Dear Truro family,
In his commentary on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the late Anglican minister/theologian John Stott described three possible models of the church.
The first model, he writes, is “a pyramid, with the pastor perched precariously on its pinnacle, like a little pope in his own church, while the laity are arrayed beneath him in serried ranks of inferiority”. Stott affirms that this “is a totally unbiblical image”.
The second model is “the bus, in which the pastor does all the driving while the congregation are the passengers slumbering in peaceful security behind him.” This isn’t much better than the pyramid!
But the third model of a body more accurately reflects the kind of “every-member ministry” that we see in the New Testament and that we all desire here at Truro. Stott writes: “the church is the body of Christ, every member of which has a distinctive function… There is simply no room in it for a hierarchy… which concentrates all ministry in the hands of one person and denies the people of God their own rightful ministries”.
As we regather more and more this year (praise God!), we remain committed to the New Testament exhortation to equip “the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). Truro Anglican Church isn’t a pyramid, and it isn’t a bus. Rather, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2-3), we are the Body of Christ. Pray with us that we would “…grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15).
Your Truro clergy