Articles for tag: Elders

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Pastoral Transitions & Succession

What I”ve Learned about Ministerial Changes

By Ken Idleman I call it “ecclesiastical matchmaking,” playing cupid to help a local church get together withÂ a minister or a minister together with a church. Part of the experience involves coaching leaders and churches through the courting/calling process. And I”ve done quite a bit of it. After decades of church consulting, including 30 years of helping churches and leaders as a Christian college president, I”ve logged some experiences and come to some conclusions about ministerial succession in local churches. Here are my observations. Defining Terms First let”s define some terms. Pastoral transition and pastoral succession are not the same

April 26, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Care & Counseling Grief & Suffering

Not Common Enough

By Mark A. Taylor An old friend was catching me up on his career in Internet technology project management. More than once he”s been thrust into dysfunctional situations in companies struggling to reach goals and meet deadlines. These aren”t Christian enterprises, but my friend told me what he”s discovered about how to make progress: “Good management generally is a matter of Christian principles combined with common sense.” Excuses he”s heard: She”s wrong. He”s late. They”re incompetent. “That”s not what we”re going to be about,” he tells employees. “We”re all in the same boat, heading toward the same goal.” Common sense:

March 8, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Surgery and Other Sickness

By Mark A. Taylor “I have visited and prayed with many sick people,” Professor Sherwood Smith told my class at The Cincinnati Bible Seminary more than 40 years ago. “But never did I pray like I did when the patient was my wife.” For some reason that insight has stuck with me all these years, and now it comes into sharper focus as I anticipate my own surgery Thursday this week. “Lord, heal him,” the elders prayed in December, not long after my diagnosis of prostate cancer. “Lord, keep him in the palm of your hand,” the men in my

September 11, 2015

Beyond Words

By Susan Lawrence 5 Gifts for Volunteers 1. Storybooks. Collect stories and memories from people involved in the ministry””those who have led, served alongside, and been served by volunteers. Bind together the stories, or place them in a photo album or scrapbook. Seeing and reading others” perspective will encourage and inspire your volunteers. 2. Coupons. Nearly everyone is busy, but when ministry is added into the schedule, other things get put on the back burner. Think of individual needs, and create a customized coupon for each person. Items to consider include pet care, babysitting, delivering a prepared meal, or a

June 28, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Church & Ministry Church Leadership

Best Practices for Elders Discipling Younger Men

By Michael C. Mack QUESTION: We, as elders, are looking at discipling some of the younger men. Can you suggest some of the best programs or curriculum?Â ANSWERS: “Start an authentic personal relationship with them. If this doesn”t happen, nothing else will. I work in corporate America, in addition to my roles in the church. I have seen in both entities efforts to “˜assign” mentors, and this just doesn”t work. You have to have a relationship with someone before you can mentor them.” “”Michael Fountain, elder, Minerva (Ohio) First Christian Church “My most fruitful times of discipleship have been very

May 16, 2015

Michael C. Mack

We Need to Change . . . But What?

By Michael C. Mack Elders and other church leaders often sense the need to change, to move out of entrenchment and inaction, but are unsure of what needs to change first. Where can one turn for new ideas and direction? Dr. James Estep, dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies at Lincoln (IL) Christian University, listed nine ideas on e2elders.org: 1. Visit other churches to see what they are doing. Ask their leaders to spend some time with you answering your questions. 2. Subscribe to Christian leadership magazines, such as the Christian Standard, to glean a broader perspective on church

December 17, 2014

Colleges & Seminaries Organizations & Events

Green Transitions to Become LCU’s 7th President

TheÂ Lincoln (IL) Christian University Board of Trustees announced today the unanimous selection of Dr. Don Green as LCU”s seventh president. Green has been serving as LCU”s transitional president since June 1. Though he has been acting with the full authority and responsibility of the office since June, his official tenure begins immediately. Green is a graduate of Lincoln Christian University (BA from the former Lincoln Christian College and MDiv from Lincoln Christian Seminary) and earned his DMin from the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School of Trinity International University, Deerfield, IL. Green has been an integral part of the Lincoln Christian community

December 7, 2014

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

In Praise of Pretending

By Eddie Lowen Few values have bigger buzzword status in the Christian community than authenticity. I”m glad. Sincerity is always in season. When churches and church leaders are genuine in motive and style, spiritual seekers find and follow them. Everything written about reaching young adults stresses the importance of “authentic community.” While the phrase now seems overused, the value can”t be overemphasized. It”s crucial. But I do have one caution concerning authenticity. In my own journey with God, growth has not always felt natural. Some of the progress I”ve made has been forced and awkward, rather than instinctive. So, I”ve

August 19, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Lead On, Lead Up, Lead Now

By Mark A. Taylor No group will understand or fulfill its mission without a leader sounding the charge and setting the example. Eddie Lowen and I talked about this during my Beyond the Standard interview with him July 31. Churches need to be led, he said, and led by leaders with high integrity. We could say the same for school boards, corporations, or the government of any nation. But our experience with bad leadership in all of those environments may be one reason some are suspicious of leaders in the church. Can we find a leader more interested in his

