July 14, 2026
Team Integrity
Church leadership requires more than strong opinions. Elders and staff must lead with humility, integrity, accountability, trustworthiness, transparency, and a willingness to work as a team.
Articles for tag: Elders
March 7, 2026
Lead Well: From Within
Lead Well: From Within is an e2: effective elders conference designed to encourage and equip church leaders through practical teaching on leadership, wellness, succession, and Spirit-led ministry. Scheduled for March 13–14, 2026, the event features sessions from speakers including John Hampton, Dr. Bruce Records, Jeff Faull, Harrison Huxford, Davey and Kristi Blackburn, Jeff Reichanadter, Laura Dingman, and Dr. Gary Johnson. Attendees can expect two days of teaching, meals, fellowship, and conversation focused on helping elders and ministry leaders lead well from the inside out.
January 1, 2026
Succession and the Church
Few churches handle lead minister succession well, but there are four steps for an effective succession PLAN (Prepare, Look Ahead, Assess, Navigate).
Elders! Help Put the “Success” in Succession!
If succession is not done effectively, it may result in the loss of momentum, people, resources, and more. Fully engaged elders help put the “success” in succession.
January 1, 2026
Thriving: The Hit-By-A-Bus Principle
If you serve as an elder or staff member, it’s not just a theoretical question, it’s a vital one. Succession planning is one of the most important, but often most neglected, responsibilities of church leadership.
November 5, 2025
For the One: A Call to Radical Alignment
The Great Commission isn't a random utterance of Jesus. It's the marching orders for the church that still stand today, including you and your church.
November 5, 2025
Taking the Gospel Back to Post-Christian Europe
What if the next great move of God isn’t coming from Europe but is going back to it? At ONE&ALL Church in Southern California, we’re preparing to send hundreds of young adults to replant the gospel in the very lands that once sent it to us.
October 31, 2024
Elders are Mission Servant-Leaders
There has been no finer servant leader than Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus called people to serve him then, and he calls people to serve him now.
September 16, 2024
September 22 | Discovery Questions
These Discovery Questions are for use with this week’s Lookout Bible Lesson, “Be Faithful” (Revelation 4:1-11), by Mark Scott.
The State of Elder Teams in Independent Restoration Churches
An honest assessment of where we are as a movement when it comes to elders and their leadership. . . .
July 3, 2023
July 9 | Hope in God’s Plans
Speaking on behalf of God, Jeremiah outlined nine duties for the exiles who had been carried away to Babylon.
March 9, 2023
THROWBACK THURSDAY: ‘Lying for the Love of It’ (1907)
This brief anecdote was the shorter, secondary item in J. W. McGarvey’s weekly “Biblical Criticism” column for the issue dated May 11, 1907. It is notable mainly because Restoration Movement pioneer “Raccoon” John Smith plays the pivotal role in the story.
December 5, 2022
The Preaching Elder
e2:effective elders has created a four-part resource designed to empower elders to preach. "The Preaching Elder: Refilling the Preaching Pipeline" was created especially with elders in mind—to offer training through a book and other resources to help with a need that has developed because of a diminishing preaching pipeline.
October 20, 2022
THROWBACK THURSDAY: ‘How I Became a Preacher’ (1902)
As we walked to the church each time my father-in-law would say, “Well, who will preach this time, you or I?” My reply would be, “You may preach this time.” . . .
November 29, 2021
Dec. 5 | Application
What was so unusual about the centurion’s faith? And what can this ancient soldier teach us about fighting the good fight of faith?
September 20, 2021
Two Different Men
When we gather for Communion, we focus our thoughts on the historical account of one man’s death on a tree just outside Jerusalem. But the Bible tells of another man who died on a tree that very same day . . .
September 16, 2021
THROWBACK THURSDAY: The Fellowship of Elders
A committee devoted to strengthening the elderships of our churches formed in 1942 and sponsored a series of columns in Christian Standard throughout 1943. As part of their introductory article, they shared an “Elder’s Achievement Chart” that most elders should find interesting.
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 . . .
SPOTLIGHT: Westside Christian Church (Bradenton, FL)
Thanks to COVID-19, Church Culture Changes For years, lead pastor Tim Boyd and the leaders at Westside Christian Church in Bradenton, Florida, felt called to increasingly engage with the surrounding community. The people of Westside periodically participated in small service projects and the church had a relationship with a local nonprofit called Downtown Ministries, but community involvement had never been a defining characteristic of the congregation. Until 2020. In the early days and weeks of the pandemic, Boyd remembered being surprised at how quickly things shut down. Westside suspended its in-person worship, prerecorded its Sunday services for streaming online, and
November 1, 2020
Blame the Leaders? (Nov. 8 Lesson Application)
This “Application” column goes with the Bible Lesson for Nov. 8, 2020: Appoint Godly Leaders (Titus 1:5-11) ________ By David Faust In an episode of the TV comedy The Office, regional manager Michael Scott makes his priorities clear. He tells his boss from the Dunder Mifflin corporate office, “I want the credit without any of the blame.” Blameless appears twice in Paul’s description of godly elders (Titus 1:6-7). If being blameless requires moral perfection and flawless decision-making, no one qualifies except Jesus. Noah was “blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God,” yet he had some less-than-stellar moments
