Why this Section is here
Approach A and Approach B in this Document provide drafting templates for the constitution of a local church under the framework. The drafting templates work at any scale — they do not assume a particular body size. As a body grows, however, the constitution must remain faithful to the flat-eldership principle the framework articulates in Document 6 (Elder & Deacon Identification) Part Ten and Document 8 (Five-Fold Ministry) Part Ten. This Section is a note for the drafter on how to keep the constitutional language framework-aligned as the body scales.
The teaching this Section assumes is set out in detail in Document 6 Part Ten (Eldership at Scale: The Flat Multiplication Model) and Document 8 Part Ten (Five-Fold Gifts at Scale Across the Flat Eldership). The full ratios tables and sample-scaling tables are in the Church Decision Allocation document Section 6. Drafters of constitutions for churches at any scale should read those Parts before applying the guidance below.
What the constitution must NOT say
Three drafting patterns the framework rejects, and which the example constitutions in this Document have been carefully written to avoid:
No “Senior Pastor” or “Senior Minister” designation. The framework does not recognise a structural office of Senior Pastor with concentrated authority. Where the existing constitution being adapted uses this language, it should be replaced with "Pastor" (one office among elders), with no "Senior" prefix anywhere. A church may, as a matter of practical facilitation, recognise one Pastor as the chair of certain meetings — but the constitutional language should make clear this is an administrative facilitation role, not a structural office.
No “Executive Eldership”, “Senior Eldership”, or other tiered eldership designation. The framework treats all Elders as equal in office. Any constitutional language that creates tiers within the Eldership — distinguishing senior Elders from ordinary Elders, executive Elders from other Elders, lead Elders from supporting Elders — is rejected. The constitution should name a single category of Elder with equal authority across the Eldership.
No CEO designation for any one role. The CEO language is a corporate-template import. The constitution should not name any single person as the Chief Executive Officer of the church. The Eldership in council is the spiritual leadership; the Committee in session is the operational leadership; both operate collegially. Where Australian state law requires a Responsible Person designation for charity-registration purposes, the designation is administrative (the person who lodges paperwork with the regulator) and not a constitutional office of senior authority.
What the constitution SHOULD say
Four drafting patterns the framework recommends:
A single category of Elder. The constitution names "Elders" as the spiritual oversight body of the church. Elders are identified and installed through the process referenced in Document 6 Part Four. No further category distinctions within the Eldership are made constitutionally.
Pastor as gift-recognition, not a separate office. Where the constitution refers to "Pastors" or "Pastoral Elders", the language should make clear that these are Elders whose gift, in the Ephesians 4:11 sense, includes the pastoral function. Pastors hold no more constitutional authority than any other Elder. The number of Pastors among the Eldership grows as the body grows (approximately one in five Elders carries the pastoral gift at framework target ratios).
Chair function as administrative facilitation. The constitution may provide that the Eldership selects a chair from among its number for the purpose of facilitating meetings (agenda, time-keeping, recording). The chair has no constitutional authority beyond facilitation, does not vote with extra weight, does not break ties, and does not constitutionally bind the Eldership. The chair function may rotate annually or as the Eldership determines.
Five-Fold gifts recognised within the Eldership. Where the constitution references the Five-Fold offices of Ephesians 4:11 (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher), these gifts are recognised through the Document 8 process and held by Elders. The constitution should not create a separate Five-Fold ministry office sitting above or alongside the Eldership.