July 21, 2014

Christian Living

Small Vision

By Bob Russell (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) In 1983, when we began planning our first relocation project, I asked Jack Coffee, the building committee chairman, to limit the size of the new auditorium to 1,500 seats. “We have 1,000 in attendance now in a building that seats 500,” I said. “If we have 1,500 seats in the new auditorium, we can accommodate 3,000 people in two services, and we”ll never get any larger than that. But if the room is bigger than 1,500 seats, it will be too spacious for meaningful meetings on

July 16, 2014

Church & Ministry Church Leadership Preaching

Where’s Jesus?

By Ben Cachiaras (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) As a fledgling minister in my first senior ministry, I worked hard on my preaching. I don”t recall the biblical text I was working from, but I do remember feeling especially satisfied with the way the sermon came together one particular Sunday. It had three cleverly worded points, a couple of new insights pulled from “deep” commentaries, a funny illustration that was sure to get some yuks, and a moving conclusion drawn from an incident with my young son””people always like to hear about your kids,

July 3, 2014

We Lead by Following

By Chris DeWelt It took a while, and now it all seems so simple. But we as elders and staff finally came to the same conclusion. What is our “prime directive” at College Heights Christian Church? Following Jesus! If you come through our doors””either the doors of our church or the doors of our homes””we desperately want you to follow Jesus. It is why we live and breathe. How will we follow Jesus? What will we ask of you? For us, following Jesus means a balanced diet of truth, relationship, and service. Truth means connection to God”s Word. This is

June 25, 2014

Prayer Worship & Prayer

“˜. . . And He Was a Man of Prayer”

By Randy Gariss It is easy to forget and neglect the main thing””it happens all the time. Sometimes it results in tragedy. Drivers should drive and not text. Train engineers should remain awake and not fall asleep. Babysitters should watch children and not TV. And elders should be men of prayer. Even a casual reading of Scripture clearly demonstrates the place prayer is to play in a leader”s life. Consider: Samuel the prophet “¢ He told the Jewish people, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you” (1 Samuel

May 22, 2014

The Other Side of the Table

By David A. Fiensy I”ve served on the ministerial staff of five churches (four of them part-time), and I must say I”ve never had a bad experience with the elders. One hears some horror stories from other ministers, but God has blessed. As a matter of fact, I can remember sitting across the table from elders during meetings and thinking, If I am ever an elder, I hope I can have this guy”s openness to change or that man”s levelheaded understanding of things. Well, now I am sitting on the other side of the table; I am an elder. Things

April 26, 2014

Church & Ministry Church Leadership

The Mysterious Case of the Vanishing Deacon

By J. Michael Shannon They used to be found in large numbers.Â In some cases, they were the first churchÂ officers a visitor would meet. They wereÂ visible in church services and activities.Â Now they seem to be almost an endangered species. Who are they? They are deacons. I have the opportunity to visit all kinds of churches in various contexts. In an increasing number of those churches, it is extremely difficult to find a deacon. In churches where they do have them, it is difficult to figure out where they are. Why are they disappearing? Sometimes the disappearance can be explained by the

March 31, 2014

Elders: Men Churches Can Count On

By Chuck Sackett What kind of church do elders need? Three stories illustrate the answer. Men of Character Sally”s question was wise beyond her years, “What can I expect from you (elders)?” Bill”s answer took the form of an explanation. “When someone approaches us with a complaint, our response will always be, “˜Have you talked with Sally? If not, we have nothing to discuss. If she doesn”t respond to you in a professional or Christian manner, come back and see me. Then we”ll have something to talk about.” Sally, we promise you we will never accept criticism about your ministry

March 6, 2014

Ethics & Moral Issues Gender

Should Women Preach? (The Story of One Bible College Faculty’s Quest for an Answer)

By Matt Proctor In the book Children’s Letters to God, one young girl wrote: “Dear God, are boys better than girls? I know you are one, but try to be fair.” It’s an age-old question: what does God think about women and, specifically, women’s roles in the church? It’s also a controversial question. The April 2013 article “Women Preaching” generated more comments on CHRISTIAN STANDARD’s website than any other article last year. The article mentioned that Ozark Christian College offers a preaching class for women, and some readers wondered about the biblical rationale for such a class. (By the way,

February 2, 2014

Church & Ministry Church Leadership

We Are in This Together

By Glen Elliott It”s the “secret sauce” in any successful team effort. It”s a key factor helping a church to thrive. A question for the leaders at my church: are we convinced that “we”re in this together”? Ever notice how some sports teams with mediocre talent or limited resources seem to play better than those teams with big-name stars earning lots of money? That makes for a great movie. Or maybe you”ve seen a struggling team that fires its head coach, hires a new coach, and suddenly the same group of players starts winning. (I won”t call out any

January 26, 2014