One of the sermons (not really a sermon, but we’ll get to that) I heard this week was from Watermark. It was titled “An Evening with the Elders.” I almost skipped it. I mean, how boring would An Evening with the Elders be, right? But I thought I might learn something we could use, so I listened. Wow.
It resonated with me, strongly, because in the LCOC elder’s meeting Sunday we struggled with some of the same things that were discussed in the “Evening,” particularly the best way to add new elders. And the Vision Implementation Team has likewise had discussions unique to its current efforts that were also discussed in the “Evening,” chief among them the revitalization of the LIFE Groups, but many others as well.
I am led to share this discussion with you. I am not going to try to summarize it. But I will tell you that it is relevant to ministry areas YOU are working with, struggling with, today. I will go through and mention some sections of the discussion that you might want to listen to for a topic that is significant to YOU… as opposed to your listening through the 99 minutes to glean what you can. I will share with you that I don’t think there were 5 minutes in there anywhere in which I did not hear something that made me think, “THAT is a good idea!”
And in case you start listening in the middle somewhere, and hear the speaker use the word “catholic,” note that this is Little C catholic, not Roman Catholic. “Catholic” means universal. He also uses the word “pastor” slightly differently than our traditional vocabulary.
Lastly, in case you are curious, this is a church with 8,000 members and 20,000 attending weekly. Before you immediately dismiss anything they might say with “Well, we’re not that big, so their comments cannot be applicable to us,” let me just stress that this is not the case. You will have to listen to some of the discussion to prove this to yourself; I pray that you do just that.
If you would like to listen to the full 99-minute discussion, CLICK HERE; otherwise you can click on shorter individual topic extracts below.
00:00 – INTRO
01:40 – ELDER ORGANIZATION
(CLICK HERE to hear this 9-minute topical extract.)
02:09 No term limits seen in Bible
02:30 Dean McFarland (bio)
6:30 Beau Fournet (bio)
9:00 Kyle transitioned out
10:00 To be an elder here requires 20 – 30 hours leadership/week (more on this below)
10:45 – COMMUNITY SMALL GROUPS (Core Value)
(CLICK HERE to hear this 11-minute extract.)
15:45 Elders elder via community groups
21:45 -- WHAT’S GOING ON WITH LEADERSHIP?
(CLICK HERE to hear this 15-minute topical extract.)
How does leadership work with only 3 elders? (Community Groups)
24:45 What is the plan for other locations/campuses?
27:30 When are we going to add more elders?
We have 100’s of men who meet the qualifications found in 1st Timothy and Titus. But our elders devote 20 to 30 hours per week to the church. AVAILABILITY is key.
37:00 -- FACILITIES
(CLICK HERE to hear this 9-minute topical extract.)
26 acres Ft Worth, East Tower, West Tower, Plano + 4.5 acres, Prioritization
46:30 -- FINANCIAL RESERVES
49:00 -- QUESTIONS turned in by congregation
(CLICK HERE to hear this 38-minute topical extract.)
50:00 How do the elders work together and make decisions?
(Unity, not unanimity) (Don’t think about ~voting.)
55:45 Church Planting Strategy and Locations
1:02:30 Not a church to go TO, but a church to BE
1:03:30 Must be a scriptural model
1:07:00 What is our budget?
1:09:30 What about over-crowding?
1:12:08 Physical Security
1:14:40 More racially integrated?
1:18:00 What are the elders excited about?
1:27:00 CLOSING VIDEO (uplifting)
(CLICK HERE to hear this 5-minute extract from the video.)
· Scripture must be our conscience, or authority, our guide.
· Don’t sacrifice family for ministry.
· Extend grace.
· FULL DEVOTION should be normative.
· Think outside the box… but always bounded by the Word.
· Not “attending services” but “tending to the Lord’s service.”
1:32:00 CLOSING COMMENTS
1:36:00 CLOSING PRAYER