Elders

Elders are the spiritual leaders in a church. And I have learned over the years that this is true.

What is always interesting and awesome is watching people become elders. We have a nominating process as every church does. Names will be suggested by the elders to our nominating committee - (no TEAM!!) and they will decide who they will call first. We will have 3 or 4 positions to fill. Each will serve for three years.

And some years it is a struggle finding people willing to be elders. Either they have been elders over and over again and they are tired of it - or they don't feel adequate to do the job.

At some point I will see the list of who said yes. And those will be the elders for some time ahead. And then we watch them grow - and they do. Yesterday one of our elders told me about the first time she came to the table and she was so nervous and her hands were shaking. But when she got behind the table, a peace came over her. She was becoming an elder.

The elders at the church serve at the table every week and they will do words of institution and the prayer at the table. And sometimes they use prayers from a book, sometimes they write their own and sometimes they spontaneously pray at the table. I always tell them that they get extra points if they mention something from the sermon in their prayer :)

Many, many weeks I am touched by the prayers of the elders. And their seriousness and sense of reverence. A couple of years ago Marilyn was an elder. She was in her 70's and always wore a lot of jewelry - (rings on her fingers - I loved em) and she didn't wear shoes. I wonder when I first noticed that! I finally learned that she was standing on holy ground.

The elders also have to deal with sometimes thorny issues at the church. Our elders here have had to work with a candidate for ordination. Their questions were just powerful and their obvious concern and depth of spirit was wonderful. They have had to make decisions about our first worship service and about other problems.

Our elders this year range in age from 31 to 72. And when we discuss issues eventually every aspect of the problem gets aired respectfully and our collective wisdom is so obvious.

I have a mantra these days. And it is helping me to find peace within my soul. It is this:
This church is God's church. (that is, not MINE)
And - This church has holy leaders who make good decisions.

I am blessed to serve here.