9.00am and 10.30am Sunday 13 July 2003
Rev Des Botting
Readings: Exodus 18:13-27; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Luke 6:12-16
With the retirement of a number of elders over the past few years, there is need to add an additional four elders to the Session to fulfill its leadership responsibilities in the life of the church, and also to ensure that the various groupings within the congregation are adequately represented. Our church provides two ways in which we can do this. Session, which is what the elders of the church are called, can either
1. call for nominations from the congregation; or
2. make its own nominations to the congregation.
These methods are mutually exclusive. Whichever method is chosen, both require election by the congregation as an essential requirement. In the past the Session has made its own nominations to the congregation. However, this time Session had decided to call for nominations from the congregation.
There is good precedent in Scripture for opting for this latter way. As we will see shortly, Moses asked each tribe in Israel to choose suitable people to be their leaders. Again in Acts 6 it was the twelve apostles who asked the church to choose men to look after the needs of the Greek-speaking widows within their fellowship. They trusted the discernment of the church in the people they put forward. They outlined the qualities these leaders needed for the task, and then asked them to put forward suitable people.
Communicant members are able to nominate suitable persons, and we have asked that these be sent in writing to the Church Office by 21 July. Those whom you nominate must also be communicant members of St Davids in the Fields Church. They do not need to know that their name has been put forward as Session will approach them once they are satisfied that the person nominated is eligible for election.
This is very important matter, and we would appreciate the prayers of the entire congregation as we proceed. Jesus, realising the vital importance of making the right choice for his apostles, spent a whole night in prayer before he chose the twelve. And then he chose such a diverse group of people, including a tax collector, fishermen, a zealot, and even one who would betray him. We need to keep this in mind in thinking of suitable people for the eldership.
Throughout the history of the Christian church the choice of leaders has played a very significant role in its growth and development. Beginning with Acts 6 when the twelve apostles called the whole group of followers together to ask them to choose seven men to take charge of the practical aspects of the churchs life, to how Paul established the practice of appointing elders in all the churches he founded, through to choosing elders to exercise oversight in the life of the church today, it is important that people with the right qualities are put forward. Since we have begun the process of finding new elders for our congregation, it is helpful for us to look at what the Bible and Church history teach us about elders, what are some of the important features of the way we do things in the Presbyterian Church, who can be an elder, and what is an elder required to do.
Let us look first at
I. The ROOTS of Eldership that is, where the practice of appointing elders originated. We begin with what we find out about this
1. In the BIBLE. The first reference to their being leaders for Gods people in the Bible is found in Exodus when God called Moses to go back to Egypt to lead his people out of slavery. He says to Moses, Call together the leaders of Israel and tell them that the God who was worshipped by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has appeared to you.[2] After the children of Israel left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, Jethro, Moses Father-in-Law, came to visit him. He observed Moses trying to deal with all the problems of the people by himself, and warned Moses that he would soon suffer from burn-out if he didnt share the tasks around. He advised Moses to appoint competent leaders and to put them over groups of 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000, to judge the ordinary cases that the people brought, and for Moses to handle only the difficult issues. It was good advice, and Moses acted upon it. From the account of this incident in Deuteronomy, Moses said to Israel, I cant take care of all your problems and settle all your arguments alone. Each tribe must choose some experienced men who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will make those men the official leaders of their tribes.[3]. A system of shared leadership was worked out. It was simple and reasonable and as far as we can tell, it was effective. All through the Old Testament from this point onwards we find references to the elders of the people. They brought order to the life of Gods people.
This model of sharing the load of caring for Gods people that Moses introduced in Israel is one that the Presbyterian Church has emulated in its eldership form of government. The size of the groupings is also significant. It is not possible for one person to provide adequate pastoral care for more than about 10 households. It is significant that Jesus kept his group of disciples to 12. These provide guidelines to what we feel is reasonable to expect from those who are called to this role in the church.
