Church Leadership
Indentifying Elders: What To Look For
Probably the simplest advice for identifying elders comes from Thabiti Anyabwile in his book, Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons: “Notice men who already appear to be shepherding members of the church even though they don’t have the title ‘elder’ or ‘pastor.’” That’s a great place to start thinking. Beyond that, it may be helpful to keep in mind a few categories that we…
Qualifications for Elders and Deacons
Elders and deacons are important in God’s design for the church. We’ll address three important questions here: What are elders and deacons again? What’s the difference? What are the biblical qualifications for elders? What are the biblical qualifications for deacons? What are Elders and Deacons Again? What’s the Difference? According to the New…
A Goal: Identifying More Elders in 2021
“A church without godly leaders is an endangered church.” (Thabiti Ayabwile, Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons) As we seek to move forward in 2021, one of our priorities is to find a few more elders. Currently, our team of elders consists of me (Josh Fenska, since 2006), Tim Tatum (since 2012), Josh Anderson (since 2013), Matt Vent (since 2017), and Mike…
Why Plant Churches? Five Reasons
Two weeks ago, we had a “send out Sunday” for Mission Church and Kyle & Colleen Gennicks, and the commission team. This past week, they began their Sunday meetings! This is a good opportunity to remember why we plan to be a church-planting church. Here are a few reasons: 1) A BIBLICAL reason: Great Commission + the book of Acts = Jesus’ mandate for church…
Qualifications for Elders and Deacons
This fall, we have nominated two new elders and two new deacons. We are submitted to the authority of God’s Word, and committed to our vision of seeing lives transformed by the power of the gospel to the glory of God. We believe that commissioning more qualified elders and deacons in our local church will (1) strengthen our ministries, and (2) position us for long-term…
Redeemer Church Leadership Course Recap
At the end of 2015, the elders asked for nominations from members of the church for men who should participate in our first ever Redeemer Church Leadership Course. This was born out of a strong conviction that God was calling us to equip and position more men to take on increased leadership within the church. For the past nine months, a dozen men have completed Bible…
Why Do Deacons Matter for the Church’s Health?
Post by Josh Fenska As we are hoping to commission Greg, Matt, and Tom as deacons at Redeemer, we’ve posted several things this past week about what the Bible says, and about what our plan is. Why does all of this matter for our church’s health? There are a number of answers to that…
What Are We Doing Re: Deacons
Post by Josh Fenska This autumn, we have nominated Greg U, Matt V, and Tom B to serve as deacons. In the years to come, we want to see a number of church members commissioned as deacons—to administrate servanthood for the upbuilding of the church to the glory of God. (See the previous post about the Bible’s teaching on deacons, and look for more posts to come on…
What Does the Bible Say about Deacons?
post by Josh Fenska Depending on your church background, you may have different ideas or expectations for deacons. People with a certain Baptist background may think of a board of trustees in which twelve men vote about things like landscaping and the youth pastor’s salary. People from an Anglican background may think of white robes with special sashes. Basketball fans…