NB: This is not a transcript of the message, but the document on which the message was based.

The elders of the Stanthorpe Presbyterian Church family have a great desire to see the church grow in health and number. We have seen some growth in numbers during the last several months, and we are truly blessed as a congregation to have a session of 5 local elders, and a Committee of Management of 7 members who are working well together.

Over the last 20 years, the church has enjoyed a time of wonderful biblical teaching by Rev Greg Fraser, your elders, and others.

Following the retirement of Greg Fraser, the church is experiencing a time of change. Rev David Bailey from Warwick has been appointed by Presbytery as the Interim Moderator. This time of change has been complicated by serious sickness of 2 of the elders, and prearranged absence by some other elders. This has caused some concern, as has already been acknowledged publicly.

Your session is comprised of the Elders: Dave Bailey, John Sweet, Brian Cullen, Peter Walker, John Tapscott and Kevin Walker. The session is quite aware of this situation, and has discussed and prayed about it. The ‘Session’ has therefore prayerfully decided to increase the number of Elders. We have decided to elect one new elder at this stage – though more may be needed in the future.

Below is some Biblical teaching on Eldership and an outline of our process in electing new elders.

What is an Elder?

According to the New Testament, elders are responsible for the primary leadership and oversight of a local church. Elders lead the church (1 Tim 5:17), teach and preach the Word (1 Timothy 3:2), protect the church from false teachers (Acts 20:17-38), exhort and admonish believers in sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:13), visit the sick and pray (James 5:14), and judge doctrinal issues (Acts 15:4-11). In biblical terms, elders shepherd, oversee, lead, and care for the local church.

We could say that the elders are responsible for teaching and governing the congregation. As leaders they give guidance and direction to the church. As teachers they oversee the life of the church to preserve its biblical faithfulness.

Titus 1:9 says that the elder 'must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.' The elders ensure that the truth and emphasis of God's Word is maintained in the life of the local church.

1 Timothy 5:17 says, 'The elders who direct the affairs of the church well (or govern or oversee or rule well) are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.' So it is clear that there is a diversity of functions among the elders. All must be able to handle the Word of God and be able to recognize false doctrine and correct error; but some also work at preaching and teaching (e.g. Dave, and as Greg has done).

Elders in every church

Having elders in each local church was clearly a key element of church life in the New Testament. Consider these verses:

Jerusalem: Acts 15:22, 'Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided... '

Ephesus: Acts 20:17, 'From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.'

Various churches: James 5:14, 'Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.'

All the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia that Peter wrote to: 1 Peter 5:1, 'To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder... '

Finally, all the churches Paul founded on the first missionary journey (and presumably the other journeys as well): Acts 14:23, 'Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord...'

It’s hard to escape the conclusion that God's will for the local church is to have a team of elders as its primary leaders, rather than a single individual.

Qualities for Eldership

These qualifications can be divided into 3 broad categories relating to character, abilities, and a servant-heart.

1) Character

The first, overarching qualification is that of being 'above reproach'. In both of Paul's lists of elder qualifications, the first, specific, character virtue itemised is 'the husband of one wife’. This means that each elder must be above reproach in his marital and sexual life.

The other character qualities stress the elder's integrity, self-control and spiritual maturity. Since elders govern the church body, each one must be self-controlled in the use of money, sex, alcohol, and the exercise of pastoral authority. Since each elder is to be a model of Christian living he must be spiritually devout, righteous, a lover of good, hospitable, and morally above reproach before the non-Christian community. He must be generous - a giver. In pastoral work, relationship skills are preeminent. Thus an elder must be gentle, stable, sound-minded and not contentious. An angry, hot-headed man hurts people. So an elder must not have a dictatorial spirit or be quick-tempered or self-willed. Finally, an elder must not be a new Christian. He must be a spiritually mature, humble, time-proven disciple of Jesus Christ.

2) Abilities

He must be able to manage his family well, provide a model of Christian living for others to follow, and be able to teach and defend the faith.

