Building a Leadership Team

 

1 Timothy 3 (ESV) – Qualifications for Overseers

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. As we press in to God, a part of our role is to build team. We believe in the plurality of Eldership; appointed and anointed to lead, the setting apart of a Trustee board and the recognition of many other roles & responsibilities as the model for Church leadership – we build together as a team. Therefore it is important at this time to consider how we might add into our ranks those God is setting apart. It is exciting to be able to name a number of new people who have, or are being added into this core leadership team. Before this I have four statements from scripture i wish to share as context and guidance.

1) The Head of the Church:

Ephesians 5:23 , “Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.” The Church is described as the body which receives its instruction, guidance and nourishment from the head – Jesus. He saves us and he leads us. Therefore the leadership of a Church is unlike that of a business. We are not simply lead by natural leaders, but by our supernatural God, the head over us.

2) A Holy Priesthood:

1 Peter 2:9 , “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” It is our belief that there is now one ‘great high priest’ – Jesus, who we all come before. We do not believe that any one of us, Elder, Trustee or otherwise acts as the ‘go-between’ from God to his people, we all are welcomed into personal relationships.

3) Recognising Eldership:

Acts 20:28 (speaking to the elders of Ephesus), “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God.” Whilst we all stand before God, equal as his children, the Bible makes it clear that He calls some to lead and to oversee the local Church. It is our practice to follow the New testament Building a Leadership Team model for appointing Elders which is by an apostolic figure (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5) or through the local Eldership team (1 Timothy 4:14). This appointment is done through the laying on of hands for the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of God. Elders are not recruited to the role, as a C.E.O. might be in business, but this call of God over them is recognised and received by the Church. We therefore like to give time for news of a potential Eldership appointment to be weighed by the Church. If at this point there are any concerns they can be brought to the existing Eldership team. Thankfully it is through this prayerful process that we tend to see agreement, especially since we all pray to the same God!

4) Role of the Elders:

The primary roles are to feed and lead the Church. In this the Elders will devote themselves to prayer, reading of the word and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Phil Moore has recently unpacked 5 responsibilities that an Elder has and lays them out below.

1) DISPLAYING godly character

2) DEFINING what is biblical doctrine and practice

3) DIRECTING the mission and ministry of the church

4) DELEGATING the work to capable workers whom they support

5) DISCIPLINING church members, where necessary

Adding to Jubilee core leadership team

Trustees:

We have added three new members to our board of trustees. Nate Down, Pauline Harris and Dave Pennington. This brought us real strength in the areas of finance, compliance & strategic management. I’m also pleased to say that we’re about to add Mark Harvey into the team.

Elders:

On the 29th September Sam Orkar shared the exciting news that we’re proposing Matt Hoyes be appointed as an Elder. For about 9-12 months the Elders have been contemplating this addition and prayerfully seeking God. Jonathan LeTocq has also been involved through prayer and conversations. We’re proposing to use the Sunday evening on the 10th November as a moment to pray, anoint and appoint Matt to the office of Elder – an evening not to miss! We welcome your prayerful input and ask that you respond to myself or one of the other Elders with any questions, comments or encouragement. Matt would equally love to receive anything you feel God is laying on your heart – this is a big moment for our whole family. As a member of the Jubilee staff team we have naturally considered if his role fits with this new appointment or whether anything needs to change. We are pleased to say that Matt is as passionate for our 0-18’s as ever and will remain our 0-18’s Pastor. It is true that this new role will require an adjustment to his time/priorities, however we do not anticipate this to upset his role. 0-18’s will remain his focus for employment.

Article by – Dan Baptist 08/10/2019