On The Elders Of The Church

 "From Paul, servant of GOD, apostle of CHRIST JESUS, at the service of GOD's chosen people, so that they may believe, and reach the knowledge of truth and godliness.

The eternal life we are waiting for was promised from the very beginning, by GOD, who never lies, and as the appointed time had come, HE made it known, through the message entrusted to me by a command of GOD, our Savior.

Greetings to you, Titus, my true son in the faith we share.  May grace and peace be with you from GOD the FATHER and CHRIST JESUS our LORD.

I left you in Crete because I wanted you to put right, what was defective, and appoint elders in every town, following my instructions.  They must be blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, and not open to the charge of being immoral and rebellious.  Since the overseer [or bishop] is the steward of GOD's House, he must be beyond reproach: not proud, hot-headed, over-fond of wine, quarrelsome, or greedy for gain.

On the contrary, he must be hospitable, a lover of what is good, wise, upright, devout and self-controlled.  He must hold to the message of faith, just as it was taught, so that, in his turn, he may teach sound doctrine, and refute those who oppose it." - Titus 1:1-9 

(Titus had to organize the churches of Crete with leaders in every city.

We do not know if the title overseer [in Greek, episcopos, from which comes bishop] was given to all these elders or presbyters, or if the title was reserved for those with executive duties.  After a while, there was only one bishop in charge of the entire community.  After the apostles' death, bishops served as their representatives and ruled the Church with the same authority.

What Paul says here about the requirements for a presbyter or bishop is the same as what we have in 1 Timothy.  We may note the following:

- Married only once.  Obviously, it is not necessary to be married, but as men of a certain age, usually married, were the ones who were consecrated, Paul is here considering the frequent case of Christians who had been divorced and remarried several times while they were still pagans.

- He must be blameless, not he alone but his family as well.  His fitness to preside is essential to his vocation, and he will not be accepted by the community if his background gives an unfavorable witness.

- He must be hospitable.  The Church is communion more than organization.  Everyone must be welcomed and feel at home in the house of the presbyter or the bishop.  He must also welcome the brothers and elders from other districts in order to assure unity and communion among different communities.  The human balance in this bishop is then part of his vocation: he cannot be a man of uneven character whose interventions could wound, whose authority ignores the elementary rules of social contact and respect of persons: although known for their faith, Church leaders are often reproached for not knowing how to act in a human way.)

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