The Leadership Role of an Elder

• Provide "big picture" leadership of the church, while the senior pastor and staff lead the church in day-to-day items
• Set policy and serve as the decision-making arm when the church is not in conference
• Be teachers of the Word and uphold biblical doctrine
• Oversee matters of church discipline
• Provide prayer ministry for the sick and those in need of special prayer (James 5:14)
• Serve as an accountability team to senior pastor as he leads the church

Biblical Qualifications of an Elder

I Timothy 3:1-7, I Timothy 5:17-22 and Titus 1:5-9, and James 5:14

• Godly Character: above reproach; respectable; having a good reputation inside and outside the church; temperate; gentle; uncontentious; not self-willed; just; free from the love of money (a tither, as a minimum); self-controlled and prudent
• Able to Teach: good manager of his own household; if married, faithful to his wife; hospitable; having children who believe
• Spiritual Maturity: not a new convert; devout; oversees matters of church discipline
• Prayer: prays for the sick