elderform

Welcome to the Elder Questionnaire!!

Please know that ALL responses on this questionnaire will be kept confidential within the Nominating Team. We will not share this information with anyone outside of the team. With this in mind, we ask that you answer the questions as honestly and transparently as possible to help us as we navigate the Nominating process.

Here are a couple of instructions before we begin.
1. This questionnaire will take some time to complete. Please plan on an hour from start to finish.

2. At one point you will be asked three questions that require longer answers. We recommend that you write these out in a Word document BEFORE hand and "copy and paste" the answer within the text fields of the questionnaire. Websites time out after a certain amount of time and we don't want you to write everything out and then lose your information. The following are the long answer questions you will be asked:

a) your testimony

b) your understanding of the office of Elder

c) information to introduce yourself.

3. If at any point of the questionnaire you need to finish it later, please click "Save and Continue Later" at the bottom of any of the pages. This will send you an email address with a link to continue your answers at a later time.
We recognize that this is an investment of time and effort and that we have more people going through this process than we have positions available. Our hope and prayer as a Nominating Team is that regardless of whether you move forward as an Elder that the time you took considering the scripture during this questionnaire would be worthwhile.

Click "NEXT" to continue.

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Name*
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We are so excited about what God is doing at Gashland and that you are in the process of seeking to discern His call on your own life during this time. Before we begin, we have a couple of things to reflect upon.

Changing Role of the Elder
Since 2013, the role of elder at Gashland has transformed. This change was born out of a biblical conviction of the roles and responsibilities that the elder is called to oversee. While the elders in the past served in a helpful role that functioned often like a "board of directors", the current elder is a different role.

While still involved in the ministry decisions of the church by serving on a ministry team (click here for the list of ministry teams), the day to day ministry decisions of the church are not handled by the Elders (also called the Session) but by the ministry teams. The Elders have intentionally chosen to delegate these responsibilities in order to involve many more of our congregants voices in the leadership decisions of the different Gashland ministries. This allows us to have members of the church who are gifted, skilled and passionate about different areas of the church to have ownership in the ministry of the church in a real and tangible way. This allows the elders to give spiritual oversight, but frees them up to focus on the areas the Bible calls them to focus on.

While each Elder serves on a team as a Session representative, the Session is committed to not micromanage the teams but to seek to empower the teams to flourish in the area they have been given oversight.

So what is the role of the Elder at Gashland now? The purpose of the rest of this form is to introduce you to that idea. Let's begin...

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Acts 20 has something sobering to say to the one who is considering the role of elder. Paul, when speaking with the elders of the city of Ephesus said:
Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
In so doing, Paul is telling us that it is the Holy Spirit, God Himself, that calls and confirms the elders of a church. Paul is also telling us that the role of the office is analogous to the role of a shepherd. Not everyone in the church is called to be an elder. While the elder is a position of spiritual authority, it is not a position of power and prestige. It is instead intended to be an office of humility and service. To follow the model of Christ that is summarized well in Philippians 2:
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus...
The elder is called to pay more attention to the needs of the flock than to their own interests. To serve as an elder is a call to lay down your life.

On the following pages, you will answer questions that are meant to be a biblical journey for you as an Elder candidate of Gashland EPC. We hope it will be a profitable thing for you and one that you will take advantage of to learn and grow.

Perhaps God will use it to kindle your sense of call to this office and to continue in the process, or perhaps He will use it to give you clarity to not pursue the office further. Either way, it is our prayer that God will grow your appreciation for the office and give you a better sense of His call on your life. May God bless you as you continue... please know that the Nominating Team is praying for each of you individually as you answer these questions.
Initial Evaluation*
The role of Elder is first and foremost an office that God calls you to, not one that you are elected to. Before we begin, we'd be interested in your initial sense of call to the office of Elder. Please select a number below.

In regards to God possibly calling me to this role, I feel...

1 is "...that He is not calling me to pursue being an elder at this time."
5 is "...that He is absolutely calling me to pursue being an elder at this time."
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5

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Ministry of the Word
When the Apostles said they would commit themselves to the ministry of the Word, it was a statement of a spiritual oversight of the Word as it is being administered to God's people.

This role of the ministry of the word may be best emphasized by considering an occupation that the elder is often compared to... the shepherd.

Paul emphasizes this in Acts 20:28-32. As you read the text, think about the implications that elders are being compared to shepherds:
28 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. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
As we consider the call of the Elder to be a shepherd, we see a correlation of the elder to four roles of the shepherd*:

1. Shepherds Know the Sheep – The Elder is relational with the flock. Corporately they know the church’s strengths and weaknesses, but they also have regular personal contact with the individual members of the Gashland family.

2. Shepherds Feed the Sheep – The Elder teaches the Word of God in some form or fashion as well as participating in the discipleship process of the individuals of the Gashland family.

3. Shepherds Lead the Sheep – The Elder participates on a ministry team and also helps inform the mission/vision of the church. The Elder also leads the flock by modeling authentic faith in their own personal life.

4. Shepherds Protect the Sheep – The Elder guards the sheep from the external and internal influences that wish to destroy the flock, as well as engaging with members personally about areas of sin and repentance.

*This four-fold description of office of the shepherd elder is adapted from Timothy Z. Witmer’s book The Shepherd Leader.

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Step 1 of 7

Changing Role of the Elder

Getting to Know You

Explanation of Role of Elder

Prayer

Ministry of the Word

Know the Sheep

Feed the Sheep

Lead the Sheep

Protect the Sheep