Elder-Minister Relationships That Help Churches Thrive
This article explores how healthy relationships between elders and ministers strengthen congregational leadership. Through examples from growing churches, Darrel Rowland highlights trust, humility, shared vision, friendship, and godly conflict resolution as keys to effective leadership teams.
- Strong elder-minister relationships are marked by mutual respect, trust, and shared commitment to the church’s mission.
- Healthy leadership teams build friendship and communication outside formal meetings.
- Conflict is inevitable, but godly humility and clear vision help churches move forward.
By Darrel Rowland
Does this sound like where your church is today?
“I’ve never felt hindered by any of the elder teams I’ve served with.”—Greg Marksberry, 24-year veteran of the ministry now with his third church, Heritage Christian in suburban Atlanta
“There is peace, joy, and happiness in the (elders) meetings and in the church.”—Robin Hart, minister for almost 25 years with Northside Christian near Akron, Ohio
“Just as children with two mutually supportive parents gain an extra measure of confidence and security, a church with mutually supportive elders and ministers has a sense of well-being that cannot be fostered in churches with turbulent church leadership teams.”—Eddie Lowen, 23 years in full-time ministry, now with West Side Christian in Springfield, Illinois
“One of the things that comes across . . . is how much the elders and I love each other, what good friends we are. That’s why this works—because we care for each other.”—Bob Russell, who in 2006 wrapped up his 40-year ministry with Southeast Christian in Louisville, Kentucky.
As the “Year of the Elder” draws toward a conclusion, CHRISTIAN STANDARD takes a look at some dynamic churches where the leadership teams—while admittedly far from perfect—are getting it right.
Despite the different settings and backgrounds of these churches, several common themes emerge as keys to an effective elder-minister relationship:
- Mutual respect is obvious, even during disagreements
- Personal agendas are minimized
- The church’s vision is clear, shared, and pursued
- Leaders get together outside of meetings, too
- Elders concentrate on big-picture spiritual priorities while giving staff the freedom to carry out those priorities
There’s one more common denominator for all these churches: rapid growth. In the past 11 years, Marksberry’s church plant in Fayetteville, Georgia, has grown from 77 to about 1,200 attending each weekend. West Side has jumped from the 1,500s to 2,300s since Lowen arrived in 2000. Hart has led Northside from 100 to 1,700 since the mid-1980s. And, of course, during Russell’s tenure Southeast became one of America’s largest churches, climbing from 125 to almost 20,000.
Working Together in Elder-Minister Relationships
How do you know when the minister and elders are functioning well together? Let’s let a couple of the elders talk.
“When there is a genuine trust and appreciation for each other and they look forward to meetings and working together. Ministers and elders who are on their knees together are generally functioning well,” says Jack Coffee, an elder who oversaw several of Southeast’s multimillion-dollar building programs.
“Lines of communication are open and everyone feels free to give his opinion. There is mutual trust and faith in each other by discussing matters and submitting to the consensus of the collective board,” says Freeman Kinsinger, chairman of the elders at West Side.
And what are some signs that the leadership team is not working well together? David Fowler, who recently completed his term with Northside’s eldership, compiled a top five list:
5. Monthly meetings require food and extra caffeine
4. Everyone looks for an excuse to miss the monthly meeting
3. Multiple monthly meetings
2. We have mass confusion and disagreement
1. The church is not focused on the mission and God is not involved
Preventing Leadership Blow-Ups
All these leaders have heard horror stories of blow-ups between elders and preachers, many times with severe ramifications for the church. How have they prevented them in their congregations?
Marksberry puts the onus on the senior minister to build a positive relationship. He was only 18 when he began his ministry, so he was naturally deferential and respectful to elders. But he’s found that such an attitude works just as well for a veteran preacher in a suburban church of 1,200 as for a rookie in a country congregation of 50.
