Elder Role

Scripture gives limited instruction on the role of an Elder. We are well aware of the “qualifications” from I Timothy and Titus but when it comes to role and expectations, the Bible gives us a good deal of freedom to craft the day-to-day duties of an Elder. Of course, there are the regular pastoral duties of an elder but job descriptions and the “who handles what” between pastoral staff and a volunteer Elder board still need to be defined.

So, we have spent a good deal of time ironing out what the role of Elder is to look like at Westwinds. Below are my chicken-scratch notes defining the bullet points. Some of this is based on clear scriptural directive and some based on our own church’s needs, desires, personality, and structure. This description will also help define expectations for any new elders who join our team.


PROTECT
• Protect the church—defend her. Spread good cheer about her.
• Protect the staff—make sure to shut down any negative talk about any individual, talk them up.

TEACH
• Teach individuals about living well—be a role model, be authentic, live the abundant life, take care of yourself
• Mission—know it and talk about it all the time. Pepper conversation with it. We cannot talk too much about why we do what we do.
• Vision—cast it. Dream with folks.
• Values—our church has a personality. Love it and live it. Our values are Imagination, Permission, Authenticity, and Community.
• Target market—this is somewhat of a misnomer because we don’t really have one. Rather, we understand the type of person that will be attracted to Westwinds and celebrate our personality.
• Doxa—our core orthodoxy. Mountains we will die on.
• Basic theology—call it Theology 101. Theology Proper.
• Narrative theology—do your homework on this one
• Imago Dei—While this is a huge emphasis for us in recent days, the exploration of a more holistic atonement theology is key

REWARD
• Staff
• Coriolis
• Volunteers

--our Elders are proactive in showing appreciation in tangible ways

CHECK
• Attitudes
• Overall church direction
• Strategic plan and initiatives

BALANCE
• Dreams with responsibility—on one hand, we never want to stop dreaming and stretching, on the other hand we need to be careful how we launch into new initiatives in regard to timing and budget, etc.
• Hardship with calling—and then sometimes, no matter what timing and budget look like, God jumps in our face and says DO THIS NOW

MEASURE
• Church health
• Leadership health
• Numbers—doesn’t matter what you say or what you have heard, butts in the seats count for something. Not everything. Something.
• Budget/fiscal responsibility
• Communication strategies and initiatives

PRAY
• Wisdom
• Discernment
• Protection
• Courage

SEEK
• Knowledge
• Understanding
• Guidance
• Holiness

LEAD
• Be opinion leaders—perception counts. Spread good cheer.
• Plant seeds of promise
• Counsel
• Cast vision
• Be actively involved in ministry

SOLVE
• Problems
• Address issues
• “own” crises

STUDY
• Stay fresh in your own spirit
• The history of Westwinds
• The history of Westwinds staff
• General leadership
• Theology
• Aggressive/progressive church methodology