Comments on: Buried Talents: Further on How Elders Oversee the Church

By: thenonconformer

thenonconformer — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:25:00 +0000

God’s Word provides us with all the purpose and direction that we could ever need. God also gives us something more to be able to live the Christian life, he also gives us the anointing of the Holy Spirit,. http://anyonecare.wordpress.com/

By: dell kimberly

dell kimberly — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:45:52 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts!!

By: Dealing with Murmurers « One In Jesus.info

Dealing with Murmurers « One In Jesus.info — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:42:40 +0000

[...] with Murmurers Posted on July 4, 2008 by Jay Guin In a comment to an earlier post, Dell Kimberly asked, One of our deacons has not come on board. He and his wife are upset with the [...]

By: dell kimberly

dell kimberly — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:49:51 +0000

Recently I have also thought a lot about elders. We have a very good eldership. I am proud to be part of this congregation working with a really good group of elders. Over the past three years our congregation has grown in many ways. Not the least of these is our growth toward a more progressive direction in doing the Lord's work. One of our deacons has not come on board. He and his wife are upset with the change of direction. They continue to work just below the surface. They question the authority and effectiveness of the elders. Their complaints and questions are never presented in public. It is always done just below the surface. Actually it must be very similar to the murmuring that Moses must have experienced. How do we deal with this without taking away from the growth and energies of the church? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:42:45 +0000

Hi Jay,

We're pretty much on the same page on this. There are many areas where the type of authority that is actually employed is persuasion. The elders lay out their desired direction and their reasoning. As long as the congregation finds it plausible, they go along without significant protest. Given the Hebrews 13 instructions that the church should "go along with" their leaders, that works pretty effectively in most matters. If the elders have the respect of the church, their recommendations and requests will also be respected. I think of it as a softer form of authority.

And yes, we have women playing significant roles in the church — just not in things like public teaching / preaching to mixed groups. We actually pay a salary to both the minister and his wife, and we ask her to be equally engaged in the work through her leadership of the women. We haven't appointed women as deacons yet, though I'm not sure we won't do that at some point. When we plan the calendar for the church, the elders, ministers, and their wives all meet together and discuss it. etc…