Pilgrim said: You acknowledge that there are positions in the Church which are called "Pastor" and/or "Elder".
Yes, although I do not believe that the two words are synonymous. And I do not believe that the modern concept of the pastor is a biblical one. What I mean is this notion that every church is supposed to have one pastor or one "senior pastor" who has greater authority in the local church than anyone else. The church is to be ruled by a plurality of equal elders, not by one dictatorial Diotrephes.
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Pilgrim said: However, all believers are "priests" in their own right, including any officers, and thus they are all to be deemed "equal" and given the exact same privileges/responsibilities.
No believer, under the New Testament, is a priest in the sense that he performs mediatorial functions between God and men. But every believer is a priest in the sense that he offers up spiritual sacrifices to God and that he is set apart to the service of God just as the priests were.
The New Testament doctrine is that all believers are brothers and equals. Nevertheless, there are some who are appointed to oversee the teaching and discipline of the church (elders) and others who are appointed to minister to its carnal needs (deacons).
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Pilgrim said: The preaching of the Word and/or administration of the sacraments (baptism and the Lord's Table) can be performed by any true believer at any time and any place and is not restricted to those who have been ordained to any office.
I believe that all things are to be done under the supervision of the elders. I believe that any male member of the congregation may speak to the assembly, though obviously some are specially gifted by God (not by a seminary school) to be pastors/teachers, and so they will be more frequent speakers. The Lord's Supper is a corporate function and while I suppose that baptism (sprinkling, not dunking) could be done anywhere and at anytime, it seems to me that having the congregation witness the event is a good thing. But both baptism and the elements of the Lord's Supper don't need any priestly blessing or administration, and as long as the elders ensure that both are done appropriately it doesn't matter who performs the actions of them.
