Thanks for your reply.
What does "One Apostolic Church" in the creeds mean in your view?
In regards to it now being "Elders and everyone else" is the Church - after the death of the original Apostles - essentially a democracy, with everyone else choosing the Elders (elders having one vote), or do the Elders have more say in who becomes an Elder?
I've seen it played out all different ways. In one church I went to the elders gave up their eldership every year for one day. That was the day that the whole congregation "recognized" elders. If a previous elder was not recognized for some reason he was no longer an elder. Obviously everyone had one vote. In a different church of the same denomination the elders thought their appointment was for life and were not at all willing to give it up. In Baptist churches it is a single Pastor and he stays as long as he and the congregation are happy with each other. The bible gives us a lot of liberty in this in that it doesn't give us exact instructions.