Guidance for Nominating Elders and Shepherds at Highland Park Fellowship

Dear HPF,

When I think of times I’ve received shepherding in the church, I recall being a young youth director and an early conversation with Jim Baird. One Sunday, he grabbed me, looked squarely at me, and asked, “Do you have someone you are able to open up to? Someone who really knows you?” Jim was a recovering alcoholic and an elder in our church. He knew his need, and he knew his Savior. I also think of Bradley Barnes, who never shies away from an adventure, a painful truth, or an opportunity to point me to the sufficiency of Christ. I think of Eloise Briscoe, who has prayed for our kids and prayed with Rachel regularly for almost two decades. She listens well, pursues faithfully, and offers any help with profound gentleness and humility.

As the Scriptures guide us in nominating leaders, it’s important that we have some concrete understanding of the type of men and women who ought to be shepherds over this flock of Highland Park Fellowship. Few decisions a congregation makes are of greater importance than the first class of leaders elected and ordained in our midst. One way to approach this is to consider some of your favorite spiritual leaders, teachers, coaches, or bosses over the years. What made you responsive to their leadership? What did they do that helped you grow in skill, maturity, and knowledge? How did their character impact the whole team or classroom? Take a moment to remember those you have enjoyed following in the past. Is there anyone in our congregation who reminds you of those individuals?

The elders of the church have two basic jobs: to govern the congregation and to give spiritual oversight. Our men will be ordained as elders to govern the congregation and provide spiritual oversight, while female shepherds will assist in providing spiritual care. Since these two groups have distinct but overlapping roles in our church, we’ll consider the necessary character traits together. I want to note that we will focus primarily on character, not skill, in this letter, and it is upon character that the most weight should rest in our nominations and recommendations. Scripture is clear, and history bears witness, that the best leaders are not the ones with ingenious skill; they are those who “keep in step with the Spirit.”

The fact is, as imperfect humans, we may be inclined to nominate men and women who are good-looking, wealthy, or accomplished in the world’s eyes. But Scripture makes no mention of those traits when instructing us on selecting our leaders and shepherds. Paul says in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 that these leaders are to be sober. This means they look to the Lord for their contentment and not to alcohol or any other created thing to help them escape or cope with their circumstances. He also says they are to be “sound in faith.” This means your shepherd must know that what makes them OK in the world is not being right all the time but their joyful dependence upon our Savior. It means this person knows when to say “I’m sorry” and how to forgive and move forward, how to be honest and gracious at the same time, and how to be humble yet courageous. In other words, these leaders are “full of grace and truth” (John 1), just like Jesus. We’re also instructed to elect hospitable leaders from among our congregation. Hospitality is generosity with time, energy, and personal resources. It grows from a trust rooted in the provision of our Savior and the protection of our Father so that the risk of giving may not be hindered.

There are many other things that could be said about this very important job of nominating and recommending our shepherds and leaders. But most crucial is that you do this prayerfully. Get together with one or two folks, maybe even regularly for a time, to pray for our church, this process, and these individuals who will be trained and ordained to govern and shepherd our church. Ask the Lord for wisdom through this process. He says He will give it generously and without reproach (James 1)!

A couple of logistical notes about this process:

• Each person must receive three unique nominations (three different individuals or family units) to be considered by the Nominating Committee.

• To be nominated (male elders) or recommended (female shepherds), the individual must be a member of our church.

• The Nominating Committee (our three elders, two women, and one man) will sift through the nominations and recommendations and remove any that do not meet the above requirements. They will then invite those most suited to these roles into the training process.

I’m glad to be a pastor among this family of faith! Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts.

On Behalf of the Session of HPF,
Pastor Corby Shields
corby@hpfellowship.org

Elders:
Dr. John Forman: johnwformanmd@gmail.com
Greg Duble: cruiserking95@gmail.com

Timeline

• January 5–19: Nominations Open (3 unique nominations required)

• Week of January 20: Nominating Committee Meets

• Week of January 27: First training meeting (1 of 6)

• February: Weekly training meetings

• February 8: Petition presbytery for particularization

• Week of March 2: Final training meeting

• (Feb. 28–March 2: Whole Church Retreat. Firm date/location TBD)

• March 15: HPF Session tests candidates who have completed training

• March 23: Congregation is presented with a ballot of elders and female shepherds

• April 20: (Easter Sunday) Congregational meeting to vote on elders

• May 4: Particularization Service in the evening