Elders, Old Guys and Leaders for Valley Bible Church

Valley Bible Church is introducing "elder led" leadership at Valley. What is an elder?

It is a term that shows up throughout the history of the Bible. In the Old Testament they were a group of older leaders of the tribes responsible for the important decisions. They are mentioned in Egypt with Moses in Exodus 3. In Samuel's time (1 Samuel 8:4-5) elders were the ones appealing to be led by a king "like the other nations." They also show up in choosing a king after Saul died and in Absalom's council in 2 Samuel 17:4.

In the Gospels the elders along with the chief priests were a part of the Jewish leadership group who opposed Jesus. The term first appears as a part of the early church in Acts 11:30 as the leaders of the Jerusalem church. In Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every church they planted. Elders were the ones who led and chaired the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:2. In Acts 20 Paul addressed the elders of the Ephesian church. Apparently they were the pastoral leaders of that church.  In Acts 21:18 they were the leaders of the church at Jerusalem who heard Paul's report from his missionary journey. Peter referred to himself (1 Peter 1:5) as a "fellow elder" writing to "the elders among you." The Apostle John called himself an elder. See 2 John 1 and 3 John 1.

The sum is that elders were usually the pastoral leaders of the local congregation. It seems that the elders were always plural in number in any church. They were chosen from among the members of the local church with the qualifications outlined by Paul in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Not all elders were paid staff but some were. 1 Timothy 5:17-18 "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.'"

It appears that there were two NT words parallel to elder. One was "pastor/shepherd" in Ephesians 4:11. Another was "overseer" in Titus 1:5-7. One of the chief tasks of an elder was to guard the flock from false teaching. See Paul’s warning to the elders in Ephesus in Acts 20:17-38. Another job was to pray for those who were sick when called on (James 5:17-18). Hebrews 13:17 describes the job of elders as "keeping watch over your souls."

Anyone in leadership is vulnerable to false charges. Paul set up guidelines to protect elders if they were innocent in 1 Timothy 5:19-20. "Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those (elders) who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear."

We will look further at the term elders from Valley's perspective in the November issue of Valley Peeks.