Elders as a team
This part of the course explores the importance of Elders working as a team - amongst themselves and with the wider church community.
6. The Church as a team
So who are the team players within a church? The elders are not the only team. Your
church is a united, one-team, working together.
Certainly, the Elders have key responsibilities for ensuring the delivery of vital aspects of our church life (more about these in the module 'Governance'), but they are not alone. Members and adherents have responsibilities too!
Collective decisions are taken to the Church Meeting, which confirms the approach and actions to be taken. Elders in this instance are working as a team within the wider Church team and are accountable to the church meeting.
There may also be sub-teams operating for specific purposes within the church. For example, your church may have a team of people responsible for pastoral care, for youth and children’s activities, for fabric and buildings, for worship, etc. These smaller, topic focussed groups are still accountable through the eldership to the wider church team as a whole. Yet through each of these teams, the aim of working together is to discern God’s will for the church and the communities we serve.