An elder board utilizes business principles and practices to manage the church. An elder body systematically seeks out biblical principles and practices then utilizes them in the protection and oversight of Jesus' bride, the church.
In Acts , he refers to them as having been made overseers by the Holy Spirit. In his sermon to them, he exhorts them to care for the church. The Greek word behind that work care is shepherd, which is where we get our word pastor. So, elder, overseer, and pastor are all describing the same office, the same role.
Among Methodists it refers to a fully ordained minister. In its rare use in the Lutheran tradition, it is interchangeable with deacon in reference to laypersons chosen by a congregation to assist the pastor with official duties; they and the pastor form a board of elders with advisory powers.
In Acts , he refers to them as having been made overseers by the Holy Spirit. In his sermon to them, he exhorts them to care for the church. The Greek word behind that work care is shepherd, which is where we get our word pastor. So, elder, overseer, and pastor are all describing the same office, the same role.
In Christianity, an elder is a person who is valued for wisdom and holds a position of responsibility and authority in a Christian group.
Elders are ministers of Christ, called upon to administer spiritual matters in the Church. The term "Elder" is also used as a title for male missionaries and General Authorities of the Church.
The single, overarching qualification of which the rest are supportive is that he is to be “above reproach.” That is, he must be a leader who cannot be accused of anything sinful because he has a sustained reputation for blamelessness.
And Paul gives us six main qualities to look for in men who are called to be elders: first, they have to have a desire to lead, second, they must be men of integrity or character, third, they must be capable, fourth, they must lead their families well, fifth, they must be mature, and lastly, they must have good ...
In some Christian traditions (e.g., Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Methodism) an elder is an ordained person who serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of word, sacrament and order, filling the preaching and pastoral offices.
Qualifications of Elders — I Timothy -7 Above Reproach (Paul begins with positive attributes) ... The Husband of One Wife. Temperate. Prudent. Respectable. Hospitable. Apt to Teach. Not a Drunkard (here he begins the negative attributes)