Church Leadership Example: How Elders Shape the Next Generation
Mark A. Taylor reflects on how the example of Christian leaders influences children and grandchildren who later grow into leadership themselves. The article highlights responses from elders and their families, emphasizing faithful example, maturity, and unconditional love.
- Children of church leaders often learn leadership through faithful example more than formal instruction.
- Several elders described their fathers’ quiet service, maturity, and consistency as deeply formative.
- The article points to love, shepherding, and spiritual maturity as key qualities passed from one generation to the next.
By Mark A. Taylor
How does a young person growing up in the home of a Christian leader decide also to become a leader?
This week we suggest answers to that question as we let church leaders and the children of church leaders tell about their experiences with each other. Earlier this year, in our weekly e-newsletter* we asked elders whose sons or fathers are elders to add their insight to the mix.
Their responses point up both the simplicity and the mystery of a process that may take a lifetime to complete.
The Power of Example
“I think my being asked to serve as an elder helped me check off an item on the ‘How to be like my dad’ list,” one elder wrote. “He modeled a faithful, Christian man, and I looked forward to doing the same.”
The power of example is a theme throughout the responses we received, just as it is in all our articles this week. “My father stood out in my mind, from my earliest memories, as one I wanted to be like,” one son wrote.
“My father rarely if ever said a negative word about his fellow leaders,” another reported, and added that his dad “always made the time” to serve or teach in a variety of ways, “no matter how busy his life was with four kids and a busy job.”
“I always thought that part of Christian maturity was growing into the eldership,” one son wrote, and added accounts of accompanying his dad on hospital calls or visits to shut-ins with the Lord’s Supper. “I don’t know if he was consciously preparing me for a similar function or not, but he was.”
Maturity and Unconditional Love
“Maturity” is a second theme tying together many of the notes we received. “One of the hardest Christlike attitudes is loving unconditionally,” one elder son observed. “I never really saw the effect of my father faithfully doing all things in a loving manner until, as an adult, I could see the fruit of unconditional love.”
“I have learned to have a heart for the things of God,” another wrote. “We must be led by true love (sometimes ‘tough love’) when striving to shepherd the flock. We look for the best in people, try to see them as God sees them, and don’t lose heart. I saw these things in the life of my grandfather and still see them in the life of my father.”
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Author: Mark A. Taylor
Mark A. Taylor, who served as Christian Standard editor from 2003 to 2017, retired in June 2017 after almost 41 years with Standard Publishing (Christian Standard Media).
