January 1, 2026
Leading Through the Hand-Off: Lessons in Pastoral Transition
With careful planning, clear communication, financial foresight, and sensitivity to personalities, churches can not only survive transitions, they can thrive through them.
Articles for tag: Church Governance
August 31, 2021
Where Have All the Deacons Gone? (Part 1 of 3)
Part 1 of 3: What Deacons Are and Do — To some, the term "deacon" is a signpost of an outdated model of ministry. Let's reexamine the biblical material . . .
January 29, 2019
The ‘Package Deal’: How to Choose a New Church Leader and His Wife
By Melissa Brandes After many months, the search committee finally zeroes in on their top choice for pastor. The formal interview goes very well. He seems a perfect fit. “Trial sermon” Sunday arrives. He preaches a solid biblical message with a great application. Later that afternoon, church leaders’ spouses take the potential pastor’s wife out for coffee while the men go boating on a lake. That evening, an elder asks his wife about the candidate’s spouse, but she hesitates. “She’s interesting,” the elder’s wife finally says, but not enthusiastically. “I guess she’s pleasant enough. Honestly I just don’t know her
September 7, 2018
Do the Right Thing
E2: Effective Elders Blog Editor’s Note: Each Friday we publish a new blog post from our partners in ministry, E2: Effective Elders. We publish it here simultaneous to E2’s posting on their site. The leaders of E2 write an article for our print and online magazine every month as well. Those articles are full of wisdom and practical help for elders. Please check them out! _____ By Dick Alexander Elder work can be hard work, involving gut-wrenching decisions. On the one hand there is great joy in seeing lives changed and God honored. It’s an undeserved privilege to be used by
September 12, 2016
Mission, Calling, Gifts, and Roles: How the Church Gets Things Done
By Jon Weatherly Human beings are social animals. We don”t simply enjoy being together. We need to be together to survive, let alone thrive. For as long as we”ve existed, we”ve lived together””working, serving, sharing, and trading. We have divided our labors for efficiency and followed leaders for effectiveness. Family, neighborhood, school, business, city, nation””all are humans in community, getting things done. “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Christ”s church is no less a human community. It is deliberately interactive and communal. It has always divided labor and followed leaders. It has surely succeeded
June 28, 2014
Practical Advice for Productive Ministry
By LeRoy Lawson From Midterms to Ministry: Practical Theologians on Pastoral Beginnings Allan Hugh Cole Jr., editor Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2008 Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration James D. Berkley, editor Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007 Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action Simon Sinek New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2009 One Size Doesn”t Fit All: Bringing Out the Best in Any Size Church Gary L. McIntosh Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1999 Everybody knows there”s a world of difference between life in the seminary and life in the church. Almost everybody complains that seminaries and Bible colleges
January 26, 2014
To Congregate, or Not to Congregate?
By Don Bennett I”m convinced the sheep should not choose their shepherds. It”s time to get rid of policies and procedures that allow this. I spent my formative years in two Restoration Movement churches that seated their leadership through a voting process that usually occurred at an annual congregational meeting. This was the norm in the 1960s and “70s, with many churches actually allowing nominations from the floor on the day of the vote! As I witnessed this tradition over several years, I became convinced of this system”s flaws. For starters, few if any of those present and voting were
Consensus: What Is It and Is It Necessary?
By J. Michael Shannon I frequently hear of church boards and ministers that claim to do business and make decisions on the basis of consensus. Is this really what they do and is it really practical? It is interesting that people differ significantly on the meaning of the word consensus. The Random House Dictionary defines consensus as “general agreement or concord; harmony.” Interestingly, the dictionary”s second definition is “majority of opinion.” When I have heard the term consensus used, the person usually means “unanimity.” How much progress can be made if we depend on unanimity? If this were essential there
April 13, 2013
Good Policies Can Prevent Conflict
By Don Green I can still remember the nugget of wisdom shared at a minister”s retreat I attended nearly 40 years ago. The speaker was Dr. Bruce Parmenter, a seminary counseling professor who mentored many of us. As he spoke of the challenges that confront ministers, he observed that in marriage and in ministry, one of the primary ways to prevent conflict is to have a carefully negotiated, mutually agreed upon, clearly defined set of expectations. That invaluable lesson has served me well through the years and gives impetus to working with leaders in developing a covenant of expectations that
Elders: A Key to Growth in the New Church
By Jim Tune In my previous article on elders and submission, I suggested that church planters may be hesitant to install elders due to a misunderstanding of biblical authority. We”ve become accustomed to thinking about abuse and power in the same sentence. We have so many poor models of leadership around us today, it is easy to cringe when words like submission, authority, and rule come up. But a new church plant can provide a unique opportunity to create a workable and biblical model unhindered by any existing and entrenched system. At Churchill Meadows we followed an intentional pathway””one embarked
April 17, 2011
Interview with Justin Miller
By Brad Dupray At an annual growth rate of 65 percent, Real Life Christian Church of Clermont, Florida, was the fastest-growing megachurch in Christian Standard”s survey a year ago. Justin Miller came to Christ at age 9 at First Christian Church, as Real Life was formerly known. As Justin describes it, he came into ministry “through the “˜doggie door” of church leadership.” Asked to serve the youth of the church as a volunteer, he eventually was called to serve as senior pastor in 2002. Since that time the church has grown from about 200 to its current attendance of about
August 1, 2010
Avoiding Burnout, Surviving Burnout
By Mark A. Taylor Any of us could create situations that might lead to burnout among our Christian leaders. But burnout-afflicted ministers are not at the mercy of forces around them. They can control several steps that will lead to restored health. Ryan Connor this week makes some suggestions. R. Loren Sandford offers more in his book Renewal for the Wounded Warrior: A Burnout Survival Guide for Believers (Chosen Books, 2010). His advice for growing out of burnout can also help many of us from falling into it in the first place. Some of his ideas: “¢ Break the personal
February 8, 2009
Why I No Longer Dread Elder Meetings
Randy Nation explains how Policy Governance helped Woodford Community Christian Church clarify elder responsibilities, empower staff leadership, and refocus the eldership on shepherding the congregation.
December 23, 2008
A Picture of the Elders in Our Churches, Part Two
Readers responding to Christian Standard’s Year of the Elder survey highlighted ongoing needs for elders, including conflict management, stronger shepherding, and more intentional training.
November 16, 2008
What Ministers Don’t Understand About Elders
Elders share what ministers may misunderstand about their role, outside pressures, meeting participation, and desire for honest partnership in church leadership.
August 15, 2008
Interview with Dale Newberry
Dale Newberry discusses church elders, shepherding, staff leadership, prayer, and the careful process Ten Mile Christian Church uses to identify and develop qualified elders.
August 10, 2008
Where the Administrative Buck Stops
LeRoy Lawson explains how elders and senior ministers can work together by understanding whether a church board is policy-focused or operational—and whether its minister is a leader or follower.
February 27, 2008
We Can Agree on Some Things About Elders
A reflection on elders who quietly shepherd, encourage their preacher, and serve without pretense. Even amid differing conclusions, the church still needs humble leaders who protect and support the local flock.
January 6, 2008
Introducing . . . The Year of the Elder
Christian Standard introduces “The Year of the Elder,” a yearlong series exploring the role of elders in the 21st-century Western church and inviting readers to join the discussion through letters, submissions, and sharing the series.
October 1, 2006
Why I Came Back to the Christian Church
Jeffrey A. Metzger shares lessons from serving in denominational churches—what he found encouraging, what felt counterproductive, and why he believes local church autonomy better supports mission and biblical faithfulness.
