This coming Sunday you will have the chance to be involved in the nomination process for elders at Thousand Hills Hilversum. The leadership team of our church would like to encourage you to be in prayer about this during this week, because the elders in Thousand Hills have an important role in the development of the spiritual life in the church. They also encourage a positive spiritual climate and help maintain stability in situations that might become harmful to the church.
Because their role is quite different from the role that elders have in many other churches, we always offer about 10 minutes of teaching during the Sunday service before the elders’ nomination. The elders that will be nominated by the church are our congregational elders and they can be distinguished from our directional elders (basically: our pastoral lead team and site pastors) and our overseers (outside elders who pray for the church and its leadership and give advice when necessary).
Characteristics of the role of elders at Thousand Hills
These are some of the characteristics of the role of our elders:
- They serve the congregation with prayer and counseling;
- They are not members of the pastoral staff;
- They meet the Biblical qualifications of eldership and function in that calling;
- They derive their income from other sources than the church;
- They are nominated by the church and selected by the Lead Pastor in consultation with the pastoral staff and the present elders.
Functions of elders
They perform the following functions:
- They teach by living a godly, Christian lifestyle;
- They provide a prayer shield for the pastoral team and the local church;
- They pray for the sick;
- They mediate disputes among church members;
- They counsel people.
Biblical qualifications for elders
When you think and pray about which people you could nominate, please consider the following qualifications that we can find in the Bible:
- They need to desire the office (1Tim. 3:1);
- They are above reproach (1Tim.3:2; Titus 1:6);
- They are the husband of one wife or the wife of one husband (1Tim.3:2; Titus 1:6);
- They are temperate and self-controlled (1Tim.3:2; Titus 1:8);
- They are respectable (1Tim.3:2);
- They are hospitable (1Tim.3:2; Titus 1:8);
- They hold fast to solid teaching (1Tim.3:2; Titus 1:9);
- They are not addicted to alcohol or other things (1Tim.3:3; Titus 1:7);
- They are not quick-tempered, but gentle and peaceable (1Tim.3:3; Titus 1:7);
- They are free from the love of money (1Tim.3:3; Titus 1:7);
- They manage their own household well and have believing children who are not rebellious (1Tim.3:4; Titus 1:6);
- They are not new converts (1Tim.3:6);
- They have a good reputation with people outside the church (1Tim.3:7);
- They don’t need to be a man necessarily (1Tim.3:10).
Beyond those qualifications, these are important requirements for all leaders at Thousand Hills:
- They are committed and active members of the church;
- They agree to the vision, mission, purpose and doctrinal standards of Thousand Hills;
- They desire to be servant leaders who minister and serve others (Matt. 20:26-28).
Process for the nomination of elders
This is what will be happening next Sunday during our service in Thousand Hills Hilversum and after:
- Forms will be handed out on which you can nominate up to 12 names of people you think meet these qualifications;
- Put your form in an offering bag that will pass by;
- The Lead Pastor will select 2-4 new elders (couples) from the people with the most nominations in consultation with the present elders & pastoral leadership;
- On Sunday 20 June we’ll announce who the new elders will be.
Because you may not know everyone else’s name, the Pastoral Lead Team always suggests a few names of people we know match the qualifications and are available. This time, we would like to recommend to you Roy & Juliana Abraham from India and Bernard & Simone Hoon from South Africa. Please feel free though to nominate anyone else you think fits the requirements.
If you would like to see the teaching session from last Sunday, check it out here:
Teaching on eldership from Thousand Hills Int’l Church on Vimeo.