The leadership pattern and decision making by elders were a familiar part of life when Jesus started his ministry. The Jewish synagogues, which came into being when Israel was in exile and far away from the temple in Jerusalem, were normally ruled by a council of elders under one who was designated as the leader. It is quite likely that the Jewish leaders who came to Jesus to seek his help for the sick son of the Roman army officer in Luke 6 were the elders of the local synagogue as they said to Jesus, This man deserves your help! He loves our nation and even built us a meeting place.[4] After Jesus resurrection and ascension, the early Christian communities began almost immediately a policy of appointing elders within the congregations that were established as a result of the work of the apostles. For example in Acts we are told, Paul and Barnabas chose leaders for each of the churches. Then they went without eating and prayed that the Lord would take good care of these leaders.[5] Paul obviously recommended this to Titus, when in his letter he wrote, I left you in Crete to do what had been left undone and to appoint leaders for the churches in each town.[6]
This practice continued in the early years of the churchs life. At that time there were no ordained clergy, as we have today. Everyone had a part to play. However, over the first three centuries the role of the clergy became increasingly dominant, to the extent that by the fourth century, lay people became passive participants in much of the life of the church. This state of affairs continued through to the 16th century. Then
2. In the REFORMATION we find a re-discovery of the place and importance of lay people in the life of the church. One of the fundamental teachings of the Reformation was the priesthood of all believers. Out of this understanding came the move to put leadership and decision making into the hands of all the people of God. Among the leaders in the early years of the Reformation, was a French man called John CALVIN, who became a Protestant and moved to Geneva. He was the first to re-introduce the position of elders in the life of the church. He appointed elders in his congregation in Geneva. These first elders were leaders who were linked into all aspects of life, both sacred and secular. They had spiritual as well as material responsibilities in the life of the city as well as in the church.
This form of church government came to called Presbyterian from the Greek word for elder presbuteros. This is how the Presbyterian Church got its name, as it is a church that is ruled by elders. It is from Geneva that we discover the roots of the eldership
3. In the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. John KNOX had fled to Geneva from Scotland because of the persecution of the Protestants in his homeland. While there he was impressed by the life of the city and the church under the leadership of John Calvin and the elders. Although there are records of elders being appointed in Scotland prior to John Knoxs return, it was he who was instrumental in promoting its widespread acceptance among Protestant believers in that country.
There were attempts to introduce this more liberal form of church government in England, and it was to this end, during the time of Oliver Cromwell, that the Westminster Assembly of Divines met and over a period of four and a half years and 1163 meetings they produced the Directory for Public Worship, the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Longer and Shorter Catechisms, which still remain the subordinate standards of our church today. It is interesting to note, that after all that work, when Charles II became king in 1660, all the Westminster standards were thrown out except in Scotland. What is perhaps more interesting is that the Westminster documents were the work of 121 Anglican clergy, 20 parliamentarians and 10 from the House of Lords. The Presbyterians of Scotland were only allowed to have four ministers and two elders present, who could take part in discussions but couldnt vote. And yet these documents have remained the backbone of Presbyterianism to this day.
As the modern missionary movement moved out into the world, wherever Presbyterian missionaries went they took these documents and standards, and so the Presbyterian form of government was planted across the world in places such as America, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and at the beginning of last century notably in Korea. So here in New Zealand we can look back to our roots especially the roots of the eldership in the Bible, in the Reformation and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
II. Key FEATURES of Eldership and the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand(PCANZ)
One of the important features of the PCANZ is that it believes that
1. ALL members are ministers sharing in Christs ministry. This is what the Bible teaches. Christs ministry is given to everyone, both lay and ordained. As we saw last week when we were looking at the subject of Christian community, we are all members of the body of Christ, and all have been given gifts and abilities to be used in His service. Everyone, therefore, has a part to play. A congregation or parish doesnt have one minister. It has as many ministers as it has followers of Jesus Christ. Someone has said, Christianity is too important to be left to a few clergy. There is far too much to be done for it to be left to only a few. Jesus said, A large crop is in the fields, but there are only a few workers.[7] It will take every Christian with all their gifts to gather the harvest for eternal life. It is a little like feeding the worlds population. There is enough food grown so that no one need starve. It is the distribution of it that is the problem. And it is the same with the Church. God has given to his people all they need to achieve his mission. What is needed is for everyone to do his or her part. (Some congregations emphasise this point by writing something like this on their notice board or church bulletin: The Ministers of this congregation are All the members. The Pastor is (name).) And this ministry doesnt just happen at church. Wherever members of the church live, work and play is the sphere of their ministry.
