Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

Shared Leadership

well as for doing business. One of the secrets to a successful eldership is regular, effective meetings that include a major portion of time devoted to laboring together in prayer (Acts 6:4). Board elders don’t labor in prayer together, but spiritual shepherds cannot do otherwise. To adapt an old cliché, “elders who pray together stay together.” In addition to the elders’ work, times of relaxed fellowship are also necessary for building friendship, teamwork, and trust. Summerton comments: “It is important that elders (and, I would recommend, their spouses) should give time, despite the press of other things, to prayer, fellowship and relaxation together, without the impediment of any agenda. The purpose is to build the bonds of love which should be evident to the congregation and which will survive the inevitable strains which responsibility imposes in an imperfect world.”‘0 Elders need to be in the business of building up one another’s lives. Older, more experienced elders need to mentor younger elders. Elders need to recommend times of sabbatical rest for weary colleagues. Elders need to set up ongoing educational programs for themselves. Elders need to take practical steps toward building an effective, spiritually minded eldership that involves all the elders who share the responsibility of shepherding God’s flock.