Q & A Friday :: How do you determine who can teach at the church?

How do you guys (@OBC) decide who can teach in the church?

This is something that we take extremely serious at Omaha Bible Church. One of the important and primary responsibilities of shepherds is to hold fast “the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching” while also exhorting “in sound doctrine” (Titus 1.9). Therefore we want to be sure that at all levels there is sound biblical teaching taking place.

One of the primary ways in which this is done at OBC is through the doctrinal questionnaire. We have questionnaires for those who would teach children, jr high and high school, in the women’s ministry, in a Care Group setting, in prisons, in the nursing homes, or in the congregational setting.

There are levels of intensity of the questionnaires. For instance our elder questionnaire is more in depth than the questionnaire that someone would fill out in order to work in children’s church. However, all of the questionnaires deal with the understanding of the gospel, the sufficiency of Scripture, the atonement, sin, Satan, hell, heaven, the relationship of the church to Israel, the function of the church, and various contemporary issues.

Finally, life examination is also key in determining who teaches. We do not hold the elder qualifications over everyone’s head, however, if there is not growth and there is persistent sin and patterns of ungodliness evident in one’s life they will not be given opportunities to teach, regardless of how sound the questionnaire is. Therefore, it is incumbent upon leaders to spend time with prospective teachers and ensure that life and doctrine are matching up.

Hopefully this is helpful.

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–Fridays are Q&A Fridays here at IrishCalvinist.com so if you have a question fire it in to…

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6 Responses to “Q & A Friday :: How do you determine who can teach at the church?”

1. Words - » Blogs in Review - 4/13/07 says:

   April 13, 2007 at 8:51 am

   [...] Erik Raymond (http://www.irishcalvinist.com) asks “How do you determine who can teach at the church?” [...]
2. Randall Walthall says:

   April 14, 2007 at 9:40 am

   Dear Mr. Raymond:

   Will you publish the questionnaires?
3. Rick Weiss says:

   April 15, 2007 at 6:52 pm

   Eric

   I also would appreciate the publishing of the questionaires.

   I printed and used your Tracts in Prison this weekend, Thanks so very much

   Rick
4. David Ulmer says:

   April 17, 2007 at 7:12 am

   While at Cedarville College the president promoted a book “Great Leaders of the Christian Faith”. I seemed to be the only one that thought it strange that most (if not all) would not be allowed to teach at this Baptist Universtity because they wouldn’t be able to sign the doctrinal statement. It was the same statement pretty much for the Baptist church at which I was a deacon. None of the great Doctors of the Faith could even be a deacon, let alone the pastor. Calvinist often speak as though Augustine was a Calvinist but it takes little reading to see that he was Catholic and would not be welcome teaching at any Calvinist Church.

   When the people choose, they pick who they like. When leadership chooses, they choose who they like. Does anyone really examine if one’s children are obedient and one’s wife is not a busy body? I’m sure some are careful to measure character. My experience was that uniformity mattered more than anything else.
5. erik says:

   April 17, 2007 at 8:11 am

   “When the people choose, they pick who they like.”
   @not true. You cannot say this exclusively, perhaps in your experience, but not exclusively David. Doctrine and Character are the basis here, and in so many churches that I know.

   “Does anyone really examine if one’s children are obedient and one’s wife is not a busy body?”

   @yes. Character matters to us because it matters to God (1 Tim.3)
6. William Dicks says:

   April 20, 2007 at 7:19 am

   I am so glad that someone out there puts such a high premium on teaching in the church.

   It is of paramount importance that teachers in the church teach the truth of the gospel.

   Too many out there are teachers in churches, but would not be able to explain even one “big word,” as John Piper calls them. Such as “propitiation.” Most of these teachers are into “pop” theology and not Biblical truth.