2. Some people are called into SPECIALISED aspects of serving in the church. The eldership is an obvious example of this. The Presbyterian Church has made a distinction between a. the Ruling elders, which includes all members of Session, and
b. the Teaching elder. The Teaching elders are the ordained ministers, although teaching is not exclusive to them. Other elders, not ordained to ministry can have a very effective teaching ministry. A manual for Bible Class members published by our church in 1922, says this about ruling and teaching elders,
It has to be observed that a distinction appears in the New Testament between the elders who ruled only, and those who ruled and also laboured in the word and doctrine (1 Timothy 5:17). It is unlikely that the distinction was as clear and definite as is the distinction between minister and elder in the Presbyterian Church. But it is clear that some elders ruled only, and others preached as well as ruled.
This has important implications. It means that while ministers (teaching elders) have many different tasks and fill many different roles in a church, they have a primary task, namely, the task of equipping, teaching, and enabling others to do the work of Christs ministry.
The remaining members of Session, the ruling elders, along with the minister, have the responsibility of spiritual oversight of the congregation. It is not ruling in the sense of pushing people around. Jesus made it clear in Mark 10[8] that leaders are to serve Gods people with humility. It is ruling in the sense that the elders are to be sensitive to how the Spirit of God is working in the church, and to discern Gods direction for his people.
Another feature is
3. The concept of TEAM Leadership. This operates at every level of the churchs life in the Session, at Presbytery, and at the General Assembly, the national meeting of the PCANZ. It is similar to how the church operated in Acts[9], where important decisions affecting the life of congregations and the church as a whole were made by a group of leaders in the life of the church.
III. WHO can be an Elder?
Briefly, an elder is, as has already been stated,
1. a COMMUNICANT member of the church. Secondly, an elder
2. can be either MALE or FEMALE This decision was made by the church back in 1954 after much heart searching and debate. Last Tuesday at St Johns College I was interested to hear a talk on Celtic Spirituality by John Bell from the Iona Community in Scotland. He said that the Celtic Church has had women in positions of leadership throughout its history. There were Abbots and Abesses, in their religious communities. He also said the Abesses would tell the bishops what they could do, which is very different to the way the church operates in other traditions. Further, an elder
3. is someone ELECTED by the congregation, and who
4. has been ORDAINED and INDUCTED to this office, and has the following
5. QUALIFICATIONS - a living and growing FAITH in God.
- a deepening KNOWLEDGE of Jesus as the Christ
- a COMMITMENT to the church
- a LOVE for Gods people
- RESPECTED by both church and community
- EXPERIENCE and MATURITY in the Christian life
- GIFTS to help the life and mission of the church
Paul says in Timothy that anyone who desires to be a church official, desires an excellent work. Gordon D Fee in his commentary on the Pastoral Letters points out that the focus is on the position, rather than on the person. Thus Paul is not commending people who have a great desire to become leaders, rather, he is saying that the position of church leader is such a significant matter, an excellent work that it should indeed be the kind of task to which a person might aspire. Donald Guthrie translates it this way: The aspirant to the office of overseer is said to desire a noble task.