“My opinion is that if the senior pastor has the servant’s heart and the servant-leader attitude with the elders, and demonstrates his leadership in a way that doesn’t threaten them, I think relatively quickly he can earn the elder team’s trust and gain the freedom to lead,” Marksberry said.
“But you only have permission to lead in the way you feel gifted and called to do as a senior pastor if you build a trust relationship with the elders. You don’t have a right to lead if you haven’t gained their trust.”
Russell says Southeast’s phenomenal growth never would have happened without visionary elders who worked alongside him.
“Part of the reason it worked well is that we were good friends. We spent a lot of time together outside of elders meetings, getting to know one another in each others’ homes and eating together and going to ballgames together and going to retreats together and playing golf together,” he said.
“I think that’s another missing ingredient. Jesus took time to be with his 12 disciples in private. I think one of the things a preacher needs to do is develop a good friendship with the elders.”
Since his retirement, Russell has mentored a different set of eight preachers for three days each week. He brings in three of Southeast’s elders for an hour-long presentation on how these ministers can work better with their elders.
Those gatherings led to requests for more in-depth sessions, so Russell set up a new leadership conference for elders this fall that will include Southeast’s elders.
“It’s amazing to me how much better the elders listen to another elder,” he said. The path to a productive, godly relationship among leaders often starts with vision and prayer even before a minister is brought on board.
Lowen was called from a growing church in Columbus, Ohio, eight years ago after West Side’s elders “prayed for a lead minister with an unapologetic commitment to biblical doctrine and a leadership gift that would help the church contemporize and grow.”
Russell says he found out years after he was hired in 1966 about the attitude of Southeast’s leaders toward the minister they were seeking: “We want to bring him to our church and we’re going to make him successful.”
He adds: “That’s a wonderful phrase, when the elders see their job as making the preacher a success, making the church a success, as opposed to just being the preacher’s boss.”
Facing Conflict with Humility and Vision
Even with all those positives, these leaders still sometimes struggle to mesh their scriptural roles with the 21st-century church, and acknowledge that conflict is inevitable—even to the point where an elder or a staff member must be dismissed.
“Our society now labels conflict as unhealthy,” notes Chris Hills, a new elder at Northside in Ohio. “But conflict is necessary to growth and is a byproduct of change. . . . That is only an issue if we can’t work through the conflict in a godly manner leading to the appropriate solution for God’s ministry.”
Hart says conflicts usually stem from staff relations and/or power struggles. “Sometimes there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians. When the entire eldership makes the decision, we all stand by that decision. We are united. Sometimes, some have been let go (both minister and/or elder) if conflict cannot be resolved,” he said.
“We strive not to add anyone with an agenda to the eldership. Such an attitude generally causes problems. We seek spiritually mature men who will always ask the question: What is the best for the church?”
Marksberry said problems can develop if “the elders begin to feel like they’re there to represent people rather than lead the people toward God as representatives of God and of Christ.”
He readily acknowledges that elders must be sensitive to the needs of their flock. “But shepherds don’t go out and poll the sheep,” Marksberry said. “They’re leading the sheep.”
Lowen said, “Ministers must be humble enough to accept the collective wisdom of the elders, even if it occasionally goes against their wishes. Elders should be humble enough to trust the minister to generate new ideas that are worthy of support and resources.”
Leaders always must be willing to “risk the present for the sake of a better future,” Lowen said, but also must wisely determine the extent of such risk.
“When ministers and elders are gifted for their roles and filled with humble determination and wisdom, the results are very cool indeed.”
Does this sound like where you’d like your church to be tomorrow?
Darrel Rowland is public affairs editor of The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch and an adult Bible fellowship teacher at Worthington Christian Church.
READ ALL THE ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC written by Darrel Rowland:
“Two Elders Now Ministers Talk About Elder-Minister Relationships”
“Elders & Ministers: Speaking the Same Language”
“Should the Minister Be One of the Elders?”
“What Elders Don’t Understand About Ministers”
“What Ministers Don’t Understand About Elders”
