Skip to main content

Elders in the Life of the Church






Elders in the Life of the Church: Rediscovering the Biblical Model for Church Leadership by Phil A. Newton and Matt Schmucker

This revised edition of Elders in Congregational Life is a great addition to the discussion on elders today.  Pastor Phil Newton and executive director of 9Marks and elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church seek to bring the discussion of elders into the foreground for Christian believers, especially those in Baptist circles.  The book takes a historical, biblical, theological, and practical approach to understanding elders and pointing others toward a positive view of the office in our churches.  Notably, the book helps move churches from a church without elders to one who lives and breathes the life of faith with elders.  Being a ruling elder in an Evangelical Presbyterian Church, I have been acquainted with eldership for most of my adult life, but I see the great advantages of this book with churches who are moving in that direction.

The first part of the book deals with background history of elders in the Baptist tradition and seeks to answer the question of why elders are to be to function in our churches.  The author’s note that, “The practice of including elders in Baptist life did not begin in America.  Plural eldership was common in England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  Yet,”…Most of the English Baptists of this era, unlike Presbyterians, rejected the idea of “ruling elders” as a distinct from “teaching elders.” (32-33)  There was a common ground between elders in Baptist church life between pastors and elected elders in the congregation that was somewhat different than the role of ruling and teaching elders in the Reformed tradition.  We even get a glimpse of what the Baptist confessions taught as we hear what John Piper has to say when he writes, “…from the historical survey of Baptist Confessions is that it is false to say that the eldership is unbaptistic.” (36)  However, there has been a downturn in the witness of elder plurality among Baptists today.  The two authors are careful to point out that the church must understand and apply what God’s Word says today about this issue.

Matt points out a very practical and point concerning elders that is chalk full of wisdom.  He writes, “This is why nominating new elders is the one matter for which our own elder board does not allow any dissenting votes…But when it comes to nominating new elders, we require unanimity.” (120)  The matter of trust runs deep and the church needs men who are able to be trusted in all different ministry contexts.  Matt goes onto to provide some healthy ways of dealing with disagreements among elders.  He points out that we must distinguish between matters of doctrinal, character, or personal struggles. (120)  I believe we can only know these things as we pursue one another thru constant communication and prayer.  The beauty of being an elder is that you can lean on each other in agreement and come to each other in disagreement even if the conflict is very serious. 

I really enjoyed this book as glimpse into the reasons why a plurality of leadership in the local church is the best model for church government.  I appreciate the honesty and wisdom of both author’s and their willingness to see both the personal and practical benefits of having elders.

Thanks to Kregel Ministry for the copy of this book to review in exchange for an honest review. 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Rise of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman

  The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman Navigating the culture that we take up residence in, with its laser focus on sexual identity, tolerance, and an individualism that raises its head at every corner, Christians need a robust account of how we got to this point in our Western culture without retreating to our churches nor morphing with the latest trends.   Carl Trueman, professor of religion and theology at Grove City College, brings his keen historical research to bear on this issue in his new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.   Part historical survey and philosophical analysis, Dr. Trueman traces the trajectories of key thinkers such as Rousseau, Freud, and Marx, while also incorporating the insights of Charles Taylor and Phillip Rieff to form a cogent argument as to how we got to this point in our history, both in our expressive individualism and sexual freedom outlooks.   The book is surprisingly insightful and yet demands from the reader the pa

The Conditioned Mind

The Conditioned Mind: Overcoming the Crippling Effects of Sin and Guilt by Michael J. Mannia Counselor and author Michael J. Mannia knows firsthand how the spiraling of sin and guilt can eat away at life.  His new book, The Conditioned Mind, is a look into how believers can overcome the effects of sin and guilt and live in the freedom that we have in Christ.  Through a careful look into the patterns that we develop and the mindsets that we get ingrained in, Michael is able to offer ways through guilt that bring freedom and healing.  I think this is not only a timely but a book that aims toward bringing real healing to its readers. In the first chapter Michael looks at two needs that we have: our need for love and our need for security.  Love isn’t something optional for the human race, but something it needs at its core.  “Additionally, we need to reciprocate love.  We need to feel loved as much as we need to love others (8).”  Love is a two-way street that inv

Passover and Jesus

The Messiah in the Passover , Edited by Darrell Bock and Mitch Glaser Why should Christians celebrate and remember the Passover?   This is a striking question that needs to be understood as well as the historical and theological context of the Passover.   However obscure we sometimes view the Old Testament, there is some significant reasons why we should reach back and study the Passover.   Mitch Glaser in the Introduction states, “When Christians celebrate the Passover, they grow in their understanding of the Old Testament, affirm the Jewishness of the Gospel, deepen our understanding of the Lord’s Supper, and build community with fellow Christians…” (20).   This book is answer to why celebrate the Passover but even more importantly an answer to what the Passover is and what it signifies to us today.   The various contributors of this book, Messiah in the Passover, bring a wealth of ministry experience in relating the Jewishness of both Jesus and the Old Testament to