Eldership and the Mission of God – Equipping Teams for Faithful Church Leadership

J.R. Briggs is the cofounder and cultural cultivator of The Renew Community in the greater Philadelphia area. He also serves as the director of leadership and congregational formation for the Ecclesia Network. He is the creator and curator of the Epic Fail Pastors Conferences and is the author of Fail. Bob Hyatt is the founding pastor of The Evergreen Community in Portland, Oregon. In addition to coaching and pastoring, Bob also serves as the director of church and movement multiplication for the Ecclesia Network. Alan Hirsch is the founding Director of Forge Mission Training Network. He is the co-founder of shapevine.com, an international forum for engaging with world transforming ideas. He leads Future Travelers, a learning journey applying missional-incarnational approaches to established churches and is an active participant in The Tribe of LA, a Jesus community among artists and creatives in Los Angeles. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Hirsch is a teacher and key mission strategist for churches across the western world. His popular book The Shaping of Things to Come (with Michael Frost) is widely considered to be a seminal text on mission. Alan's recent book The Forgotten Ways, has quickly become a key reference for missional thinking, particularly as it relates to movements. His book ReJesus is a radical restatement about the role that Jesus plays in defining missional movements. Untamed, his latest book (with his wife Debra) is about missional discipleship for a missional church. His experience in leadership includes leading a local church movement among the marginalized as well as heading up the Mission and Revitalization work of his denomination. Hirsch is an adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary and lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the U.S.

Introduction: Structured for Mission

1. Mission-Oriented Elders

2. Characteristics of Mission Alignment—and What Derails It

3. The Roles of an Elder

4. Biblical Qualifications of an Elder

5. Cultivating an Ethos Rooted in God?s Mission

6. Selecting Elders

7. Eldership as Spiritual Formation

8. Team Leadership

9. The Role of Elders in Decision Making

10. The Difficult Tasks of Elders

11. What about Women Elders?

12. Practical Questions and Answers

Epilogue: Eldership as Stewardship



Discussion Questions

Acknowledgments

Recommended Resources

About the Authors