What is an Elder led church?
An elder-led church is a Christian church governed by a group of elders—spiritually mature men who provide oversight, teaching, and pastoral care to the congregation. This model emphasizes shared leadership rather than leadership by a single pastor or a hierarchical structure.
Key Features of an Elder-Led Church
1. Plurality of Leadership:
• Leadership is not vested in one person (e.g., senior pastor), but in a group of qualified men.
• This helps avoid authoritarianism, provides accountability and shares the load of leadership.
2. Biblical Basis:
• Elder-led churches point to the New Testament as their model, where churches were often led by a group of elders (e.g., Acts 14:23, Titus 1:5).
• All authority in the church comes from the resurrected Jesus Christ and is exercised on his behalf. According to the Scriptures, Jesus is the “Chief Shepherd” of God’s church (1 Peter 5:1-5), but he has invested the authority and responsibility of church leadership to “under-shepherds”.
• These under-shepherds are referred to in the scriptures with three interchangeable words: elder (presbyteros), pastor/shepherd (poimaino), and overseer (episkopos). In Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:17-28, all three words occur simultaneously referring to the same group of men. You can also find all three words used interchangeably in Peter’s instruction to elders in 1 Peter 5:1-3
• Elder is not a term that signifies a particular physical age (1 Timothy 4:11-16), rather it conveys a certain spiritual maturity. Elders/Pastors/Overseers must be men who meet the Biblical qualifications as outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.
• While no man is perfect, the descriptions found in these two passages of Scripture should consistently characterize any potential elder. In addition, each elder must have the ability to verbally communicate sound Christian doctrine to the church. He must be able to both recognize and refute false doctrine that endangers the church. These qualifications require deep Biblical understanding and the ability to convey that understanding to the congregation with clarity and fruitfulness.
3. Responsibilities of Elders:
• Teaching and preaching the Word of God.
• Shepherding the congregation (pastoral care).
• Overseeing church operations and spiritual direction.
• Protecting sound doctrine and addressing false teaching.
4. How are Elders selected?
• At Church in the Valley, a potential elder candidate will first be recognized by the congregation as already doing the work of an elder, e.g. teaching the word, demonstrating pastoral care of the flock and coming forward with an eagerness to be involved in the ministry of the church.
• If there is unanimous agreement among the elders, their candidacy will be announced to the congregation followed by a three month period of vetting, where the congregation is urged to ask questions of both the candidate and the people in their sphere of influence to ascertain whether the candidate meets the qualifications of scripture.
• Following that three month period, during a congregational meeting, the congregation will vote with 51% majority needed for confirmation.
• The elder candidate will be installed as a new elder the following Sunday.
