Elder, overseer, bishop, pastor…these are all words that are used by various denominations to describe the leadership of a local church. And just about everyone that’s been around a church that has undergone a pastoral search process knows the two passages you look to for the qualifications of an elder (I Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9). But what is an elder? What does the elder do? What are an elder’s responsibilities?  Should a church have more than one elder?  And what’s the difference between all those words?  These are questions that surround the biblical conception of eldership, and should be answered.

As KSBC moves to restructure our leadership to conform to the mandates laid out in Scripture, we need to think about these questions and find biblical answers to them.  Over the next few weeks, we’ll be examining the office of elder and trying to answer questions such as these.  This Sunday in particular, we will discuss what an elder is (i.e. what the meaning, purpose, and function of elders is).  As preperation, I’d encourage everyone to do a few things:

• Read through our constitution and identify what the role of the elder(s) currently is at KSBC
• Read Titus 1:5-9, Acts 20:28-31, Hebrews 13:17, and I Peter 5:2.  Identify the biblical role of elders.  How isKSBC’s current policy in line with the Scriptures?  How is it not?
• Pray that the Lord would give us all a righteous, godly passion for organizing His Church in the manner that He has prescribed

My notes can be found here.