Elders Reformed

by Tim Bayly, Jürgen von Hagen

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He keeps perfect watch over His sheep, and He doesn't need any help. It's amazing, then, to realize that Jesus chooses to share with others the work of shepherding His people. He Himself appoints undershepherds-elders-to carry out the work of leading, guarding, and feeding His sheep.In Elders Reformed , Pastor Tim Bayly and Pastor Jürgen von Hagen bring decades of diverse pastoral experience to helping elders of Christ's Church understand what it means to shepherd the flock of God. With Scripture as their foundation, they teach how elders should be chosen and appointed, what elders should be like, and the difficult work elders must do. They then combine hundreds of years of church history with their own experiences of ministering to God's sheep-rich and poor, educated and uneducated, black and white, local and international.This book deals forthrightly with the dangers and challenges which face church elders every day. It addresses the horrors of sin which exist inside the church's walls, both among church members and-more importantly-among pastors and elders themselves. Pride, greed, cowardice, and abuse are all on the table. Elders will come away from Elders Reformed convicted and sobered, practically helped, and encouraged by God's promises to those who faithfully carry out the work of the Chief Shepherd.

222 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2020

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book on elders. I am not convinced of presbyterian government being the best form (look at the PCA and PCUSA), but I really liked all the wisdom that this book had.

At one point, Tim Bayly mentions how he had an elder that he respected who tried to get him to just encourage people instead of challenging them. Thankfully, Bayly decided to teach the full counsel of God instead, and indeed the ministry has seen a lot of fruit.

Anyway, a few pearls of wisdom:
Elders are not representatives of the needs of the congregation. They are instead authorities who make decisions that may disagree with the congregation but are meant to shepherd it from above and for its interests.
He also says that pastors should be quick with their proscriptions, not long and detailed. That really resonated with me. Sometimes I just want a pastor to tell me a thing to do. Obviously there is an unhealthy version of this, but I think that people who are responsible know how to contextualize things.
Elder sessions should have debate, even though they present a united front. That way the member is heard and even when he is overruled, he gets to be a dissenting voice that is important for the congregation.
He also says that he focuses on fellowship meals as the way elders keep track of their sheep. This can be really powerful, and it's ideal but today I have been feeling on a self-responsibility jag: ultimately bureaucracy will either have people inevitably fall through the cracks and bureaucracy has a hard time reaching people effectively because some of the hardest and most important stuff happens out of the public eye. Anyway, I discussed some of this in my review of Greg Ogden's book.

Bayly ends the book on an incredibly powerful note: you're a sinner, and I'm a sinner, and as elders we fail in many ways. We should expect that. Our trust is in Jesus, and somehow Jesus works with us. Overall, an incredibly stimulating book on how to do real life ministry from a good man.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good book. It is biblically solid (and panoramic), historically literate, pastorally sensitive, hard-hitting, and is chock full of pearls of pastoral wisdom delivered via memorable stories. For a non-elder, church member such as myself, it really opened my eyes to what elders [Madeleine Kahn voice] "actually do do,"* and has allowed me to pray for my church leaders with a whole new sense of earnestness and understanding.

* This is a very real problem. I had an elder explain to me once that the reason he did church announcements was that, unless he did them, people would assume he didn't really do any work.

[Nick Patchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I appreciated the section on church discipline, specifically about informal discipline of members. This was definitely written by shepherds who love their flock.

[Julia Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorites of all time- it’s an important read for anyone in the Christian church who has experienced any sort of hurt or pain from within the church