OK, but at that council, Peter was there, right? If he truly was the first Pope, then why didn't he preside in accordance with the hierarchal system?
Correct ! Peters incorrect actions were a part of the problem addressed by the 1st church council. Looking at the totality it looks like James had more authority than Peter and Peter submitted to it
Scripture indicates that there was a joint headship no pope
It didn't exist. :-)
The Apostles were evangelists. The Judaic model didn't begin until after the Apostolic Era. The excuse then was it was needed to protect against "divisions". We see that worked out really well.
The key phrases in Acts 15 is verse 6.
Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.
Decision making was done as a group, not by an "elite" few.
Apostles did help in the picking of elders of churches, but ultimately the decisions were made at the local level. The Apostles did not consider themselves superior to other Christians.
IPeter 5:1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder...
The striking feature of the early Christian churches was the flexibility in worship, the belief that we are all a part of the priesthood, the equality of believers and most striking the absence of any clergy that manage the relationship between the believers and God. The Christian church had two ordinances the Lord's Supper (a part of the Agape feast) and Baptism, it was not the highly structured service, or organization, we see in most churches today.
He wouldn’t; the local bishop, James, presides. The scriptural support for the leadership of Peter comes from the renaming, the keyes, and the “I pray for you that you strengthen your brethren” at the Last Supper, as well as from “feed my lambs”.