We find many of the qualities that are needed for those to be considered for eldership, and also the role that elders fulfill in the life of the church today in the Scripture passages we read from Exodus and 1 Timothy, although there are a number of other passages which also refer to these things.[10]
In Exodus, Jethro advised Moses to choose competent leaders who respect God and are trustworthy and honest.[11] What was meant by the word competent is clarified from the other passages that speak of what happened here in Exodus 18. For example in Deuteronomy 1 we find the phrase, experienced men known for their wisdom and understanding, used to describe those who were chosen.[12] This links in with the qualities mentioned in 1 Timothy, where it says that elders should be sensible people, and not new Christians in case they become proud in being elected to a leadership position.
This can be helpful as you consider people to nominate. This doesnt mean that the person has to be old. At Regional Presbytery last week, St Giles reported that half of their Session is under the age of 30. That says something for the maturity of the young adults they have in their congregation. They are reaping the benefits of providing input into and developing the leadership potential of their youth over several years now. This is something that we are making provision for in our Strategic Plan. It is vital to the future of the Church.
The other qualities that Jethro listed were people who respect God and are trustworthy and honest. Other versions use the words fear God. That is, they have a love for God that shows itself in their reverent attitude towards Him, and in their desire to live their lives according to His Word. They are humble in how they go about their worship and service of Him. They are to be people of integrity who will not use their position for their own ends, or for their own gain. They are not to be people who could be bought or bribed. They are to be people who reflect the justice and righteousness of God himself, who will treat all equally, and without prejudice and partiality.
Deuteronomy adds the words that these people are to be known for their wisdom and understanding. That is, they have already shown that they have what it takes to be wise and balanced in their judgments.
Paul adds a number of other requirements in his instructions to Timothy that should be listed here. They are to be faithful in marriage, or the husband of one wife, as the older versions have it. They are to be self-controlled and well-behaved, that is that they are to moderate and even-tempered in their behaviour and not given over to outbursts of anger or other unchristian actions. Neither are they to be heavy drinkers or trouble-makers, given to excesses. They are to be persons who have the respect of those both inside and outside the church. They are well thought of and looked up to by the whole community, by those who belong to the church or by those who do not. Their families should be in order and their children obedient and respectful. They are to have a healthy attitude toward wealth, and not be lovers of money. They are to be of a kind and gentle disposition, and able to teach others about their faith and Gods truths. In other words they are to be people who demonstrate both the fruits and the gifts of the Spirit in their lives. This reinforces the necessity for them to be Spirit-filled men and women.
Another important principle is, those who are unable to govern their children graciously and gravely by maintaining good discipline, are not fit for government of the church. The principle is universal, for potential skill in a larger sphere can be indicated only by similar skill in a lesser sphere.[13] The parallel between the church (in the expression of Gods Church the local community is clearly in view) and the home bring impressive dignity to Christian home-life, a dignity as imperative in the 20th century as in Pauls day. The apostle here is dealing with church officials in whom such worthy home-life is indispensable. Yet his words must not be taken to mean that the same standards are not expected of Christians generally.[14]
The Greek phrase rendered with proper respect involves an element of dignity, yet without sternness. It is important for leaders to command the respect of their children as well as commanding the respect of others. Paul is asking a parenthetical question in vs 5. Lack of proper management of home-life disqualifies the person from leadership in the church. It is significant that the same verb used here for parents ruling their children is used later for elders ruling the church.[15] This might seem impossible in view of the lack of favour shown towards Christianity in the contemporary world. Yet the injunction was essential to protect the church from unnecessary abuse, for the non-Christian world has generally respected the noble ideals of Christian character, particularly ministers and leaders, but has persistently condemned professing Christians whose practice is at variance with their profession. It is not that outsiders are arbiters of the churchs choice of its officers, but that leaders will not achieve success who have not first gained the confidence of others.
