21 August
Dear Friends,
On Sunday, we will be ordaining new elders in our congregation – a joyous occasion in the life of any congregation and one that we are particularly excited about. Officially, the Church of Scotland describes the role of an elder as being “one of the spiritual offices of the church and is concerned with the oversight and pastoral work of a congregation”. In fact, the word that is used to describe our denomination, “Presbyterian”, is a translation of the Greek word presbyteros, meaning “elder”. We place a certain weight on the role of eldership in our congregations. No wonder appointing elders takes such a long time! We as a congregation discerned, nominated, and conversed until we could finally welcome these individuals, who will give guidance to our congregation over the coming years.
All of this is not to say that eldership is a position of egoistic boasting where some see themselves as being special Christians – quite the opposite. Gone are the days when eldership meant a few wealthy individuals cloistered in a room, smoking cigars and drinking expensive whiskey. Thank goodness!
No, eldership is simply one way of serving the congregation among many other ways. It is taking on a specific role for a specific time in order to give practical expression to the mission which God has placed on our hearts: “within these walls let no one be a stranger”. That also means that the elders cannot function on their own. In fact, they are simply representatives of the whole congregation, meant to reflect the opinions, beliefs, cultures, attitudes, and dreams of all of us. We as a congregation have a special responsibility, therefore, to support them, pray for them, and show up to help them with the tasks at hand.
Our reading for this Sunday supports this view of eldership as Paul encourages all members of the congregation in Rome to present themselves as “living sacrifices”. No one, he says, is to think of themselves more highly than they ought. We are one body with many members, and not all the members have the same function: “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness”.
So, may we pause for a moment to pray for our elders, for our congregation, and for ourselves. Let us ask ourselves how we can support, journey with, and come alongside our elders as they seek and give expression to God’s dream for our congregation.
Rev. Marius Louw