How Elders Can Help Their Preacher Succeed
Bob Russell describes how elders can strengthen their relationship with a preacher by leading well, offering encouragement and protection, creating space for spiritual nourishment, and praying faithfully. He presents healthy elder-minister relationships as an important part of shepherding the whole congregation.
- Elders set the tone for how a congregation respects and supports its preacher.
- Wise elders protect a minister’s study time, spiritual health, and ability to serve effectively.
- Prayer, encouragement, and practical support can help a preacher remain strong in ministry.
By Bob Russell
In 1965, Butch Dabney served as chairman of the pulpit committee for the newly established Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. A few months before I was asked to preach a trial sermon, Butch approached the president of Cincinnati Bible Seminary and asked for the names of young preachers who had the potential to grow with the church. Butch said, “We want to hire a young man and we’re going to make him successful.”
That phrase describes the attitude elders should have toward their preacher: one of their primary functions is to help make the preacher successful.
Simon Peter was both a preacher and an elder in the first-century church. He described the elder’s responsibility as follows:
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away (1 Peter 5:1-4).
In this discussion about improving elder-minister relationships, consider the various responsibilities of a shepherd and how those duties apply to the elder’s relationship to the minister of the church. A good shepherd leads the sheep. He doesn’t “lord it” over people by handing down decrees, but he leads them by setting an example of Christlike behavior. Sheep can’t be driven, but they know the voice of the good shepherd and instinctively follow.
It’s amazing how closely people observe church leaders. They know how often you attend services, what kind of car you drive, how you treat your wife, how you discipline your children, and whether or not you know the Word of God. A good elder doesn’t envision his office as a permanent status symbol; rather, he sees it as a calling from God to lead the flock by example, and it’s to be taken seriously.
The congregation also takes its cue of how to treat the preacher from the elders. If the elders ridicule the preacher, or speak disparagingly about him behind his back, the congregation will follow suit. On the other hand, if the elders are respectful of the minister’s calling, encourage his efforts, and are generous with him the church will follow that example.
Cam Huxford, minister with Savannah (Georgia) Christian Church, related that a new elder was harshly critical of the preacher in one of his first meetings. An older, godly elder who loved his preacher asked the new elder right in the middle of the meeting to step outside for a moment. In privacy, the more experienced elder said, “Listen, I want you to know that we love and respect our preacher here. I don’t want to hear anything that unkind and disrespectful to be said about him ever again. Do we understand each other?”
Every preacher would love to have just one elder who would guard his back and set that kind of tone for the other elders and the congregation. That kind of model is contagious.
Love and Protect
The good shepherd loves his sheep. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 10:14).
One much-loved elder who influenced scores of people in his church explained his effectiveness by saying, “I have a watercooler ministry. I just hang around the watercooler in the hallway every service and people come up and visit and I love on them.” An influential elder loves all the people, not just a familiar clique.
A good elder also loves the minister and is not ashamed to show it. Some of the most generous gifts I received at Christmas were from longtime elders. A gift certificate to an exclusive restaurant or a key to the use of a vacation condo would be accompanied by an encouraging note expressing appreciation for my ministry. Hebrews 3:13 instructs us to “encourage one another daily,” and effective elders find ways to boost their preacher and show he is loved on a regular basis.
One tangible way elders can boost the preacher is by complimenting his sermons. A compliment from an elder somehow provides double encouragement because it’s coming from someone in leadership. An occasional encouraging text or voice mail message from an elder inspires the preacher to intensify his preparation in the future, because even the most capable ministers need to know they are loved and appreciated.
The good shepherd protects his sheep. David related that when he was guarding his flock, he killed a lion and a bear that threatened them. The apostle Paul cautioned the Ephesian elders, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:28-31).
There are three types of predators elders need to guard against: false teachers whose “teaching will spread like gangrene” (2 Timothy 2:17), immoral members whose “yeast works through the whole batch of dough” (1 Corinthians 5:6), and divisive people who are to be warned twice and then, “after that, have nothing to do with him” (Titus 3:10).
