Glen Waverley Uniting Church Elders Page
Elders Principles
Eldership is a vocation. The congregation discerns God's call
for people amongst us to be the elders of the church. Their
ministry is to assist the Ministry Team and Church Council in
spiritual oversight over the life and witness of the Glen
Waverley Uniting Church.
What is the ministry of elder?
The National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia has
provided the following:
The ministry of Elder is one of spiritual oversight,
and may also be exercised in pastoral visitation, teaching,
encouraging members of the Congregation to share in mission,
and assisting the Minister in leadership of worship and
administration of the sacraments and other areas in the life
of the congregation. Elders who serve on the Church Council
have a particular responsibility to ensure that matters of
spiritual oversight, pastoral care and the mission of the
church have priority in the work of the Church Council.
Elders will have a variety of gifts and passions for exercise
in ministry with the congregation. Among the elders you can
expect to find teachers, small group leaders, compassionate
carers, spiritual friends, visionaries, preachers, people who
engage with the neighbourhood, advocates for justice, worship
leaders, mystics, healers and extravagant hospitality. They
will exercise their ministry through leading the congregation
in practices such as hospitality, stewardship, discernment,
Sabbath keeping, Testimony, shaping community, forgiveness,
healing, justice and reconciliation, spiritual friendship,
prayer, bible study, common worship and mission. Elders
support one another in exercising their varied gifts for
ministry.
The primary role of an elder is to provide leadership within
the Congregation in assisting the congregation to fulfil its
ministry and mission. The ministry of elder will therefore be
fulfilled in the totality of the congregation’s life and not
just in councils or decision-making. Members of the
congregation can expect that the men and women whom they elect
as elders will model the Christian life. Together they reveal
the faith of Jesus.
Elders will be caring people, who will exercise spiritual
oversight of the groups and activities of the
congregation. They will also maintain a relationship with
individual members - providing encouragement in the faith,
supporting them in their life in society and helping them to
focus on and participate in what is important to and within
the community of faith.
Elders retain an important role in assisting the congregation
to worship well, working with the ministry team and others
with worship leadership roles. They will be persons who will
participate with the minister or other worship leaders in the
congregation’s liturgies, particularly the sacraments of
Baptism and the Eucharist.
Those elders who, as part of their ministry, are members of
the Church Council, will exercise their ministry within that
Council by ensuring that at regular meetings of the Church
Council the Council and/or the Congregation takes seriously
the responsibilities listed in Reg. 3.1.13 (a) i.e. the:
- Building up of the congregation in faith and love;
- Sustaining the members in hope;
- Leading the Congregation into a fuller participation
in Christ’s mission in the world.
Some ways of expressing these responsibilities are the
provision of pastoral care, opportunities for and
encouragement in faith formation and re-formation, the
formulation and updating of the Congregation’s vision for
mission – local, regional and global, the nurture of members
for mission and evangelism, and the increase of Biblical
literacy and theological awareness.
Elders play a role in helping the Church Council and the
Congregation to discern where the Spirit of God is at work in
the Congregation and its neighbourhood, where the Spirit is
pointing us to, where the Spirit is calling us from and
guiding the Congregation’s response to the Spirit we hear.
