Head

A Head is an elder who, in Basileia is a Presbyter who serves as the Head or Presiding Member of a Presbyter Council. Since Deacon Councils and Missional Councils administrate individual forms of governance instead of collective governance like Presbyter Councils, Presbyters who may serve as Presiding Members of Deacon Councils and Missional Councils are referred to as Presiding Members, not Heads, even though in other capacities in their eldership role in the Church, family or state they may exercise headship. Thus headship is a very specific kind of leadership that male Presiding Members perform in relation to formal eldership roles, such as those performed by Presbyters in relationship to Presbyter Councils. The Scriptural basis for our understanding what headship is in relation to eldership is as follows: The LXX reading, “the presbytery [gerousia] of Israel” in Exodus 3:16-18; 4:29; and 12:21, shows that elders did not function merely as a collection of individuals, but rather as a collective body that exercised collective governance in contrast to individual governance. Thus when elders exercise headship they act in a collective capacity on behalf of a collective body, not just in an individual capacity as men and women do in individual governance. Head elders therefore have a double collective governing role. They not only represent the collective people as a whole, but also the particular eldership council of which they are head. James, for example, as the head elder of the Jerusalem Council, gave voice to the Scripturally based decision of both the Jerusalem Council as a whole and of the Church as a whole (Acts 15:19). Likewise, Peter's confession in response to Jesus' question which Jesus asked all of the disciples, was a confession as a head elder of the disciples in particular and of the people of God in general (Matt. 16:15-17). Finally, we may note that Jesus' reference to the “two or three gathered together in My name,” in its immediate context means elders who represent both all the elders of a particular body of believers and “the Church” collectively (Matt. 18:17-20).

Also see Consensus Decision-Making, Elder, and “Governing Roles of Men and Women in Basileia and Head.”