A capable elder doesn’t just protect the church, he seeks to protect the preacher as well. The wise overseer tries to keep the preacher from being a lightning rod in as many issues as possible. He recognizes that if he preaches the Bible, the preacher can’t avoid being the center of controversy on occasion. But when it’s possible to keep the preacher out of disagreements or be removed from volatile situations, the wise elder finds ways to do so.
For example, when there is a contentious situation that needs to be confronted, the elders would do well to say, “Preacher, you don’t need to participate in this. Two of us will confront them, and then maybe you can minister to them later.” That frees the preacher up to continue to be a pastor to the disciplined persons, and they will be more likely to benefit from his sermons than if he had been the confronter.
Feed and Nurture
A good shepherd feeds the sheep. Contented, well-fed sheep “lie down in green pastures.” The elders have a responsibility to see that the congregation is consistently fed the Word of God that is meat and milk for the soul. Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
The elder is to see that God’s Word is taught clearly and thoroughly, not only from the pulpit but in classrooms, youth meetings, and small group gatherings. Fellowship and laughter have their place but they are not ends in themselves, they should be by-products of a healthy congregation that is being spiritually nourished.
An oft-overlooked responsibility of the elder is to see that the preacher also is nurtured. Sometimes when congregations complain they aren’t being fed, the reason is that the preacher doesn’t have ample time to study and replenish his spiritual well. He’s expected to visit the hospital and nursing homes, call on prospects, attend community functions, participate in class parties, write for the church paper, answer every phone call and e-mail, as well as perform every wedding and funeral. The longer a preacher ministers to a community, the more those expectations expand. It’s not long before sermons seem shallow and people complain, “I’m not being fed anymore!”
In his brief three-year ministry, Jesus often withdrew from the crowds to pray and be alone with the Father. Wise elders recognize the need for the preacher to have protected study time, so they lower congregational expectations about pastoral care. They go to great lengths to stand up for the preacher behind his back.
When someone complains, “The preacher hasn’t been to visit my mother in the nursing home for three months,” the wise elder doesn’t sympathize and promise to do something about it. He informs the complainer, “We asked the preacher to cut back on visitation so he’d have more time to study. We’ve appointed volunteers to visit your mother; have they been to see her? If not, we’re sorry and we need to see that she’s cared for.” That’s a HUGE difference!
Wise elders provide resources for the preacher to attend seminars and retreats. Astute elders encourage their preacher to take a sabbatical or study break on occasion, not just for his sake, but for the church’s sake. When the spiritually refreshed preacher returns, his renewed enthusiasm and deepened life benefits the entire congregation.
Oswald Chambers observed, “If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a doormat.”
Not every congregation has capable associates to fill the pulpit, and not every congregation has the resources to send their preacher to distant conventions. But the leaders of every congregation—big or small—can find an adequate guest preacher and encourage their pastor to get away for a prolonged period. Sheep need to be fed, and the shepherd needs to have time to search for green pastures on their behalf.
Pray
The best way elders can nurture their relationship with the preacher is to pray with him and for him (James 5:16). One of the first meetings after the baton of leadership was passed to Dave Stone and Kyle Idleman, the chairman of the Southeast Christian Church elders said, “Instead of having a meeting tonight we’re all going down to the sanctuary to pray.”
The preachers were seated in two chairs on opposite ends of the platform and, one by one, the elders stood behind them, laid hands on them, and prayed that God would bless and anoint their ministry.
When the elders were finished, close friends of the ministers also slipped in and prayed for them. When their friends were finished, family members—some of whom had traveled a great distance to secretly attend—tiptoed in and prayed for their son, their brother, their dad.
When Dave and Kyle heard those familiar voices behind them, they were overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude. They arose from that time of prayer spiritually refreshed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps one of the main reasons Southeast Christian has just had its finest statistical year ever, and God has honored the ministry of Dave and Kyle, is that they have felt the supportive prayers and daily encouragement of the church elders. As Aaron and Hur held up the hands of Moses in battle, so godly elders do what they can to make the preacher successful.
Bob Russell is retired from serving as senior minister with Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He writes the popular weekly column, “The Living Word” for The Lookout magazine.
Author: Bob Russell
Bob Russell retired as senior minister of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky, in 2006.
