The local church is an organized group of baptized believers, functioning under New Testament offices, practicing New Testament ordinances, pro-actively carrying out the Great Commission of making disciples through evangelism and discipleship, and actively engaging in lifestyle and corporate worship (Acts 2:41; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 14:23; Colossians 3:16-17; Ephesians 4-5). The New Testament both assumes and instructs the organization of believers in this way (Acts, NT Epistles, Revelation 2-3, Hebrews 10:25). Believers should recognize that one cannot properly grow in their relationship with Christ without the care and correction that is found in the fellowship of each other (Hebrews 13:7; 1 Timothy 4:13). It is the privilege and responsibility of the local church to love and care for each of its members (Ephesians 4:25; John 13:34-35; Galatians 6:2; 1 Peter 3:8-9). Each part of the body must be serving Christ faithfully, using their Spirit-empowered giftedness to edify the body, while recognizing that the body is composed of diverse members who are striving to serve each other amid their differences (Romans 12, 14; 1 Corinthians 12; Philippians 2; Galatians 6:10; Colossians 3:12-13). To that end, the church ministers like Christ (Ephesians 5:25-26; Philippians 2:5), realizing that how we live in the church will be a testimony to the unbelieving world around us (Philippians 2:14-16).

The pastor must be a qualified man who recognizes the calling and enabling of God (1 Timothy 3:1-7, 12) to lovingly and faithfully shepherd the people of God (1 Peter 5:1-4) while remaining accountable to God (James 3:1). This leadership is reflected in the three words used in Scripture in reference to the pastor: elder, bishop, and shepherd. This should be accomplished by leading the flock, both privately and publicly, through accurate and skillful presentation of the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:12), sacrificial interaction with the people of God (John 10:11f), and the faithful demonstration of personal sanctification (Titus 1:5-9). He should have a passion to pray for laborers and to train others to follow him in the ministry of the Word (Matthew 9:38; 2 Timothy 2:2).

The pastor must be a man that pursues holiness. His character must mirror the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 in living out his faith, relating to his family, and leading the flock. The pastor is to walk in humility (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:1-5) and contentment (Philippians 4:11-13), and in so doing knows and understands his weaknesses and limitations. He is to be a man who stands firm in the truth of God’s Word and is grounded in his understanding of the truth (1 Timothy 6:2b-5; 2 Timothy 5:1-5). In being an example to the believers, there is an openness of the pastor’s life to relationships of accountability (Galatians 6:2).

Because the Bible is the power of God to salvation (Romans 1:16) and sanctification (John 17:17-19), makes one wise to salvation (2 Timothy 3:15), and is able to save a person (James 1:21), the pastor must be committed to preaching the Word (2 Timothy 4:2). He is committed to the exposition of the text whereby he faithfully preaches the meaning of the text and carefully communicates its significance. A preacher’s commitment to faithful exposition by rightly dividing the Word of truth will be reflected in working hard to increase his skill in interpretation, understanding of theology, and ability to accurately communicate (1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 2:15). The biblical preacher will be careful that the authority and content of his sermon is taken from the text rather than any other source (tradition, illustrations, emotional appeals, psychology, or anything other than the life-giving Word).

The church is commanded to aggressively pursue all people with the gospel because God desires the salvation of all men (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Timothy 2:4). We must be committed to presenting the entire gospel even when it offends sinners, and we must call them to repent and believe (Acts 16:31; 17:30). The church’s evangelistic efforts must honor God by remaining faithful to His commands and by leaving the ultimate results of evangelism in His sovereign hands. We are opposed to evangelistic strategies that compromise biblical principles in order to make the gospel more palatable to sinners or that press for a decision apart from a full understanding of the gospel and its significance for life (John 6:22-66).

Maintaining a passion for discipleship is necessary to help others grow in their relationship with God through a dependence upon the Holy Spirit and to walk in simple obedience to the Spirit to accomplish His sanctifying work in the life of the believer (Galatians 5:16-23). Discipleship begins with evangelism (Matthew 28:18-20) and continues in the equipping of the believer to follow God’s truth and grow in the grace and knowledge of God. (Ephesians 4:11-16). It recognizes that personal holiness is about a relationship rather than an external conformity to a set of rules. Obedience flows out of a heart of love for God (Deuteronomy 6:4-13; John 15:8-12). This process of discipleship culminates when the believer receives his inheritance and is glorified in heaven above (Ephesians 1:3–14).

The purpose of worship is to exalt and glorify God and not to entertain man (Psalms 115:1; Isaiah 6:1-5; Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14). Worship should not just be observational, but rather should be participatory as with congregational singing, active listening, public Scripture reading, giving, and testimonies of praise (Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16-17; Psalm 52:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8-9). Since worship is basically humanity’s response to God’s self-revelation, it ought to be driven by truth producing a biblical response of emotion while not manipulating or being contrived. Therefore, we reject man-centered or performance-driven approaches to worship and worship that seeks to eliminate all that is offensive to the unregenerate. An appropriate worship style for corporate worship is accessible and culturally aware (not driven), but also avoids identification with the world. Because worship is not a means of earning favor with God but a response to His grace, we believe that it ought to be both Christ-centered and gospel-saturated (Revelation 5:9-14) and both reverent and joyful.

The Scriptures teach that the values of unsaved humanity (i.e., culture) are tainted by sinful values and temporal passions and that a Christian cannot love worldly values and also love Christ (1 John 2:15-17). Christians must stand against aspects of the culture that are corrupted by sin and not attempt to use them for gospel purposes. The Scriptures also command believers to remove unnecessary cultural hindrances to disciple-making. We must live in the world and adapt to our cultural context while remaining obedient to God’s commands (John 17:11, 14-16; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23). Remaining separate from the world while also eliminating unnecessary hindrances to the gospel requires that the church works hard to understand the culture and biblical principles of holiness and then practices prayerful discernment that boldly resists worldliness and compassionately pursues sinners with the gospel.

Path2Pastor is designed to help churches who are able to independently choose their own missionaries, pastor, church leadership, calendar, and financial investments in spiritual endeavors. If a church is part of a group or denomination that already has a structure in place to help in the training and development of pastors, then that church should work within that structure.