This past Sunday, we announced Buddy Luster as a candidate for being installed as an elder at Trinity Grace Church.
But, you may be wondering: What is an elder? Why is it important for our church to add elders?
We want to take a moment to give a little context to hopefully help you understand God’s kindness to our church by opening the door to possibly adding another elder.
Biblical Background of Elders
First, one of our core convictions is that churches are to be led by a team of qualified men. According to our Statement of Faith:
Christ has given the offices of elder and deacon to the church. Elders occupy the sole office of governance and are called to teach, oversee, care for, and protect the flock entrusted to them by the Lord. Deacons provide for the various needs of the church through acts of service. God gives these and other people as gifts to serve and equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
Throughout the NT, there are 3 words used for those who are called to shepherd the church in teaching and leading: pastor, elder, and overseer. Each of these 3 words refer to one office or role in the church.
We see this in 1 Peter 5:
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, aswell as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly... 1 Peter 5:1-2
And when the NT talks about the role of elder in the local church, it always uses the plural form. For example:
“And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” Acts 14:23 (See also Acts 20:17; Titus 1:5; and James 5:14.)
Why Consider Buddy?
Since planting Trinity Grace in 2018, we have been seeking to establish a team of qualified men to lead our church.
We are prayerfully putting forward Buddy Luster to be installed as an elder next month.
For the few who don’t know Buddy, he's a remarkably warm and outgoing man. He loves to meet new people and get to know them. In fact, most of us in the church have been welcomed by Buddy upon entering the building and many of us have enjoyed conversations well into the afternoon!
Buddy is a disciple. He has followed Christ for many years and never ceases to be amazed at the kindness of the Lord. He has a sincere appetite for the Word. The fruit of godliness is evident in his life and in his family.
Perhaps, more than anything else, Buddy & his wife Judy are people who love the local church. They’ve made great sacrifices to be faithfully committed to the Church over their life. That has included several churches and now includes ours. Without a job and without any guaranteed opportunity for ministry, Buddy & Judy relocated to Athens in November of 2019 to serve God with us. We are very grateful to God they did.
In addition, years ago, Buddy was ordained as a pastor and served in that role until a job moved them to Tennessee. A year or so after relocating here, Buddy and Walt began discussing pastoral ministry at Trinity Grace. It became evident that Buddy is a humble, godly man but also a man gifted for pastoral ministry. The fruit and effect of his life and ministry among the people of Trinity Grace Church is evident.
What’s The Process of Adding Elders?
Within Sovereign Grace, we have a process of ordaining and installing elders in local churches. Once a candidate is put forward by a local church, they are inducted into a process of papers and exams to determine whether they are prepared to serve as an elder. Following satisfactory completion of these exams, the elders in the region recommend the candidate for eldership.
Since Buddy has previously served as an elder at a church in Ohio, he has already been through a comparable ordination process. So, several months ago, our region voted to receive his ordination status and enthusiastically encouraged us to install him as an elder at our church.
Why Does All This Matter For You?
Why are we writing all of this?
First, you are a member of Trinity Grace Church. If installed as a pastor, Buddy would be one of your pastors.
Second, we want to ask you to pray. We want you to thank God for Buddy and to pray for God’s will to be done in his life and the life of our church.
Third, we want to ask you for feedback. We want to hear of any concerns you have. Over the next 30 days, please share your questions, concerns, and encouragement with Walt.
Conclusion
There are a lot of wonderful things in the headlines right now. There are a lot of sobering things in the headlines right now. The news of what’s happening at Trinity Grace Church will not be hitting any headlines. But, even though the steady building of our local church won’t hit any headlines, it has God’s attention. And we want to be faithful!
Authors D.A. Carson and John Woodbridge penned this wonderful charge to pastors of local churches. Though it’s a word addressed to pastors, we trust that it reveals the heart of our aim as we seek to grow and strengthen Trinity Grace Church:
Do not worry too much about what is happening at the national level. Simply build the people to whom God has called you. Feed people the word of God, pray for them, love them, convey the reality of God’s presence to them by word and deed. What is important at the end of the day is the church—ordinary churches trying to live faithfully in a rapidly changing society. Ordinary churches pastored by ordinary people like you and me, knowing that we cannot do everything, but trying to do what we can and seeking God’s face for his presence and blessing so that his dear Son might be honored and his people strengthened. - D.A. Carson & John Woodbridge