Would you begin by describing a group of women and men who had been elected to serve in particular ways in the congregation?
Would you, if asked, describe what they do as serving Communion and meeting on a regular basis to conduct the “business” of the congregation?
Would you explain to the questioner that both ministers and elders are ordained (“set apart”) for particular service in the church?
Would you show the inquirer the Book of Order and the description of the office of elder?
Might you point the inquirer to the statement of purpose: “the purpose and pattern of leadership in the church in all its forms of ministry shall be understood not in terms of power but of service, after the manner of the servant ministry of Jesus Christ.” (ref?)
How were you invited to become an elder? The day I was asked I had the one and only migraine headache of my life. So when the pastor of my church called to ask me if I would consider becoming an elder, having been nominated by the Nominating Committee, I said “Yes” immediately just to make the noise of his voice stop. Not an auspicious way to begin! I was agreeing to be ordained, agreeing to make Christ’s ministry my own, agreeing to be set apart for particular functions in the life of the Presbyterian Church. I wouldn’t have bought a car or a house or adopted a child with so little consideration of the step I was taking. Would you?
Every Presbyterian church has folks like us — ordained persons who take on significant leadership roles in the church. When asked to serve, we discover a precisely laid out procedure that makes us responsible for many aspects of the life of a Christian community. We learn of the visible roles to fulfill:
• serving Communion in the sanctuary and in homes and hospitals and other care facilities alongside an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament.
• standing with parents and guardians of children to be baptized, representing Christ’s body, the church, in this sacramental act.
• laying hands on others to ordain them to the office of Word and Sacrament.
• invoking God’s blessing when we teach a class or guide a young person through the confirmation process, and
• asking questions of potential new members and confirmands, testing their commitment and knowledge.
Those who feel called to the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament go to seminary. Those called to serve as elders get on-the-job training. Some recognize their own gifts and follow through, some discover from experience their natural skills and ministry interests.
Ordination of ministers and elders grants equal standing, although they differ in function. In neither case does it elevate to a status of particular honor, although taking on the roles of Minister of Word and Sacrament or that of Ruling Elder may bring with it a sense of privilege, perhaps not unlike that which is felt by becoming a parent or finding an occupation or vocation that seems to encompass the gifts you have been given that now can be exercised.
A Presbyterian church sees in those ordained to these two offices a holistic incarnation of what we understand the church of Jesus Christ to need and to be for living faithfully as God’s people whatever the circumstances of a particular congregation or presbytery. In his book, The Church, a Believing Fellowship, John Leith described six principles pertaining to the government and ordering of the church:
• Presbyterians believe in the unity of the church (meaning the whole church of God which each denomination shares with each other),
• … believe that the unity of the church is achieved through a series of church courts (presbyteries, synods, etc) composed of elders and ministers … a very important expression of unity is mutual recognition of members, ministers, and sacraments,
• … parity of “elders” (both ruling and teaching elders),
• … the right of the people to share in the government of the church by electing their own representatives and officers (calling a pastor and electing elders and deacons),
• … the authority of Scripture,
• … the ministry of compassion.
Within the broader definition of principles, numbers 2-5 speak directly about us, the elders in a church. It makes clear that it is the responsibility and privilege of a congregation to choose among its members men and women who exhibit the qualities needed for the church to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and the ministry to which Christ’s life, death, and resurrection points us.
Election to office is never to be a reward for monetary support or regular attendance in all church activities, although financial stewardship ought to be a commitment in each officer’s life. In addition to a candidate’s involvement in the life of the church, we would do well in our search to consider where and how discipleship has been manifested in a candidate’s life as a parent, spouse, voter, community volunteer, member of a school board or the local Fire Dept. or on the line of a Mission, serving food to the hungry or training newly arrived immigrants in the ways to seek out employment. Such notable involvements speak of the individual’s commitment to Christ-like and Christ-revealing behavior.
Elders may be identified for particular gifts they would bring to the goals and work of the Session just as a possible candidate for the office of pastor might receive more consideration if she or he demonstrated particular preferences for areas of ministry the congregation and the search committee see as critical or essential at a particular time in the church’s life.
Commitment to life as a disciple of Jesus Christ and a willingness to share that life with others in both the church and the world are the fundamental requirements of those who would be ministers of Word and Sacrament and ruling elders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Such people, together, provide the whole body of Christ with guidance, support, education, vision, and hope. Elders and ministers need each other as they make provision for the church’s life and witness. The particular focus of each group’s ministry may be seen as different from the other and their gifts may be expressed in similar and different contexts but their ultimate responsibilities lead to the same end and each group is equally charged and ordained for a common, worthy good. Instructed by Scripture and guided by the denomination’s articulation of responsibilities, ordained teaching and ruling elders together are the gift to a people who themselves have been or will be baptized into a similar calling.
Thanks be to God for our Reformed ancestors who have given us the guidance we need to be the church of Jesus Christ.
Questions for discussion:
How would YOU describe the role and function of an elder?
In what ways do elders operate as equals with ministers?
In what ways do elders’ functions differ from those of ministers?
Freda Gardener is a Presbyterian elder, presently serving on the Session of First Church, Albany, N.Y. She is professor emeriti of Christian Education at Princeton Theological Seminary, and served as Moderator of the 211th General Assembly (1999).
