2025 Week 25
Hello, Springers!
From now until June 29th, the elders are receiving nominations for church officers. As we do so, I want to make sure you understand this privilege and duty, and so I’ll be writing and teaching on this topic.
Today, let’s focus on the theme of members electing their officers.
Preachers are the most visible leaders in a church. Because of that, many people assume the preacher runs the church and that all other leaders are subordinate to him. In some churches, this may be the case, but not at Valley Springs. We are an elder-led church. The pastor is one member of the group.
In some elder-led churches, it is unclear how the current elders were chosen or how new elders could be chosen. Elders may seem to be a group handpicked by the pastor. But in our denomination, we have preliminary principles that guard the process.
In our Book of Church Order (BCO), the sixth preliminary principle states that “the power to elect persons to the exercise of authority in any particular society resides in that society.” It also acknowledges that Christ’s power is at work in every member of the church and that power “extends to the choice of those officers whom He has appointed in His Church.”
In other words, we believe that Christ uses the members of his body to recognize the officers God is calling to lead the local church. We don’t flip a coin. We don’t look for a strange sign. However, we trust that God works through his people in their choices.
So we take nominations and train men on what the Bible says about qualified officers. We provide the congregation with a potential slate. They have time to meet and discuss with the potential officers. Then, we finalize it with a congregational vote. It’s a lengthy and prayerful process, and if you are a member of Valley Springs, it’s important for you to be involved in this process.
Can men chosen by the congregation really be the leaders who point us to God?
Perfectly? No!
Imperfectly? Yes.
I’ll leave you with one more thing from our preliminary principles:
“All church courts may err through human frailty, yet it rests upon them to uphold the laws of Scripture though this obligation be lodged with fallible men.”
Fallible men lead Christ’s church. But they lead as men who recognize that Jesus Christ is the only King and Head of the Church. With him, there is much grace.
During this season, if you have questions about how our church organization works, or if you want more information on the distinctives of our branch of Christ’s church, please be sure to ask.
in Christ,
Pastor Tag