Sample constitutional language for the flat-eldership principle
A drafter may include language along the following lines in the Eldership clause of the constitution:
Suggested clause — "The Eldership of the Church shall consist of a team of qualified Elders identified and installed in accordance with the process set out in [reference to Doc 6 Part Four / Schedule]. All Elders are equal in office. Different gifts among the Eldership — including the gifts of pastor, teacher, prophet, evangelist, and apostle as recognised in Ephesians 4:11 — entail different functions but no difference in authority. No Elder shall hold any title or office implying seniority over any other Elder, including but not limited to ‘Senior Pastor’, ‘Senior Minister’, ‘Senior Elder’, ‘Lead Pastor’, ‘Chief Executive Officer’, or any equivalent designation. The Eldership may from time to time select one of its number to act as chair for the purpose of facilitating Eldership meetings (agenda, time-keeping, and recording). The chair function is administrative and not authoritative. The chair has no casting vote, breaks no ties, and does not bind the Eldership beyond the facilitation of meetings."
A complementary clause for scaling:
Suggested clause — "As the body of the Church grows, the Eldership shall grow in number by the recognition and installation of additional Elders in accordance with the process set out in [reference]. The framework target is approximately one Elder for every twenty-five active adult Members. Where additional pastoral capacity is required, the Eldership recognises and installs additional Elders carrying the pastoral gift in accordance with the same process. No tier, executive, or hierarchy shall be introduced within the Eldership at any size. All Eldership decisions are made in Council together as one body."
How the Committee scales (it does not)
The legal Committee (or Board, or Council) responsible for the entity's legal stewardship under the Associations Incorporation Reform Act or equivalent law stays small regardless of body size. A Committee of five to nine members can manage operations for a body of any size — the operational complexity is met by professional support (paid administrators, bookkeepers, ministry coordinators), not by adding committee members. The Committee should be drawn substantially from the Eldership where practical, so the integration of spiritual and legal authority is maintained as the body grows.
Suggested clause — "The Committee shall consist of not fewer than five (5) and not more than nine (9) Members of the Association, drawn substantially from the Eldership where practical. As the body of the Church grows, the size of the Committee does not increase proportionally; operational complexity is addressed through professional support engaged by the Committee within budget allocations approved by the Members. The Committee operates by consensus where practical, with formal voting reserved for matters of legal compliance where the law requires."
How decisions are made in a large flat Eldership
Where the Eldership has grown to twenty, forty, or more Elders, the disciplines of large-Council discernment apply. Document 6 Part Ten Section 10.6 sets these out in detail. The constitution itself does not need to prescribe these disciplines — they are operational matters for the Eldership to adopt and refine — but the constitution should not prevent them. In particular, the constitution should:
Permit the Eldership to delegate research and proposal-drafting to working groups, with the explicit reservation that decision-making authority remains with the full Eldership in Council. Working groups serve the Eldership; they do not replace it.
Permit the Eldership to defer decisions where unity is not present. The constitution should not require the Eldership to reach a binary decision on any matter within a fixed timeframe; deferral for further prayer is a legitimate Eldership response.
Permit the Eldership to determine its own meeting cadence and discernment processes, subject to the framework's broader principles (no Senior Pastor, no Executive tier, no chair authority, decisions in Council together).
Closing the loop
This Section in Doc 11 complements Document 6 Part Ten, Document 8 Part Ten, Document 12 (Our Church) Section 7, and the Church Decision Allocation document Section 6. Wherever the framework is read, the teaching on flat-eldership scaling reads consistently:
— No Senior Pastor designation, regardless of body size.
— No Executive Eldership or tiered eldership, regardless of body size.
— Pastoral capacity scales by multiplying Pastors among Elders (one in five Elders typically).
— Operational capacity scales by professionalising operations rather than enlarging the Committee.
— Five-Fold gifts distribute across the flat Eldership and scale broadly through the gift, not by one-to-twenty-five multiplication.
— Decisions are made in Council together, with the discipline of large-Council discernment as the body grows.
These commitments protect the church from the corporate-template drift that Document 1 (Vision, Purpose, Commission & Mission) Chapter 8 warns about and that the framework analyses companion to this Series has documented across seven Australian churches. A constitution drafted on the templates in this Document, and adapted at scale according to the guidance above, will keep the local church in the New Testament shape Christ Himself laid down for her.