Overseeing Sessions

The borrowed elders who have responsibility for the spiritual oversight of the members of a mission work must recognize that the mission work is a church itself. It is developing a separate identity as a body of Christ. They must also be aware that their work may or may not involve the responsibility for supervising the development of the mission work into an organized congregation. That job is sometimes retained by the home missions committee of the presbytery. So the remainder of this chapter will deal with the specific shepherding responsibilities of an overseeing session in regard to the spiritual care of the members of a mission work and the care and encouragement it provides to the organizing pastor. Along the way, it will be noted how these responsibilities differ slightly from those of the session of an organized congregation. Appendix 3 of this manual provides an overview of this important work.

The overseeing session prepares prospective new members, examines their credible professions of faith, and receives them into membership in the same way it does in an organized congregation. Technically, their membership may be either in an established “mother” church or on the roll of the Regional Church itself. But the overseeing session must keep accurate records of those who are members of the mission work for the purposes of spiritual nurture, congregational decision making, presbytery record keeping, and the eventual organization of the mission work as a new congregation.

Designated members of the overseeing session should attend the meetings of the mission work often enough to know the members and be accepted as elders by them. Those elders should also visit in the homes of the members and friends of the mission work along with the organizing pastor and should seek to build a good working relationship of mutual respect and appreciation between the mission work and the presbytery or between the mother and daughter congregations (depending on the oversight arrangements).

The overseeing session must exercise care in providing sound pulpit supply, both before the call of an organizing pastor and in his absence. Just as in an organized congregation, it is the session which gives or denies permission to preach in the pulpit, and that responsibility should not be delegated for the sake of convenience to those in the mission work.

At the outset of its ministry with the mission work, the overseeing session must develop sound, Biblical, and acceptable guidelines for worship, and regularly review and refine them with the people. Matters such as the type of music, the order of service, decorum, special music, the Scripture version, the observance of special days and seasons, the kinds of communion elements to be used, and the length and time of services should be dealt with early in the church’s life, while still giving the organizing pastor as much latitude in these matters as possible after his arrival.

The overseeing session determines the frequency of observing the Lord’s Supper, the proper fencing of the Table, and the kinds of elements to be used. It should also provide one of its members to serve along with an officiating minister for the proper administration of the Supper. The overseeing session determines the occasion of baptisms of covenant children and professing adult believers not yet baptized and should provide one of its members at the time of baptism as a proper witness and testimony to the session. It should be noted that the sacraments are especially valuable as instruction to the members of the mission work and should be offered regularly at the location of the mission work.

The overseeing session should anticipate that problems of a disciplinary nature will arise as the mission work develops and matures, and should be prepared to take the time required to instruct and correct effectively. It must make clear to people upon their reception as members that it, as the session which guarantees the full rights of members of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, also has full responsibility and authority to exercise discipline and correction.

The overseeing session should recognize that congregational decision making in the life of a mission work is often a difficult matter. In the early days of its life, the mission work may often become polarized if asked to make decisions about secondary issues such as a change of name or meet- ing location. And even on primary issues, such as the selection of an organizing pastor or the purchase of land, the group often has not yet formed sufficiently deep relationships with one another in order to make mutual decisions. It is for this reason that the OPC Form of Government does not make provision for a mission work to decide these matters formally. So the overseeing session needs to make provision for informal discussions of important matters between themselves and the members of the mission work.

But as time passes and the mission work matures as a body of Christ, they can and should be expected to make some of these decisions. As they near readiness to become an organized congregation, it is important that the members of the mission work convene as a congregation to allow them to begin to mature in their own decision making. The overseeing session would do well to make provision for these matters before problems arise.

The Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension believes that a good church planter need not specialize in that work, nor must he have extensive special training to serve as an organizing pastor. However, a combination of the following five ministry strengths seems to be present in the men who most effectively serve as church planters in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church:

He is a caring pastor. He is a mature man of God who loves his people. He spends time with them. He encourages and instructs them from house to house. But his love for them is not sentimental; it is based on the deeper love of the Good Shepherd. So he is also willing to confront them and to spur them on to a renewed obedience to God.

He is committed to Biblical preaching. He believes it is the primary way in which Christ builds His church. Regardless of which Reformed homiletical method he employs, it is always Christ who is preeminent in his preaching. Because he is convinced that God speaks to His people and builds His church primarily through the preaching of the Word, he works hard to make his sermons both clear and meaty. And he is a good preacher. However, his reliance on the efficacy of preaching does not have to do with his skills of preparation and delivery, but with the Holy Spirit who speaks the Word through him.

He has a mature grasp of doctrine. He recognizes that neither he nor his people can approach the Bible without it. He carries the system of doc- trine with him in his mind and is deeply committed to, and appreciative of, the Westminster Confession of Faith and its Catechisms. His mind is not quickly captured by new theological or methodological proposals. He genuinely believes that nothing is more practical than sound theology. And his grasp of doctrine permeates his preaching and his pastoral leadership.

He is a man of faith. He is able to see the Church in the small core group of people who have helped to begin its ministry. He finds it easy to trust God for his and the congregation’s needs. The depth of his commitment to Christ is evident in every aspect of his ministry. And he has an unshakable and contagious confidence that Christ is building His church among the people he is serving.

He is a leader of people. He understands the tasks of the ministry of a church planter and the needs of people to whom he ministers and is able to enlist and delegate with confidence and tenderness. People are drawn to his leadership and follow him because of his godly character and loving heart. He is a self-starter who initiates proposals and accepts responsibility. But his leadership is always characterized by a servant’s heart, and he takes the lead to shepherd, guide, and protect without lording it over those who have been entrusted to his care.