Instead of a single (or senior) pastor leading our congregation, we have a group of pastor-elders that share the preaching on Sundays and share most of the day-to-day leadership of the church community.
We take this approach for two reasons, one biblical and one pragmatic. Biblically, from what we can tell, every church in the New Testament was led by a team of leaders. Pragmatically, plurality leadership best ensures the spiritual health of both leaders and members in a local church community. These are our pastor-elders, and church staff and ministry leaders.
OCF is led by a plurality of pastor-elders. In the New Testament, pastor/elder/bishop are used interchangeably to describe the local church leaders. Instead of a single (or senior) pastor leading our congregation, we have a group of pastor-elders that share the preaching on Sundays and share most of the day-to-day leadership of the church community.
We take this approach for two reasons, one biblical and one pragmatic. Biblically, from what we can tell, every church in the New Testament was led by a team of leaders. Pragmatically, plurality leadership best ensures the spiritual health of both leaders and members in a local church community. These are our pastor-elders, and church staff members.
