Congregations do not call pastors or vote on elders and deacons. Instead, bishops ordain elders and deacons and appoint where they will serve.
Ing to Scripture, church elders were expected to follow specific instructions. Some qualifications were being blameless, faithful, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
The appointment is the congregation's recognition or affirmation that a prospective elder possesses the biblical qualifications found in 1 Tim. –7 and Titus –9. It is the acknowledgment, “This man is biblically qualified and evidently a gift of Christ to our church” (Eph. ).
Each circuit overseer visits the congregations in his jurisdiction twice each year. During his visit, local elders recommend members who may qualify for appointment as elders or ministerial servants (equivalent to deacons), and appointments are decided by the circuit overseer.
In this sense, elder was an approximate term in Israel, not strictly linked to a particular age — though a case can be made for 30 as a minimum. Cornelis Van Dam says we get “the impression that the age of thirty was the minimum. However, Scripture gives no specifically prescribed age for this office” (The Elder, 29).
One way to recognize both biblical principles is (i) to have the elders nominate prospective elders and then (ii) to have the congregation vote to recognize them. That way the elders are the ones examining a man before putting him before the congregation, yet the congregation's decision is decisive.
Elders are essential to a church because their ministry includes an emphasis on protecting the people by using the word to refute those who would harm them. Again, this is something that all Christians can do, but Christ has seen to it that there's no question of who must do this.
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.
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One way to get started is to poll your senior members and see where their interests lie and then involve your pastor and church council in organizing one or two special senior sessions. As sessions grow or diminish in popularity, reevaluate and make adjustments to the schedule and session offerings as needed.