Articles for tag: Elder Selection

January 29, 2019

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Pastoral Transitions & Succession

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

May 24, 2012

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Eldership

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

October 4, 2011

Christian Standard

Church Leadership

Commonsense Suggestions About Elders

By Chuck Sackett “A Parable of Two Churches“ (a sidebar) is my attempt to capture the past 37 years of observations and experiences. I”ve been privileged to be the preacher in three very different congregations. And while serving as a Bible college and seminary professor, I worked in various capacities with dozens of congregations. What follows are practical suggestions for how congregations can have healthy, effective elderships. These are simply reminders of the obvious. I”ve seen them work in a variety of settings, expressed in various ways, ending with varied results. Every church I”ve seen believes it is doing church

February 8, 2009

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Eldership

How Our Church Uses Elder Governance

By Gary L. Johnson The psalmist got it right when he wrote, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). God created our bodies in remarkable ways. For example, the average heart has a cardiac output (i.e., volume per minute) of 1.1 gallons of blood. That means the heart moves more than 1,500 gallons of blood each day””that”s roughly 30 million gallons in a lifetime. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.Â Â Â Â When I play with my grandchildren, I am also reminded that God created us to grow. My grandchildren run faster and jump higher with every week that

December 10, 2008

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Eldership

A Picture of the Elders in Our Churches, Part One: posted 12/10/2008

By Mark A. Taylor As CHRISTIAN STANDARD”s Year of the Elder comes to a close, we want to keep our promise to share results from the Elders Survey that appeared here September 24. Your answers yielded few surprises, but you did confirm the need for the Year of the Elder features. In fact, we”re convinced that helps for elders should continue in CHRISTIAN STANDARD, even after this 2008 emphasis comes to an end. Most who responded to the survey are from churches with 4-6 elders (42 percent of the 562 respondents). In most of these congregations (almost 61 percent) the

November 16, 2008

Christian Standard

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Eldership

Should the Minister Be One of the Elders?

By Darrel Rowland “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17). Â Does this verse mean the preacher could/should be a pastor and regarded as an elder? Three of the four churches examined this week because they have a well-functioning leadership team believe so. Bob Russell was an elder at Southeast Christian in Louisville. Robin Hart in Ohio and Eddie Lowen in Illinois are elders today. Greg Marksberry is not, although he acknowledges that a “fly on the wall” at elders

September 11, 2005

Eddie Lowen

Church Leadership Eldership

Re-Respect Your Elders

Volunteer elders often face misunderstanding and criticism. Eddie Lowen urges churches to reject disrespect, uphold biblical qualifications, and use thoughtful selection practices so elders can lead with integrity and joy.