As many of you know, one of our faithful and beloved elders, Brady King, preached his last sermon with us on Sunday as he’s preparing to get married and move to Tennessee to start a new chapter in life with Lauren Grace and her two children, Henry and Charlotte. It was a bittersweet moment for our church.
It was bitter because we are losing a dearly loved brother, pastor, and friend. It’s bitter because there will be one less person to have lunch or dinner with throughout the week. It’s bitter because there will be one less set of hands raised alongside us on Sunday mornings. It’s bitter because there will be one less friend to walk beside us through the joys and struggles of life. My heart hurts over the bitter reality of Brady leaving us behind in Mobile.
But it’s also sweet.
It’s sweet because our friend, who has walked through years of pain and turmoil, is now experiencing the joy of the Lord’s gracious provision. It’s sweet because tears of sorrow have turned to tears of joy. It’s sweet because God has led Brady to Lauren Grace, Henry, and Charlotte.
My heart is happy over the sweet reality of what is ahead for Brady, and even though we grieve his leaving, we know that God is faithful. We trust that God works all things together for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28), and we cry tears of joy as we watch God carrying out his good plan in Brady’s life.
As we celebrate God’s good plan in Brady’s life, we trust that what is good for Brady can also be good for us at Harbor.
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure how Brady’s leaving will be good for us. But I trust that God is a good multitasker, and that he’s able to work this together for our good here in Mobile.
Perhaps, one of the hidden benefits for us at Harbor is that, with Brady’s departure, new leaders will be forced to rise up in his place. Perhaps, in the same way a pruned vine becomes healthier in the long run, we will become a healthier church through this season of pruning.
This is a significant moment in the life of our church, I don’t want us to take this season of pruning lightly. So, as God raises his shears to Harbor Community Church, I wanted to take some time to be transparent with you about where we are in the process of identifying and appointing additional elders.
BRETT GLOVER
Starting in September, we will officially ordain Brett Glover as one of our pastors.
As many of you remember, about six months ago we brought Brett onto staff at Harbor to serve in youth ministry. When we made that hire, part of the plan was to eventually consider Brett for the role of pastor. But we wanted to be careful with that process.
So, rather than immediately appointing Brett as an elder, we brought him onto staff as our youth director with the intention of spending the next six months watching his life and ministry. We wanted to see his character, his leadership, his ability to teach, his care for people, and his faithfulness in serving the church.
Over these past six months, I have had conversations with many of you about Brett, and I have consistently heard positive feedback. More importantly, as we have watched him serve, we have seen nothing that gives us reason to pause in moving forward.
Therefore, we are excited to formally ordain Brett as a pastor at our Covenant Members Meeting on September 9.
WHY LAY ELDERS?
With Brady’s departure and Brett’s ordination, our current elder team will consist of two paid elders (Ryan and Brett) and one lay elder (Wayne).
As we say often, your pastors need to be pastored. Therefore, we believe a plurality of elders is essential to the health of the church. But, for the sake of accountability and the health of our church, our desire is to maintain a plurality of elders with more lay elders than staff elders. We believe this helps provide healthy accountability and ensures that the leadership of the church is not dependent upon those who are employed by the church.
Because of that, our goal is to identify and appoint two additional lay elders.
And this is where we want you to pray with us, asking that God would raise up the men he desires to shepherd Harbor Community Church.
But before we talk about who these men might be, I want to take a moment to remind us what the Bible says about the role of an elder and the qualifications Scripture gives us for this office.
WHAT IS AN ELDER?
First, the New Testament uses the terms elder, pastor, and overseer to describe the same office from different perspectives. The Bible uses those terms interchangeably.
The term elder emphasizes maturity, while the term overseer emphasizes the responsibility of leading and watching over the church, and the term pastor emphasizes the responsibility of shepherding God’s people.
These are not three different offices. They describe the same calling. Therefore, at Harbor, our pastors are elders and our elders are pastors. Some elders may be paid staff members, while others may serve as lay elders, but the office itself is the same. It’s all one position. The men that God has appointed to step into this position are all equal in the role they’ve been called to.
ELDERS ARE UNDER-SHEPHERDS
Since the church belongs to Jesus, every elder serves under the authority of Jesus. They are under-shepherds. Jesus is the Chief Shepherd. The church is God’s flock, not ours. Pastors are therefore men entrusted with the responsibility of caring for the people Jesus purchased with his own blood.
Peter says, “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight… And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” — 1 Peter 5:2, 4
Paul tells the elders at Ephesus, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” — Acts 20:28
And Ephesians 4 tells us that Christ gave pastors and teachers to the church “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
So, we have to understand that the responsibility of an elder is weighty because the church belongs to Christ. They’ve been entrusted with caring for the precious flock of God that he has obtained with his own blood.
ELDERS WANT TO BE ELDERS
Third, pastors are men who desire the work of shepherding; they are men who want to be elders.
Paul begins his qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy 3 by saying, “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” Aspire means to desire something. It signifies a want to step into this role.
