Minister/Elder Selection and Training

There has been a tendency in many non-conformist churches to select elders from the congregation and appoint them without much training.  In contrast Anglican churches expect their lay-readers to undergo a prolonged training but even this does not ensure that the end product is a great asset to the church.  How can churches produce better leaders, it can only be by good selection and then good training.

Selection

Personality

Choosing the right men for training to be future church elders is vital. Leaders must have a presence about them that others admire.   Too many have decided for themselves to go to read theological at college with the hope that with a degree or diploma they will become church leaders even though they do not have the personality to lead and inspire people.  An elder does need to have an encouraging personality.

Christlikeness

Potential leaders need to be godly people who have demonstrated that their greatest concern is to live for Christ.  Do they make friends easily, do they smile and look people in the face when talking with them? Are they hospitable, do they invite others for meals. Can they talk naturally about Jesus and are they continually encouraging others to live for Christ.  Are they O and O?  This is an idea that the great evangelist American D.L.Moody used to use.  When leading a mission in England he was asked to meet an Irish Christian and he asked,

“Is he O and O?”

When asked what he meant he replied,

“Is he Out and Out for the Lord Jesus?”

People learn something from those with some knowledge but they learn far more about being Christians by watching how others live for Christ.  These are the sort of minister/elders that churches desperately need.

Knowledge

A major role of an elder is to teach and inspire people in the church so a considerable level of Biblical knowledge is needed.  If someone has never got round to learning key Bible verses and to know passages on major issues and doctrines they will find it hard to teach others.  To some degree knowledge can be learned but if someone does not have a love of learning they will find it very hard to inspire others.

Doctrine

When my son applied for ordination training his personality seems to have been a major criteria people were looking for.  This is right and proper but what was surprising was that no-one asked him about is understanding of apostolic theology.  This is a tragedy and can explain how false teachers can obtain senior positions in a church.

Bishop Wallace Benn attended a selection committee for future lay readers in the Church of England.  He asked the twelve candidates the same question,

“Do you think that Jesus is the best way to God or is he the only way.”

He was shocked when every candidate answered,

“I think he is the best way to God!”

What a tragedy for such people to have got so far as their reply demonstrates they have not graped the uniqueness of the Christian message.

Teaching skill

It is foolhardy to consider appointing someone as an elder if they have not been involved in leading a successful home Bible Study group and have been appreciated as a leader in that context.  There is no better training for future church leaders.  It is in the home group that future elders will hone their skills.

There was a pentecostal Bible College in South America that required those who wanted to be admitted to the college for training to have already founded a church!  That may be too high a standard but such are the sort of church leaders we need in the United Kingdom.  A different but very important standard is to know whether a candidate has been the means of leading someone to Christ and how they did this.  If they have not done so in the past it is unlikely that they will in the future.

It is very clear that if those going into training do not already have these nascent attributes they will be most unlikely to find them later.