Elders empowered and accountable

The kindness of clear roles, processes, and structures

In my last post, I argued that leadership in the kingdom of God should be characterized by overlapping folds of mutuality, communal spirituality, and accountability. I’m also convinced that this doesn’t happen by accident. These values do not comprise our default mode.

When I was a young minister, I believed that authentic spirituality was spontaneous and that structure was its mortal enemy. I still believe that church leadership is not an end in itself, a self-perpetuating monument to importance, but that it has to be flexible and responsive to the call of God and human need, aka mission. Ironically, this responsiveness is served best, not by a laissez-faire-follow-your-bliss-kum-by-yah-seat-of-my-spiritual-knickers modality, but by a deliberate and intentional structure that promotes clarity and and resourcefulness. Not an organizational structure designed for control, which in a primarily volunteer organization easily becomes stagnant and susceptible to abuse by leaders whose drug of choice is control.

So, let’s apply all of this to elders. And I will work backwards from our three stated values. So, first let’s look at accountability.

In some traditions, including my own, elders are at the top of the org-chart. Too often, their authority is practiced behind closed doors. When they are mentioned in the public prayers of the congregation, it is in relation to decision making. And often, they are like supreme court justices—appointed for life. In these organizational traditions, everyone is accountable to them and they see themselves accountable only to God. And in many congregations of which I am aware, the current elders choose the new elders. In such systems, they create a bottle neck in terms of innovation and risk-taking that is necessary for change. And because they have received no training for their job, they respond to their insecurity with greater measures of control. Accountability vis-a-vis the congregation is low.

My own sense is that the authority of Christ resides in the body of Christ. The bishop doesn’t constitute the church, but the church the bishop. This doesn’t mean that elders have no authority, but it means that it is embedded in the church’s authority. While mutuality is the way of the kingdom of God, it is best to think of elders serving the church rather than the church serving elders.

My support for these assertions begins with the nature of the life of God which exists in relationships of mutuality and reciprocity. Biblically speaking, I could cite many texts, but will provide one for now. Jesus, in Mt’s gospel, is insistent that his followers call no one on earth “rabbi, father, or instructor” as these titles of honor obscure the fact that it is God in Christ who retains these prerogatives. Instead, leaders are simply to be known as “brothers and sisters” (Mt 23:8-10).

In light of this, it is interesting to note the example of binding and loosing in Mt 18. When your brother sins against you, go directly to them. If they do not listen, take a few witnesses. If they still don’t listen, we might expect the instruction to include a ring of leaders—scribes or elders. But that is not the instruction. The church is the ultimate human authority in this case. Jesus adds, “Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. . . Where two or three of you are gathered in my name, I am with you. ” (Mt 18:15-20).

Whatever authority elders possess, it is conferred upon them by the congregation as the body of Christ. And, in turn, elders are accountable to the congregation.

So, what might this look like? First, the church selects their elders. This is a task of spiritual discernment, and has the benefit of not only identifying elders, but also of forming the congregation such that their imagination related to any issue is listening for the Spirit of God. And while I’m talking about spiritual processes, let me say that elders are ordained and installed. You install mufflers. You ordain elders as a statement of belief in God’s guidance and to confer God’s blessing on their work.

At ordination, they should also be tasked with the roles to be taken up as a group. These roles should be written down and both empower and limit their work. Role descriptions can seem like a burden, but they are protection for those tasked with leading. And not every person selected as an elder performs well related to everything on the role description. To do the work of eldering, it takes a group and not just an individual.

Elders should have terms, periods when they can be evaluated and confirmed by the congregation related to their role, or a designated time when they could step away and/or new elders be ordained. At the congregation I served as preaching minister, our story with elders began in wariness. So, we did elder selection every two years. We would do existing staff evaluations in alternate years with elder selection. Every two years seems quick when I describe this to others and it might be best to do it in three or four year intervals. In the eleven years I served there, we never had the experience of an elder being denied continued service by the congregation. We did, however, have elders decide to step away and new elders to be ordained.

This process of evaluation does mean, however, that an existing elder might not be confirmed to continue in that role. I was part of a ministers’ group that would meet for a retreat every year and share how things were going. One from our group complained every year about an elder who was making everyone’s life miserable. They had no elder role description, they had no evaluation process, and elders served indefinitely. This elder’s leadership was toxic and the fallout from not confirming him to continue in that role would likely have been contentious, but ultimately would have made the congregation a healthier place.

Having standards that would provide some measure of accountability going in, coupled with periods of evaluation, ultimately make serving in that role more meaningful in my estimation. Having the continual affirmation of the congregation and clear on and off ramps provides clarity and vital sense of God’s effective presence.

I want to reiterate my insistence that the occasion of having an elder role description obligates the congregation to provide training for elders as they take up incredibly important role. Next post, communal spirituality.