The Bible doesn’t go into great detail about the leadership structure of the church, but God reveals enough that we have a framework to work with.  That framework is the leadership team comprised of an evangelist (preacher) and the elders.

Elders are men of maturity who have a lot of “miles” on them–their life experiences have given them wisdom to help them live out the gospel of the kingdom of God, which in turn helps them to show and guide others on living out the gospel.  They display, through their lives, Christlike character.  They represent the church.  They shepherd the church by guiding it and monitoring its health.  They teach the church.  They oversee the church.

The elder material on this blog will cover the following:

1. Names.  What did the writers of the New Testament call them?  What does it reveal about their task?
2. Qualifications.  What characteristics must be on public display in an elder’s life?  What is he to model for others in his life?
3. Selection and Appointment.  How did a man become an elder in the Bible?  How does that look in our network?
4. Responsibilities.  What do elders do?  What does eldership look like in a practical sense?
5. Structure.  How does eldership work in our network?  What does it “look like”?

Elder Candidates:
As you work through the posts, please leave your comments in order to interact with the rest of the leadership community.  Start with Elders:  What’s In a Name.  From then on, go to the “Categories” section in the toolbar to the right and make your way through the rest of the posts as you are able.