My husband and I have been married almost 36 years. After a year of separation (he was in Kansas completing his leadership training, I was in California at school), my family drove me out to meet him and we were married a couple of days later on July 16, 1981. We barely knew each other. And we both soon discovered that we were very different people.
Christian churches today differ in their approach to leadership. But what is the pattern for church leadership that the Bible shows among first-century believers in the Book of Acts? In looking at ekklēsia, the Greek word most often translated “church” in Acts, we see churches that are locally self-governed and are supported by energized ministers.