While the office of trustee is not a biblically-mandated office prescribed in the Scripture, the role of trustee is scripturally appropriate as trustees are stewards. A board of trustees or board of directors is often a legal requirement for the registration and operation of a corporation in most countries. Often, a trustee is chosen or elected by the congregation for a period of years as set by the legal charter of the church.
The Shepherd of Hermas (c. 150 A.D.) wrote concerning corrupt deacons:
“They that have spots are the deacons that exercised their office ill and plundered the livelihood of widows and orphans and made gains for themselves from the ministrations they had received to perform” (Sim., IX, 26).
Jesus has called His followers to a simple life of humble servitude. In a religious world where people too often strive for position, recognition, and power, consider the story told by a king of ancient Jerusalem about a poor wise man:
“There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools” Ecclesiastes 9:14-17.Read more