Emerging Elders: Developing Shepherds in God's Image

by Ron Clark

This book is a manual for raising up and equipping elders or shepherds. It provides resources for identifying emerging leaders, for training elders and their wives, and for beginning an elder development program in a congregation. A vital resource for a neglected area of church life.
'In the leadership literature the question is asked, Are people born leaders or do we train them to become leaders? I suggest a third option. Leaders emerge. When we begin to offer training and development ministries leaders emerge.'
from the Preface

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Ron Clark is a minister/church planter at the Agape Church of Christ in Portland, OR. He and his wife Lori led a small team in 2006 to begin a congregation reaching those in abuse, homelessness, prostitution, and addiction. Agape continues to partner with local agencies to help people experience freedom, self respect, and joy. They believe that Jesus' call to Christians and Christian leaders is to be a resource for their cities.

Ron is adjunct instructor at George Fox Evangelical Seminary and teaches Pastoral Counseling, Addressing Domestic and Sexual Abuse, and is a dissertation adviser for Doctoral students.

He and Lori have been married over 25 years and have three sons and a daughter in law.

Reviews

[Jeff Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book on developing elders in the churches of Christ. One of the few books I’ve come across within the Restoration Movement, which is particularly helpful when discussing elder-minister relationships. I appreciate his approach to the list of elder qualities, and his focus on prioritizing character over skillsets. This book would benefit from another edition, both for grammatical edits and to engage more recent literature.