3) Servant-Hearted

A critical qualification is the elder's personal desire to love & care for God's people: To serve others. His motivation must be from a servant-heart. Paul & the first Christians applauded such willingness and created this saying: 'If any man aspires to the office of overseer; it is a fine work he desires to do'. Peter, too, insists that an elder must shepherd the flock willingly and voluntarily (1 Peter 5:2). An elder who serves grudgingly or under constraint is incapable of genuinely caring for people.

A true desire to lead the family of God is always a Spirit-generated desire. Paul reminds the Ephesian elders that the Holy Spirit – not the church or the apostles – placed them as overseers in the church to shepherd the flock of God (Acts 20:28). The Spirit called them to shepherd the church and moved them to care for the flock. The Spirit planted the pastoral desire in their hearts. He gave them the compulsion and strength to do the work and also the wisdom and appropriate gifts to care for the flock. The elders were His wise choice to complete the task.

Servant Leadership

Elders are to be servant leaders, not rulers or dictators. God doesn't want His people to be dominated by petty, self-serving tyrants. Elders are to choose a life of service on behalf of others – and to lead the church in the mission of reaching the lost with the good news of Christ. Like Jesus, they are to sacrifice their time and energy for the good of others. This includes those in the church, but also leading us to sacrifice for those who are not yet here! Only elders who are loving, humble servants can genuinely manifest the incomparable life of Jesus Christ to their congregations - and a waiting world.

In addition to shepherding others with a servant heart, the elders must humbly and lovingly relate to one another. They must be able to patiently build consensus, persuade, listen, handle disagreement, forgive, receive rebuke and appreciate the wisdom and perspective of others - even those with whom they disagree. They must be able to submit to one another, speak gently to one another, be patient with their colleagues, defer to one another, and speak their minds openly in truth and love. Our mission requires maturing, loving, resilient servant-leadership: those who excel at ‘truthing in love’ (Ephesians 4:15).

Recognising God's Work

It is God who gives the gifts to be Elders. These men are also gifts to our congregation. So our role is not to make people into Elders, but to recognise those who already have the God-given gifts and are already, in a sense, doing the work of an Elder. So we are considering men in our church family who already are active in shepherding God's people here at Stanthorpe PC. We are considering men who actively welcome newcomers, are involved in our Sunday gatherings and lead by example. We are considering men who show a good understanding of the Bible and who have a clear grounding in the gospel. We are considering men who regularly talk to people about their faith and are happy to pray with others and counsel them. We are looking for men who truly have servant hearts when it comes to Christian leadership.

Of course, they and their families also have to be willing to take on the responsibility entailed with being an Elder here at Stanthorpe PC.

Church Rules

The rules in the Presbyterian Church of Queensland mean that instead of just having a general nominating process, the Session (the current Elders) brings nominations to a congregational meeting. Church members may also bring nominations. The rest of the process is outlined below.

The Process

We have decided on the following process:

1. Announcement calling a Congregational meeting to be made on Sundays 2^nd and 9^th December, for the purpose of nominating persons for consideration as elders, on 16^th December 2018 at 11am.

2. On Sunday 16^th December, Session will be bringing one nomination, and congregation members may bring other nominations. However, it must be remembered that there is only one position to be filled.

3. The Session will then begin a course of training for the nominees relative to the doctrine, government and discipline of the Church. This training will depend on any previous training the nominees have had.

4. The Session will conduct a ballot election. The date of the ballot will be dependant on training duration and the number of nominees. Only church members can vote. The Session will consider the result of the ballot and shall declare the results at the earliest convenience (after conferring with each nominee privately beforehand).

5. The new Elders will be ordained and inducted at a Sunday gathering early in 2019.

We are holding the congregational meeting on Sunday 16^th December after church. Simply nominating people should a short process. So we invite you to speak with one of the elders in the coming weeks, to ask any questions before the meeting.

If you plan to nominate someone, please ensure you have spoken to them before the meeting, so no one is put on the spot. We also ask you to talk to us about such a nomination as soon as possible.

In Queensland, only men who are church family members, over the age of 21 and eligible to hold a Blue Card can be elected to the Eldership.

Our Nominations

The Session intends to nominate one man on Sunday 16^th December . Please keep praying for God’s leading in this process.

On behalf of your Session
Kevin Walker