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This is the way we’ve always done it. We don’t do it that way around here.” During an eldership funeral (topic for another blog post), I asked the elders, “Will you let new elders be a part of the team? Or will they be junior elders? Would you do anything differently if they suggested it…
I have an idea and I think we ought to do it. Let me tell you where I saw it work. Here are reasons I think we should do it here…Brother Famous Preacher and Brother Dedicated Elder in another congregation endorse this wholeheartedly. I’ve already talked with a couple of you and I know you…
One of the joys of our last interim in Maury City, Tennessee, was seeing the faith, works, and gratitude of Christian farmers. They are men and women who operate big businesses. Farmers study, learn, invest, plant, fertilize, and pray to the Lord to give increase. After an abundant harvest, they thank Him when He blesses…
During a gospel meeting, I watched an elder work hard for hours on one of the air conditioners at the building. I asked the preacher if they had a deacon whose ministry was the upkeep of the building. He said they did. “Why doesn’t the elder let him, encourage him, hold him responsible?,” I asked….
It was Sunday, December 19, 1976, 10:20 a.m. I had just taught a Sunday School Class. An elder gently asked me to step into the elders’ office. When the door was closed, he said, “Brother Jerrie, I think you ought to think about resigning today.” What a shock! That had never entered my mind. After…
Why can’t we get anything done?” “Who’s responsible for that?” “How long have we been talking about that?” In our elders-preachers meetings, we found we were letting things “fall through the cracks.” It was 1985. I bought my first computer. I read an idea in The Insight System for Planning Your Time and Your Life,…
Our deacons won’t do their work.” “The elders won’t let us do anything!” “They get started and then quit.” “They try to take over.” “We get started and then the elders come in and do it their way without explaining. I’m not going to waste my time anymore.” I hear these comments in congregation after…
“I don’t want to hear another preacher telling elders what to do. He hasn’t been an elder. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” I understand someone tiring of being instructed by a person who seems to have no reason to understand. However, most male doctors have never had a baby and yet they help…
Welcome to New Shepherds Orientation, a blog and website dedicated to providing information, inspiration, and appreciation for those men and their families who serve as shepherds (elders, bishops, overseers) of the Lord’s church. I have served with 64 shepherds in full-time and interim ministry in addition to scores of others in workshops, consultations, and gospel…