Things you might expect to see Elders doing
- Attending to their personal spiritual life through prayer,
study and other spiritual disciplines
- Leading small groups
- Participating in small groups
- Planning/leading/participating in faith development
activities; e.g. Isaiah Festival
- Praying for people and issues
- Studying the scriptures - learning
- Planning and/or helping in worship services
- Distributing Holy Communion in church & beyond
- Assisting with preparation for baptism
- Visiting people
- Cooking for people
- Welcoming people
- Building relationships in congregation and wider
neighbourhood
- Attending and supporting a variety of worship services
- Talking with people – listening/supporting – engaging in
spiritual conversations
- Sharing and listening to faith stories
- Mentoring people
- Supporting social justice issues
- Practising faith in the community
- Participating in Church Council and other committees of the
congregation
- Gathering regularly to pray for the congregation and support
one another in their ministry
Statement of Understanding between Elders and the
Church Council
This Covenant between Elders and the Church Council
that acknowledges individually and collectively Elders will:
- share with the Ministers the general spiritual and
pastoral oversight of the congregation;
- nurture the members and adherents in their growth in
grace;
- be prepared to act as mentors, intentionally exercising
their individual gifts in appropriate forms of ministry,
including faith formation and re-formation, formulating
mission, and increasing Biblical literacy and awareness;
- take day to day responsibility for membership transfers,
baptisms, and confirmation;
- assist the Ministers in the conduct of worship and in
the administration of the sacrements;
- individually and collectively participate in the work of
Council committees;
- maintain an awareness of the evolution of the
congregation as a community of faith in relation to its
Future Directions goals, and assist the congregation in its
striving to achieve such goals;
- meet regularly as a group to provide a time for refreshing
and renewing the spiritual growth of the Elders
individually;
- advise the Church Council at least quarterly in relation
to any or all of the actions listed above.
| Agreed to by consensus of the Elders, |
| 12 April 2000 |
| Agreed to by consensus of Church Council. |
| 19 July 2000 |
Elders' Duties
General
- Arrive 30 minutes before the start of the
service.
- Bring pen and paper.
- Wear name tag.
- If staying for a cup of tea/coffee, or during mingling
time, please keep a lookout for people who may be new, or
people you don't know and talk to them and make them feel
welcome.
- If you are unable to attend on your rostered day please
arrange a swap with another elder.
- If necessary, help stewards if there is a need.
Welcoming (Door) Elders
- Stand just inside 2 external doors and greet people as
they arrive.
- Be watchful for new people, people who need assistance -
handicapped, etc.. Refer new people to the Welcoming Table.
- At the conclusion of the service, walk out behind the
Ministers and position yourself near the Ministers and
be on hand to attend to any referrals by them. Be prepared
to record names and addresses of people on cards provided.
- Be sensitive to new people who may not be ready to
provide information.
-
For 11.00am Elders, if at start of service there are
still 9.00am people in Foyer talking, please request
silence.
Vestry Elder
- Be on hand in the Vestry to assist Minister(s) before
commencement of service.
- Say a short prayer with Mnister(s) and Bible reader.
(Uniting in Worship - People's Book - p206 (blue
covered) available in Vestry to assist in this regard if
necessary).
- Light candle before commencement of service.
-
At the conclusion of the service walk out behind the
Ministers and position yourself near the Minister. (This
is particularly important if there is only one Minister.)
Communion
All elders underlined on the roster are the team leaders and
they are responsible for procuring the bread and bread roll,
and for setting up the Communion Table. (Wine is provided.)
Each leader must contact and remind other Elders in their
team of their impending duty and if necessary seek their
assistance in setting up for Communion.
The team leaders must also contact the Minister at
least two days before his/her duty Sunday for any changes to
the normal Communion preparation.
Communion Ware and Wine
- Chalice and Silver plates are kept in the cupboard in
the Vestry (for security reasons).
- Glasses, glasses trays, spare grape juice and wine
pourers are kept in the kitchen centre island cupboards.
- 2 wooden bowls for collecting wine glasses during the
11.00am service are stored in the Vestry cupboards together
with the silverware. Paper towelling is to be used for
lining the bottom of each of the wooden bowls to deaden the
noise of empty glasses hitting the wooden bowl. Roll to be
stored with bowls.
- Tablecloths are stored in a black plastic hang bag with
the Minister's albs and stoles in the Vestry cupboard.
- Grape Juice - spare grape juice is stored with the
glasses. Partially used grape juice bottles must be
kept in the refrigerator - and must be used before
opening a new bottle.
Preparing the Elements
Elements should be provided for the following congregation
numbers:
| 8.00 am |
30 |
| 9.00 am |
250 |
| 11.00 am |
120 |
