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.
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