Elders function as advisers to the evangelist and take on those tasks which the evangelist assigns to them. In mainline congregations with elders, there are always at least two because in the Bible the Apostle Paul always refers to elders in the plural, and the ICC has kept this tradition. This pattern of conflict led to the early Boston Church of Christ leaders rejecting the earlier practice of founding ministries at existing mainline Churches of Christ in favor of starting, or planting , new churches committed to discipling movement beliefs and practices from the outset. Many observers of the ICC believe that the office of elder is likely to become obsolete in the future. Only the evangelist at his pillar church or the leaders of the movement as a whole have authority over him.
Evangelists preach on Sundays and manage the church's other activities.
This term came into use in the late 1980s, when the ICC finally officially split off from the Churches of Christ, to distinguish those Churches of Christ who were not part of the ICC from those who were. The distinguishing characteristics of this movement were its belief in ending religious division by rejecting all sources of religious authority outside of the Bible, and rejecting all denominational affiliations and ties. Churches of Christ have no formal central religious authority, and individual congregations are totally autonomous. For more information on the Churches of Christ, you can access a WWW Site put up by members. A group of people chosen by ICC leaders to move to a new area and start a new local church.