Acts 14:23

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

Elders in every church ... This is the first mention of appointing elders in the New Testament, and the fundamental truth of there being a plurality of elders in each congregation is thus evident from the very first.

Appointed ... Arguments based on this word which would require elders to be voted upon are not valid. As MacGreggor noted:

The word "appointed" means literally "chose by show of hands" and, strictly speaking, should imply some form of popular voting. But it had come to be used of choice in general without reference to the means.[31]

The New Testament simply does not bind upon Christians any certain method of choosing either elders or deacons. It was Paul who appointed the elders in these churches, and it would be a mistake to suppose that he yielded the right of choice to ignorant Gentile congregations, described by himself as "weak, base, despised, and foolish," without taking the utmost precautions and providing firm guidance for them. Strong agreement is felt with Boles, who said, "Any method (of appointing elders) which promotes unity and does not violate a principal may be used."[32]

ELDERS

Trenchard wrote that:

It is widely agreed that during the apostolic age, elder = bishop (overseer) = pastor, and that there was a plurality of these in each local church, forming the presbytery.[33]

As a matter of fact, there are no less than six New Testament words which refer to exactly the same office, that of elder mentioned here.

Bishop ([@episkopos]) translated "overseer"

Presbyter translated "elder"

Pastor translated "shepherd"

Furthermore, the term "stewards" is associated with this same office in the New Testament (see 1 Corinthians 4:1,2). Also, Paul said, "The bishop must be blameless as God's steward" (Titus 1:7).

One of the most significant things regarding Paul's appointment of elders in these churches is that of their inexperience. None of those appointed had been Christians any longer than two or three years at the most, and some of them, no doubt, a much shorter time. In the light of this, those settled congregations of our own day who "operate" for ten or thirty years without naming any elders are proving by their failure their unwillingness to follow the pattern in evidence here. The usual excuse is that "none are qualified"; and if it is supposed that absolute perfection in meeting the qualifications Paul himself laid down for this office is required of all who may be appointed, it may be that none were ever qualified in the history of the church. However, the overriding commandment is "to appoint"; the "qualifications" are guidelines; and to make the guidelines an excuse for nullifying the commandment is sinful.

Prayed with fasting ... Despite the fact of there having been no formal or ceremonial fasts prescribed for Christians, either by the Lord or by any of the apostles, it is quite evident that fasting was an approved device for deepening spirituality and that even apostles observed occasions of fasting. There is no reason why devout persons in any age should not follow their example.

[31] Ibid., p. 193.

[32] H. Leo Boles, op. cit., p. 229.

[33] E. H. Trenchard, op. cit., p. 317.