Who Selects Elders?

A question I received: Tell me what you think about this statement: “Elders appointing an additional elder or more, without discussion with or consulting the congregation, is dictatorial and shows little if any respect for or trust in the church as a whole.”

First, there should be a selection before the appointment.

I used to think they were the same. A congregation would select and appoint elders. I thought they were the same. Selection is a process that precedes appointment.

When the apostles received the complaint in Acts 6:1, they resolved to select and appoint “seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.”

Notice the process. The apostles said to the multitude:

1. You (multitude) select — 30.102 ἐπισκέπτομαιa: to choose or select on the basis of having investigated carefully—‘to select carefully, to choose after careful investigation.’ ἐπισκέψασθε δέ, ἀδελφοί, ἄνδρας ἐξ ὑμῶν μαρτυρουμένους ἑπτὰ πλήρεις πνεύματος ‘so then, fellow believers, carefully select seven men among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit’ Ac 6:3 (Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 362). United Bible Societies).
2. We will appoint — 37.104 καθίστημιa; καθίζωd: to assign to someone a position of authority over others—‘to put in charge of, to appoint, to designate’ (Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 483). United Bible Societies).

They gave the qualities of the men. The multitude was to look among the thousands of men, select seven, and bring them to the apostles, who would appoint them.

1. The group selected.
2. The apostles appointed.

But why didn’t the apostles select them? Jesus selected and appointed them, taught them, and trained them.

That’s an exciting thought. But the apostles whom Jesus selected, appointed, and trained said:

1. You (the group, multitude) select.
2. We appoint.

Why Do Elders and Congregations Not Do That?

Answer: I don’t know unless they tell me. 1 Corinthians 2:11

I don’t know what you’re thinking unless you tell me. You don’t know what I’m thinking unless I tell you.

First thought: they did what they did because they thought it was the best thing to do. Proverbs 21:2

Second observation: they did what they did because that’s how they’ve always seen it done. The first time I heard of a church letting the congregation select the elders, I thought they were liberal and didn’t respect the authority of elders. Further study showed me this was how to select leaders in the Old and New Testaments. Acts 6:1-7; Deuteronomy 1:1-18

Another thought: elders fear the church may appoint someone(s) they can’t work with. If that means a man is unreasonable, uneducated, undisciplined, and a demonstrated poor leader (as observed in how he relates to his family), one or more elders can personally object during the vetting stage of the appointment. These things are covered in 1 Timothy and Titus.

If it means the new elder(s) may want to shepherd and oversee in a different way, that may be the best thing to happen to the church. There are churches where elders have been senior deacons micromanaging what the deacons were doing. A change would improve the leadership. There are churches where the elders see the building is in good shape and the bills are paid but rarely or never take time to minister to the spiritual needs of members or plan for the future of the church. A change would be a breath of fresh air to benefit the present eldership and the church.

I heard an eldership say, “If you turn those people loose, there’s no telling who they’ll come up with.” This was stated by an eldership that was the charter eldership for the congregation. The congregation had selected them. If there’s a fear of a lack of knowledge and wisdom in the congregation when choosing leaders, that could reflect their lack of teaching and leadership. Why does the church not have the information and understanding to read the Bible and apply it to a process in the ongoing life of a congregation?

More posts on the selection of elders:

Who Selects Leaders in the Church?
Who Selects Leaders in the Church? #2

Does it make any difference who selects and who appoints elders and deacons?

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