Recently I had the great privilege and joy to pray over my friend Zach Bolen as we installed him as an Elder at Mars Hill U-District after a year long evaluation of his life and doctrine (1 Tim. 4:16). Laying hands on Zach and praying over his family made me reflect on how thankful I am for our church and the lengthy and thorough process we have for a man to be installed as an elder at Mars Hill Church.
Jesus calls
Right now we have almost 70 men who are being evaluated for eldership at all our Mars Hill Church locations. By God’s grace these men have responded to the call and desire God has given them to lead at their local church. At Mars Hill, we believe that it is God, through the Holy Spirit, who taps men on the shoulder and calls them to consider eldership (1 Tim. 3:1). Once men raise their hand to become an elder, it is the role of the elders to affirm this call. This confirmation is not to be done quickly or without great consideration and evaluation, as 1 Timothy tells us to be very careful in laying on hands to install new leaders in the church (1 Tim. 5:22).
Once a man expresses an aspiration to move forward with eldership the local pastors then sit down and have a meeting with the man to get a better understanding of how he is currently serving and leading in the church, the health of his family, and if he meets the qualifications of Eldership according to the Bible (1 Tim. 3). This often yields some clear next steps of growth and further development to be completed under the supervision of his pastors as they carefully and lovingly shepherd him.
We confirm
Then when the pastors at a local Mars Hill church believe a man exhibits the leadership, doctrine, and character of an elder, they will nominate him to be an official elder candidate. As an official elder candidate these men are then assigned eight different trainings they must complete and 16 questionnaires they must submit that cover their marriage, theology, calling, leadership, background, parenting, and stewardship. In total, there are over 560 questions that an elder candidate must answer and engage with as they go through this formal assessment process. For most men this process takes 6–12 months.
Once an elder candidate has completed this lengthy assessment process, he and his wife will then have a final formal assessment meeting with three or more current Mars Hill pastors. This assessment interview lasts a couple of hours and is meant to be a time in which the Elder candidate and his wife are asked questions about all aspects of their life and ministry. From this assessment interview, an assessment report is written by that assessing team of elders and sent to our Executive Elders to affirm the elder candidate as ready to be installed as an elder at Mars Hill Church.
A weighty blessing
I have had the immense joy of helping to guide this process at Mars Hill Church and it has made me more thankful than I can express for the incredibly gifted and godly men that Jesus has been and is raising up at all of our 15 churches. Mars Hill Church, you are in good hands and are being served well by a process that is equal to the weight and responsibility of what it means to keep watch over and care for the souls of God’s people (Heb. 13).
If you are considering eldership at your local Mars Hill Church, connect with the leaders there and sign up for Aspire, one of the first steps in our elder process.
