Elders and Parishes
Trinity is publishing a series of short introductions to our church and her life together. It’s an attempt to provide at least some answer to the occasional question "Yeah, but why do you do that?". These will be available as cards on Sunday morning, but we're putting them here for safe-keeping:
We believe that the church has been given a rather remarkable job. In Matthew 28, Jesus commissioned his church to disciple the nations. God has sent the church to see the whole world brought into glad submission to King Jesus. This task is all the more remarkable because he gives them only two tools to use: the word (“teaching them all that I commanded you”) and the sacraments (“…baptizing them…”). There are a number of ways that we wield these tools, but most of all we wield them in faith, faith that the Spirit will take them up and transform people, cities, and nations.
The Bible provides a particular structure and hierarchy to the church as she does the work God has appointed. God calls elders to shepherd the people of God with these tools exercising authority in the church for the good of her people. At Trinity we have different kinds of elders who do this in different ways. Our ministering elder oversees our weekly worship and preaching. Teaching elders work to apply the scriptures to different aspects of the church’s ministry whether through counseling, evangelism or musical leadership. Parish elders care for specific segments of the congregation through hospitality, discipleship and care.
Hebrews 13 describes elders as those who will give an account for the members of the church. We’ve sought to organize our church such that this accountability (before God!) means that all the members of our church are connected to a specific elder. When our elders gather we spend a significant part of our time together praying for the needs of specific people in our church. When issues of church discipline arise, our hope is that our elders are close enough to the people involved as to address these things close up. Proximity to the actual members of the church is a priority as we consider the work God commands the elders of the local church to do.
For many people this feels really strange. Many churches have functioned largely as purveyors of religious goods and services with elders or pastors functioning as a kind of board of directors, voting on budgets and determining particular strategic initiatives with little organizational or relational connection to the actual members of the church. Furthermore, we live in an age that has lost the concept of authority and replaced it merely with power. We’ve grown to distrust authority because it fits prominent secular narratives about privilege and self-promotion. God’s way is better. He establishes authority in the church for the good of the people of the church. Elders use this authority as a responsibility to shepherd God’s people with Word and Sacrament, not lording their authority over others, but using their authority to promote holiness and the Glory of God in the lives of people. They serve, they feed, and they protect. This is the work of biblical shepherding.
When a person joins Trinity, they come under the care of our elders and usually under the specific care of their parish elders. Parishes meet for various functions throughout the month. In addition to these dinners, bible studies, and other get-togethers, parish elders pursue regular meetings with individuals and households. They are available to meet with members of their parish. They help direct diaconate support towards specific fiscal and physical needs of the people under their care.
Where the church devolves into worship experiences and programs she loses her soul and forsakes the mission God has given her to disciple the nations. God has appointed shepherds to lead the church in worship, to care for the people God has brought into the community and to nourish the church with the Scriptures, bread and wine while washing her in the waters of baptism. This is the aim of the church: the discipleship of the nations. This is the means of the church: Word and Sacrament. And the elders are those who wield that means for the formation of God’s people.