IV. What does an Elder DO?[16] There are many things an elder does. Speaking in general terms,
According to their ABILITIES they do the following: (comment on abilities)
1. Spiritual OVERSIGHT of the congregation. What is meant by this can be put in the following way: to attend to the religious and moral interests of the people over whom they are placed. This doesnt mean standing over people and telling them what they can or cannot do. It is working with or alongside people. It is the way Jesus dealt with people. The application of this comes through in five specific examples of care for people. The first is, I
2. Visiting the SICK. This means being aware of the needs of people, especially those who are sick, bereaved, lonely, stressed and going through significant change. such as retirement, redundancy, family leaving home, separation, changing homes.
3. Arousing the CARELESS. This has a concern for discipleship, so it is about discipline. It is to be understood in the positive sense of enabling a person to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. It is the sort of care that helps a person to be aware of a dangerous drift or change in their lives. It is said that people leave the church psychologically some time before they leave physically. An elder is to be alert to the signs so that they can follow up on those going through change, or are withdrawing because they have been hurt or are dissatisfied.
4. Instructing the YOUNG. This opens up the whole area of Christian education. It includes the consistent formal teaching as is provided through the Childrens Church and youth programme, but also acknowledges the learning that goes on for children from their environment, and from the unspoken attitudes and actions of adults. They learn from the atmosphere of the church at worship as much as from the words directed to them. Much of their faith is caught rather than taught. Elders are concerned to ensure that children and youth are provided with opportunities in the home, as well as the church, to come to know Jesus Christ.
5. Encouraging ENQUIRERS. This is where an elder is willing and able to invite questions and encourage exploration of the great life issues which at their roots are also spiritual issues. The elder doesnt need to have all the right answers. It is often more important to have the right questions! People are sometimes hesitant to ask questions or do explore aspects of their faith journey or things they dont understand about the Christian faith. Elders can encourage this, especially by being willing to listen. It has been said that the unexamined life isnt worth living. This part of the elders task is to invite people to examine their lives and to be open to new possibilities of spiritual growth.
6. Promoting the WELFARE of the congregation. This includes building up and comforting believers, that is, to help them grow and develop. The goal is for every member of the congregation to stand mature in Christ and to be a disciple-maker themselves.
These will be helpful guidelines as you prayerfully consider suitable persons to nominate as new elders within the congregation. May Gods Spirit lead us as together we seek to do his will.
This doesnt mean using only age as the criteria, as there are many young adults who are spiritually mature, and we want to adequately cover the age range represented in the congregation.
Gordon D Fee =- Good News Commentary
Vs 1 desires an excellent work. Some think it is used of people running for office. The focus less on the person than on the position. Thus Paul is not commending people who have a great desire to become leaders, rather, he is saying that the position of church leader is such a significant matter, an excellent work that it should indeed be the kind of task to which a person might aspire.
Donald Guthrie The aspirant to the office of overseer is said to desire a noble task. Wherever spiritual values have been rightly assessed there has always been an high estimate of the Christian ministry with the church. It is not always recognised by the secular world.
Need to realise that many of the first converts came from a background of low moral ideals.
[1] Much of this material ha been gleaned from Lester Reids A Resource for Elders (A Presbyterian Church of NZ Publication through Whitcoulls,1985)
[2] Exodus 3:16 (All Bible references are from the Contemporary English Version unless otherwise stated.)
[3] Deuteronomy 1:12-13
[4] Luke 6:1-5
[5] Acts 14:23
[6] Titus 1:5
[7] Matthew 9:37
[8] Mark 10:41-45
[9] cf Acts 15
[10] Cf Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4
[11] Exodus 18:21a
[12] Deuteronomy 1:13
[13] cf the rewards granted in the parable of the talents, Mt 25:14ff.
[14] cf Ephesians 5 & 6 and Colossians 3 & 4
[15] See 1 Timothy 5:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Romans 12:8
[16] cf 1 Peter 5:2; Acts 20:28; James 5:14; Titus 1:9