1 Peter 5:1
1 Peter 5:11As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:
JWs cite this verse as part of the biblical basis for their elder arrangement, emphasising that Peter addressed "the elders" and urged them to "shepherd the flock of God." The Watchtower uses this to legitimise its appointed-elder structure while omitting that Peter's model of oversight differs fundamentally from the organisation's centralised hierarchy directed from Warwick.
Peter identifies himself as "a fellow elder" (sympresbyteros) — not as chief shepherd, pope, or governing-body chairman. The chief shepherd is Christ alone (). Every New Testament reference to congregational leadership uses plural elders in each local church, with no exceptions: , , , . The pattern is local, plural, and mutually accountable — not centralised under a single governing body. confirms this: Paul publicly rebukes Peter, demonstrating peer accountability rather than hierarchy. The Watchtower's model — eight men in one city directing millions worldwide through a confidential elder manual (the Shepherd the Flock book) that members are forbidden to read — contradicts both Peter's self-description and the New Testament pattern of transparent, local, plural oversight.