Eldership

The Elder Team for Anthem Church is the spiritual authority for the church as laid out in 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Tit. 1:5-9, 1 Pet. 5:1-4, and Acts 20:17-35. Their role is to guard and give shape to direction, doctrine, and discipline.

Scripture uses three words to refer to the role of Elders:

1. poimain = Shepherd: shepherd the flock, nurture and care for the flock, feed the flock

2. presbuteros = Elder: executes God’s justice and government and administrates the affairs of the church

3. episcopos = Overseer: oversees, a guardian, gatekeeper or watchman

This may seem like semantics, but we believe the Elder team is just that, a team! Boards may bring to mind closed doors, distance shot-callers, and a separateness from the people they lead. Instead, we believe an elder team is formed from and among the people. Boards are decision-making entities; elders are shepherds who teach, protect, and lead the flock.

We are all, male and female, created in God’s image. Jesus has distributed gifts and roles to men and women, and we need all of it in the church to rightly reflect who God is to the world and live in the fullness of all God has given to His church.

We believe the Scriptures speak to the distinctive role of an Elder for men. We also believe God loves to work in families, and we see the weight and calling of eldership not just on the man but on the entire family.

In the same way that we see ministry partnerships in the Scriptures (Aquila and Priscilla, Peter and his wife, etc.), we see a crucial and valuable role in the elder’s wife having a voice in the leadership, shepherding, and oversight of the church. In short, the role of an elder is for the man, but the call of the elder team is for husbands and wives to function in partnership together. Like a healthy family, the church functions at its best when it has the voices and leadership of its fathers and mothers.

The eldership development process at Anthem starts months (and sometimes years) before we present potential elders to the church body.

Doing the verb before getting the noun – In addition to listening to the Holy Spirit, we generally look for people who are doing the verb, before giving them the noun; so we’re looking for people who are already leading, shepherding, caring, and leading the flock. Sometimes people will be obvious, sometimes there’s a bit of potential-seeking for these families. The end goal would be to present people to our body who basically respond: “Yes! They obviously should be leaders!” 

Qualifications – While the biblical qualifications for Eldership, found in 1 Tim 3v1-7; Titus 1v5-9; 1 Peter 5v1-11, are anchor points for us, they are a starting point, not a finish line. As our friend Chris Weinend says: “Good people make bad elder teams, but the right people make great elder teams.” Biblical character qualifications are the front door for readiness, but just as important are calling (and commendation), competency, and chemistry.  

Training and Development – Once defined and invited in by our current Elder Team, potential elders will enter a months-long process for a season of learning, testing, conversation, prayer, and development.

Elder Presentation and Examination – After a season of developent, potential elders and their families will be presented to the church body for affirmation and examiniation. While we are not a "voting" church, we do seek the input, voice, and prayer of the church body as we discern leadership additions. Over the course of 2-3 months, it is up to the church body to (1) get to know potential elders, (2) bring any unresolved conflict to the potential dealers for resolution and/or reconciliation, and (3) bring any qualification questions directly to the current elder team. Additionally, we'd encourage the church body to affirm potential elders to them directly by way of encouragement, prayer, and support and to the current elder team.

Elder Installation – After the period of examination, we will install qualified potential elders onto the Elder Team in a Sunday Gathering.