We believe that elders should be trained for their critically important role. It is not enough for elders to be “good guys,” or even godly guys. They need to (substantially) meet the qualifications found in Titus one and I Timothy three. They also need to be in agreement with their church, their pastor and their fellow elders regarding important philosophy-of-ministry issues. Finally, most veteran pastors and elders agree that elders need to have the right temperament to survive the challenges of elder decision making.
Even elders who meet all of the criteria listed above need to be in agreement as to the expectations for elders which prevail in their congregations. Typically, church boards are made up of individuals who come from a variety of denominational backgrounds and most learned “how to be board members” by absorbing the culture of the first board on which they served. This means that even the young and inexperienced pastor needs to engage in an ongoing elder learning process with even the most mature and experienced elders so that, in time, a diverse group of individuals become an effective leadership team.
For all of these reasons, we urge pastors to create a simple plan for training both current and future elders. It does not need to be expensive or extensive and the pastor does not need to be an expert to create an effective strategy.
TRAINING METHOD OPTIONS:
- Start with a careful, personal vetting process. Some of our pastors have extensive interviews with every man who is recommended or nominated to serve (and their wives) to ascertain the individual’s interest, Bible and theological knowledge, character, and ministry skills. This often turns out to be a great disciple-making opportunity as the individual becomes more aware of his own strengths and weaknesses. Issues such as being “too busy to serve” can be carefully explored in light of godly priorities. A personalized growth program can be created as a result of these heart-to-heart discussions.
- Have a short training/book discussion time at the beginning or ending of each elder meeting. This is not ideal, but it is better than no training at all. The disadvantages of this method include (1) Board members are often distracted by the “business” at hand (2) Too little time is taken (3) Unwilling elders arrive late or leave early (4) Elders suspect that they are being “lobbied” to vote the way the pastor wants them to at that particular meeting.
- Use a “shepherding meeting,” as in Larry Osborne’s Sticky Teams. Osborne’s popular model involves: (1) One elder “business” meeting per month (2) A separate shepherding meeting is held once per month at which no votes are taken (3) The atmosphere is relaxed and prayerful (4) Potential future elders can be trained simply by inviting them to these meetings – trainees could attend the shepherding meeting for one year and then, if invited, attend the business meetings as well during a second year of apprenticeship (5) The location is usually a home and the format involves about an hour for elders to get to know each other better (ideally over dinner), about an hour of book or article discussion time and about an hour for prayer for each other and the congregation.
- Occasional retreat or seminar formats – Annually, bi-annually or quarterly, you can take part or all of a Saturday for an intensive time of learning. The format described just above (2) could be used. The same options exist for training potential future elders. Invite them in and allow them to get a sense of what it means to be an elder at your church.
- Bring in outside help. This looks like #3, above, but involves “guest” teachers. Call me, and let’s talk about your options.
- A separate “Leadership Training Group” with current and potential future elders. Such groups are held weekly or monthly. They are sometimes used to train other current and potential future church leaders of all kinds and both genders. This may or may not work with the personalities leading your congregation. One of our pastors has found that such co-ed groups work well with “young eagles:” younger, potential leaders. They meet in the pastor’s home monthly over breakfast and discuss a newly assigned book each month.
- One-on-one mentoring – by pastors and by veteran elders – has also been used in some churches. Trainer and trainee meet together weekly or monthly, read books and discuss issues. Ministry assignments and coaching can be given as the trainer monitors the trainee’s progress.
- The pastor can seek to involve elders in everything he does. Bring them with you on “pastoral visits” and to conferences, seminars, etc. Get them in on learning what you are learning. Elders can learn “on the job” by teaching, praying, pastoring, leading, managing, etc.
- The one method which we strongly discourage is to have no intentional elder training program at all and hope that qualified elders will simply “emerge.” If we are truly making disciples, elder candidates will “just emerge,” but they will still need to be trained for serving as elders.
SUBJECTS TO BE COVERED:
- Study the role of elders as found in your own constitution and by-laws.
- Do a careful Bible study of every verse in the New Testament that mentions elders.
- Christian theology
- How to study and interpret the Bible
- Basic counseling skills
- Understanding church balance sheets/financial documents
- Study the Biblical qualifications for elders. “The Measure of a Man” (Gene Getz) is a “classic” on this subject.
- Study or write a detailed elder ministry description and a detailed pastor’s ministry description.
- Study the vital topic of dealing with conflict constructively. Many materials/books are available on this subject.
- Study what it means to function well as a real leadership team.
- Spiritual leadership (in general)
- Teach basic ministry management, especially if your elders are expected to manage ministries.
- Doing church leadership as a team
- Study church discipline from Scripture, your by-laws, good books and articles. Do this before you face a church discipline crisis.
- Spiritual gifts/strengths. Taking various kinds of inventories together helps a leadership team to understand and appreciate each other and to work together well. Many inventories are available today and they are almost all helpful.
- Emotional intelligence/emotionally healthy spirituality/relational wisdom. Again, there are many helpful books, articles and web sites on these related subjects.
- Shepherding care. Study what it means to do shepherding care as a team, for the pastor cannot do it alone.
- Create your own elder covenant which includes (1) How you will function in elder meetings (2) What is expected of each elder (3) How elders will protect and defend each other, etc.
- Create “guiding principles” which create reasonable boundaries within which your pastor, staff and volunteers and can serve and make decisions.
MATERIALS YOU CAN USE:
“Sticky Teams” – Larry Osborne
“Church Elders” – Mark Dever
“Winning on Purpose” – John Kaiser
“Biblical Eldership” – Alexander Strauch
“Building Leaders” – Aubrey Malphurs
“Spiritual Leadership” – Richard and Henry Blackaby
“Spiritual Leadership” – J Oswald Sanders
“The Peacemaker” – Ken Sande
“Can The Pastor Do It Alone?” – Melvin Steinbron
“High Impact Church Boards” and “Leading From The Sandbox” – Tim Addington
“The New Elder’s Handbook” – Greg Sharf and Arthur Kok
“Real Life Discipleship” – Jim Putman
“Gospel Eldership” – Bob Thune
“The Measure of a Man” – Gene Getz on the qualifications of I Timothy 3 and Titus 1
“Elders and Leaders” – Gene Getz
“Living by the Book” – Howard and Willian Hendricks
“Egoless Elders” – Michael Cannon Loeher
There are book summarizes of these and many other great books available on the web. These can be extremely useful with board members who are not enthusiastic readers.