So, that means there may be men who possess many of the necessary qualifications to be an elder but do not desire the responsibility of serving as an elder. And that is okay.
Serving as an elder is hard work. It requires sacrifice, time, prayer, courage, humility, and a willingness to care for people through difficult seasons. That is why Peter says elders should shepherd “not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly.”
We want men who don’t merely feel obligated to serve; we want men who genuinely desire to shepherd God’s people.
ELDERS TEACH GOD’S WORD
Fourth, pastors are men who shepherd the church toward spiritual maturity through the teaching of God’s Word.
Paul tells Titus to “teach what accords with sound doctrine.” Likewise, the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 include being “able to teach.” Paul also tells Timothy to devote himself to “the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13). This is why Hebrews tells the church to obey and submit to its leaders because “they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account” (Hebrews 13:17).
Elders are entrusted with people’s souls. Therefore, they must be men who know God’s Word, love God’s Word, teach God’s Word, and live under the authority of God’s Word.
ELDERS GUARD AGAINST FALSE TEACHING
In a similar vain, elders are men who guard the church against false teaching. The responsibility of an elder isn’t simply to teach what is true; it is also to protect the church from what is false.
Paul warned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert.” — Acts 20:29-31
Elders must therefore stay alert. They must care about what is being taught in the church. They must be willing to confront error and protect God’s people from teaching that would lead them away from Christ.
ELDERS EQUIP THE CHURCH
Sixth, pastors are men who equip the church to do the work of ministry.
A pastor is a servant of the church, but a pastor is not meant to serve for the church. Ephesians 4 says Christ gave pastors and teachers to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
Healthy pastors don’t create a church where everyone depends upon the pastors to do everything. Healthy pastors equip God’s people to use the gifts God has given them to serve one another and make disciples.
Our goal isn’t to build a church where the pastors do all the ministry. Our goal is to build a church where the whole body is equipped and mobilized to do the work of ministry.
ELDERS MODEL A LIFE WORTH IMITATING
Seventh, and perhaps most importantly, pastors are men who model a life worth imitating.
When you look at the qualifications for an elder in 1 Timothy 3, you will see that they are overwhelmingly about character. This tells us that great leaders don’t always make great pastors, and great communicators don’t necessarily make great shepherds. The character of a pastor is far more important than his charisma.
Paul tells the Ephesian elders to “pay careful attention to yourselves” (Acts 20:28). He tells Timothy to “keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching” (1 Timothy 4:16). Peter tells elders to be “examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).
So, when we consider a man for eldership, we aren’t primarily asking, “Is he talented?” We’re asking, “Is his life worth imitating?”
Does his marriage reflect faithfulness? Does his family life demonstrate godliness? Is he humble? Is he self-controlled? Is he hospitable? Is he gentle? Is he trustworthy? Is he above reproach?
Ultimately, we’re looking for men whose character increasingly resembles the character of Christ. So, read these qualifications laid out for us in 1 Timothy 3 closely,
“[1] The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. [2] Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, [3] not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. [4] He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, [5] for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? [6] He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. [7] Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” — 1 Timothy 3:1-7
PRAY WITH US
If I could summarize the role of an elder into a concise sentence, it would be as follows:
“Elders exist to willingly and gently shepherd the church of God toward spiritual maturity by teaching the Word, guarding the truth, equipping the saints for ministry, and modeling a life worth imitating.”
We believe that God is the one who raises up shepherds for his church. Listen to Paul’s words to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”
The elders who served in Ephesus were those that the Holy Spirit had made to be overseers. I’m praying the same will be true for us at Harbor, that God will raise up men to help shepherd his church.
Now, that doesn’t mean we sit back and wait for names to fall out of the sky. It means that we as the church prayerfully seek the Lord, examine men according to the Scriptures, and trust the Holy Spirit to guide the process.
So, church, would you pray with us? Would you pray that God would raise up the men he desires to shepherd this church? Would you pray that the Lord would give us wisdom and discernment as we walk through this process? Would you pray that we would not simply look for talented men, charismatic men, or successful men, but godly men who meet the biblical qualifications and who genuinely desire to shepherd God’s people?
And men, I want to encourage you to pray about this personally. Could the Lord be calling you to serve as an elder at Harbor? Has he given you a desire to lead and shepherd his church? Has he given you a desire to care for his people?
If so, don’t dismiss that desire. Pray and fast. Search the Scriptures. Talk with your wife. Talk with those closest to you. Talk with one of our current elders. Invite trusted brothers in the church to speak honestly into your life.
And for all of us, let’s trust the Lord through this process. We love Brady dearly, and we will miss him tremendously. We are thankful for the many ways that God has used Brady to shepherd us. But the church was never Brady’s, and it isn’t ours. It has always belonged to Jesus, and Jesus has promised to build his church. So, as we enter this season of transition, let’s trust him to raise up faithful shepherds to care for his flock.
Pruning is never fun. But, we trust that it will always lead to more fruit in the future!