Elder Job Description

 
 

Job Description of Elders at North Suburban Church

(adapted from “A Job Description for Lay Elders“, Jeramie Rinne)

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17)

In short, to be an elder is to be a shepherd taking care of God’s flock. Taking care of the flock involves four primary responsibilities: TEACH, LEAD, MODEL, AND PRAY.

TEACH

  • An elder must be “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2 and 1 Tim 5:17).

  • “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:9). In other words, Jesus’ under-shepherds should feed Jesus’ sheep with Jesus’ word.

  • An elder should find opportunities for teaching the Bible regularly, for example:

    ○ teach a class in kids Sunday School or adult education class

    ○ lead a lesson at Youth Group or Life Group

    ○ study Scripture with a congregant over coffee

    ○ preach at a Sunday worship service when offered a chance to do so

  • Teaching includes training others (e.g., providing feedback) to continue the church’s teaching ministry. As Paul said to Timothy, “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim 2:2).

LEAD

  • Just as shepherds lead their flocks, so elders lead local congregations. The biblical writers also call elders “overseers,” a title that highlights their role as leaders (Acts 20:28; 1 Tim. 3:1; Tit. 1:5, 7). Hebrews instructs Christians to “obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account” (Heb. 13:17).

  • Elders, be brave and lead your church. Don’t hide among the baggage like King Saul. When you see challenges in your church, face them proactively and plot a course forward.

  • Courageous leadership might involve reaching out to a frustrated member who’s stopped attending, or confronting an unrepentant member through church discipline. Or it could mean wrestling through staffing strategies, budget challenges, or important policies that affect the spiritual identity of the congregation.

  • As you lead, don’t lose sight of the destination. The goal isn’t to lead a church to become an efficient organization, as important as that may be. Rather, elders should lead church members toward maturity in Christ. Jesus gave teaching shepherds to the church “to build up the body of Christ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness” (Eph. 4:12-13).

  • Elders bring the flock to green pastures and still waters when they help members know Jesus more and increasingly reflect his glory together.

  • Specific leadership duties at North Sub include the following:

    1. Identify prospective elders and involve them in a prospective elder training program

    2. Disciple prospective elders as we test them in meaningful ministry leadership roles

    3. Monitor our corporate ethos and correct departures from Core Values

    4. Exhort church members who are not characterized by our Marks of a Disciple

    5. Pass on our aspirational culture to those in your Life Groups and ensure it is spoken about frequently in the ministry under your supervision

    6. Participate as “care elders” or “directional elders” who meet between each board meetings

    7. Perform membership interviews. Membership interviews will include sending a letter to the prospective member’s former church inquiring about membership status

    8. Perform membership reviews

    9. Each elder will have part of the congregation under their care (“elder shepherd list”)

    a. Check in with each individual/family at least twice a year

    b. Check in with each Life Group leader at least once a quarter

    c. Be there for your people in serious crisis

    d. Report to elders regarding your people

    10. Each elder should have congregants in their home at least 2x/year to fulfill the biblical elder requirement of hospitality

MODEL

  • Most importantly, elders lead by example. Shepherd the church “not [by] lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Pet. 5:3). Not surprisingly, the New Testament lists of elder qualifications focus predominantly on character (1 Tim. 3:1-7, Tit. 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-4). An elder’s most basic job is to say “Imitate me as I also imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).

  • The mandate to model maturity carries two critical implications. First, modeling means you must guard your godliness: “Pay close attention to your life and your teaching” (1 Tim. 4:16). Continue to live close to the Lord, nurture your wife and children well, resist sin, and love people. Open your life to the loving accountability of the other elders. Modeling maturity is a team project.

  • That leads to a second implication: modeling requires elders to be among the people. It only works if people see you up close. So open your life to church members. Invite them into your home, your hobbies, and your ministry. People need a firsthand experience of how you handle stress, relate to your wife, respond to difficult people, and humbly admit when you blow it.

  • Specific responsibilities related to leading by example at North Sub include the following:

    1. Structure our elder accountability times around our marks of a disciple and core values

    2. Dedicate time for theological training at each elder meeting

    3. Openly declare any potential conflict of interests between individuals or ministry teams

PRAY

  • Finally, elders should take up the apostolic shepherding mantle and say, “we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry” (Acts 6:4). Ultimately elders are powerless in themselves to mature anyone in Christ; only the Holy Spirit can do that through God’s Word. The sooner an elder realizes this, the sooner he will hit his knees and plead for a continual work of grace among church members, as well as in his own life.

  • So if you’re a lay elder, strive to be a man of prayer. Build regular prayer into your daily rhythms. Pray over your church’s membership rolls. Carve out time as an elder board for concerted prayer.

  • Make it your aim to connect with people before and after every service, and pray with them in the moment for any needs or concerns that are revealed.

  • Specific responsibilities related to prayer at North Sub include the following:

1. Each elder will pray regularly for the families in their elder shepherd list

2. Pray frequently over the church during Sunday services

3. Minister frequently to the congregation at the front in prayer, exhortation, encouragement, and evangelism in response to the sermon

4. Dedicate time for prayer for congregants at each elder meeting