Elder installation and congregational care
Here are some recent posts about elders. Daniel Montgomery of Sojourn Community Church writes of their elder installation process in 2 parts (part 1 and part 2). Kevin DeYoung of University Reformed Church describes how congregational care works at his church and the role that elders play. Here are some highlights of each post
Elder Installation (asked of each elder)
- Do you believe the historic Scriptures to be the inerrant, inspired Word of God, the only infallible authority on Christian faith and practice?
- Do you whole-heartedly affirm the historic Christian faith – the gospel, the church and God’s mission – as taught by the elders of this church and as lived out in the practices of this community; and if at any time you come to disagree with any of the fundamentals of the gospel, the church or God’s mission as your fellow elders hold firm, through the Scriptures, will you take initiative to make known your change in views to your fellow elders?
- Do you affirm Sojourn’s constitution, her government and church discipline practices thoughtfully drawn from the general principles found in the Bible?
- Do you promise a heart of peace and unity toward your brother elders and your church family?
- Do you affirm that you have been driven, as best you know of your own heart, to desire the work of an elder in this church by your love of God and a sincere desire to see Jesus’ gospel transform everything?
- Do you promise to be faithful and diligent in the exercise of all your duties as Christian men and elders in this church, as an individual and in community, privately and publicly; and to strive, by the grace of God, to put on Christ while putting off sin in your life and to walk above reproach before God’s church and a watching world?
- Do you now willingly take leadership in this church, in response to God’s call on your life and your own desire; do you promise to faithfully discharge the duties of a pastor in this community to the best of your ability, and even beyond, by the grace of God in your life?
Elder Installation (asked of the congregation)
- Do you, the members of Sojourn, profess your readiness to receive these men, as they answer the call to be your pastors?
- Do you promise to receive the word of truth from these men with submission and love, following them as they follow Christ, and receive their encouragement and admonishment as they shepherd you in your Christian faith?
- Do you promise to encourage these men and joyfully take part in all their work as they lead this church?
- Do you promise to support them, with acts of service and generosity, with your time and talents and with your finances as Scripture calls you to do so; to supply them in their needs for the sake of their work for the gospel on your behalf, on the behalf of your city and on behalf of the nations?
Congregational Care by Elders
The elders are essential to congregational care and oversight. This should be obvious, because elders, by definition, ought to be caring for the sheep and exercising oversight. Our elders do this in a few different way.
First, we pray for people. We pray when called up. We seek to pray for people when they need help. And we pray for our people at our elders meetings and retreats.
Second, our elders oversee our growth groups. Ben is the point man, but most of our elders–a couple elders are excused because they are involved in our executive committee–are responsible for overseeing a few growth groups each. This does not mean they lead a group in their home, though they can if they want. Oversight means two things. One, it means that the elders come to the every other month growth group leaders training session and meet with the leaders under their care. This is a time to trouble shoot, hear how things are going, and pray. Two, oversight means that the members of the leaders growth group (see previous point) are in the elder’s district (see below).
Third, we divide the church into elder districts. The district is first of all assigned by growth groups. So if Larry oversees two leaders, Moe and Curly, then Larry has all the members of Moe and Curly’s growth groups in his district (man is that a rough district). The elder district also includes members not in a growth group and regular adherents of the church who, for whatever reason, have not joined. These names, non-growth group members and adherents, are assigned alphabetically. The elder is responsible to pray regularly for his district, and he must make contact with each person in the district at least once a year.
We do not expect the elders to personally disciple the people in their districts or know everything going on in their lives. This is why we have growth groups. But the elder usually has a good feel for the major issues that have surfaced. Our elders meet twice a month. The second meeting of the month is our normal business meeting. At this meeting we always ask “who is in need of spiritual help and/or is not making faithful use of the means of grace?” Follow up calls are usually assigned based on the district someone is in. Three times a year we do a thorough review of our districts as an entire elder board.