These first few weeks have been a great start to our Elder Leadership Team. The team is made up of 7 men from our church who desire to see our church fulfill its mission in our community and the world. The first task in front of this new team is to roll out a new leadership structure that emphasizes relationships as a priority in our church.
Relationships need to be an intentional part of our focus as the calling to Elder is similar to that of pastor. Each of these men understand the critical part that “pastoring” those they serve will take us one step closer to being the Church the Bible expects us to be. The structure decentralizes the accidental focus on our pastors and begins to highlight a biblical principle in regard to the priesthood of believers.
9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
The term “the priesthood of the believer” communicates the biblical emphasis on the individual and soul competency. The term “priesthood of believers” communicates the biblical emphasis on community and fellowship. Throughout history in all aspects of life, a tension has existed between the individual and the group. We do well when we refuse to elevate one above the other, but instead attempt to keep them in balance.
This concept holds each person in high regard for the contribution they can make and should be making as part of a church. It helps us remember the importance each person has in fulfilling the mission of helping people meet Jesus and grow in that relationship.
In our former system, that mostly just happened as a result of growth (somewhat rapid), all things ran through one or two people on staff. This created high stress and tension on the two staff members. It also created a bottle neck that ministry had to flow through in order to be realized. Many good things happened during this time, but many things just never got the attention they deserved. Most of the things that were overshadowed were people and relationships. The ideas still remain, but the relationships somehow felt less important over time. Many people served on islands, feeling alone, or somewhat disconnected from the overall church and its mission.
One solution to this growing need of involvement in our church is freeing our Elder Leadership Team to pastor groups of leaders with in the church. Giving them each the connection that we need to forge ahead and do greater things TOGETHER. The plan is quite simple, but powerful in its execution. Each elder will serve as a care giver/pastor to the leaders of the following areas of the church:
Sunday Morning Team/Adult Discipleship/Children’s Discipleship/Outreach/Administration/Maintenaince
As the weeks roll on you will hear more about these rolls and the leaders serving within them. Our prayer is that this is one more effort to strengthen the fabric of our faith family. The goal is that we are a more reliable, mission winning, gospel centered team. Join us in praying for 2014 to be our best year ever as we seek to help people know Jesus and grow in that relationship.