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Calling all elders: The moderator’s June column
Written by Cynthia Bolbach, Moderator of the 219th GA   
Tuesday, 07 June 2011 18:06
LOUISVILLE (Office of the General Assembly) “I’m just an elder.”

Have you heard someone say that? Have you said it yourself? Maybe in response to
being asked to lead worship, or preach, or visit someone in the hospital?

“No,” you reply, “I couldn’t do that. I’m just an elder. Those are things the pastor
does.”

Our Presbyterian polity doesn’t recognize the statement, “I’m just an elder.” In our
polity, ruling elders and teaching elders (also known as Ministers of the Word and
Sacrament) share equally in the governance and spiritual leadership of the church. Our
calls to ministry encompass different functions and tasks, but we are called equally to
ministry and to leadership in the church.

For too long the ministry of ruling elder has been diminished, equated with serving on
a nonprofit board of directors. Yes, the session does perform tasks like hiring nursery
attendants and deciding whether the amount of insurance coverage is adequate. But
that is not the primary task of the session or of the ruling elders who serve on it.

Ruling elders have the awesome task of measuring our community of faith’s fidelity
to the Word of God. As the proposed new Form of Government puts it, “Ruling
elders, together with teaching elders, exercise leadership, government, spiritual
discernment, and discipline and have responsibilities for the life of a congregation as
well as the whole church, including ecumenical relationships” (G-2.0301).

There’s no “just” anywhere in that sentence.

Being a ruling elder is not easy. But we are not in this alone. Others are there to guide
us as we seek to carry out our high calling.

From June 30–July 2, Presbyterians will gather in Indianapolis for the “Big Tent.” A

significant component of the Big Tent will be the Elders Conference – a chance for all
of us who are ruling elders to come together, share common thoughts and concerns,
learn how to be better ruling elders, and, not least, to discover the “top ten things
elders need to know.” Really, how can you stay away?

Visit the Big Tent website to register. I look forward to seeing with you there!
 

Comments  

 
#1 Thomas Fultz, Elder, Westminster Presbyterian Church 2011-06-07 20:43
Thanks to the passage of Amendment 10A and nFoG, Ruling Elders in our presbytery will spend the summer writing new Operations Manuals and studying the Scriptures and our Confessions to ensure we are freshly aware of how they call our candidates for offices to have a manner of life demonstrating the Christian gospel in the world, and what are the Scriptural standards for personal faith, sense of call, knowledge of doctrine, and readiness for ministry. Ruling and Teaching Elders will be gathering together in preparation for our next meeting of Presbytery and praying for how we will lead our congregations in faithful service to Jesus Christ. Who has time for a conference endorsed by the Moderator who served on the nFoG development group and eagerly supported Amendment 10A? It seems that exercise of local option will be in order - now that is really a big tent at work.
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