Father God, guide me in wisdom and bring to my mind any people You want to be considered for the role of elder in the church. In Jesus's name. Amen.

The Elders are servant leaders whose primary concern is to provide spiritual oversight, direction, and leadership for the overall Church. Their tasks and responsibilities vary greatly and require a range of traits and abilities as they seek to keep the Church on a Biblical course. The following are critical characteristics for church leadership.

- Character: Successful church leadership begins and ends with the character. High character demonstrates a lifestyle that is after God’s own heart, free from patterns of sin behavior and consistent with biblical principles outlined in 1 Timothy 3:2–7 and Titus 1:6–9
- Competence: Defined as specific, Holy Spirit-endowed gifts and abilities, combined with skills acquired through training and life experience.
- Chemistry: The intangible quality of being practiced at speaking truth with love, and being committed to pursuing unity, rather than uniformity within the Eldership.
- Courage: The ability, when needed, to enter into difficult exchanges and defend the faith, the Church, and individuals in ways that preserve and maintain healthy relationships in community.

- Temperate—Self-controlled
- Prudent—Sober, sensible, wise,
- Balanced in judgment
- Respectable— Honorable behavior
- Hospitable—Willingness to share blessings, and care for the need of others
- Able to teach—Communicates sound doctrine
- Not addicted to wine—Willing to limit their liberty for the sake of others
- Not quick-tempered, patient, able to exercise self-control
- Not given to quarreling, gossiping or selfish argumentation
- Free from the love of money or the desire to amass material things
- Guides own household with love, wisdom, and dignity
- If married, committed to Fidelity
- Not a new believer—but someone whose time tested walk with the Lord reflects the reality of conversion and a spiritual depth
- Good reputation and well-respected—by believers and unbelievers alike
- Not self-willed—Servant-minded and committed to mutual accountability, not prone to be stubborn
- Loving what is good—desiring the will of God in every decision.
- Just—fair and impartial with judgments based on scriptural principles.
- Devout—committed to prayer, worship, the study of Scripture, seeking to be conformed to His image.
- Holding fast the faithful Word—Stable in the faith, obedient to the Word, and continually seeking the Holy Spirit.

- Discernment—The divine ability to distinguish between truth and error, discern the spirits, differentiating between good and evil, right and wrong, pure motives from impure motives, a word attributed to God is authentic.
- Wisdom—The divine ability to apply spiritual truths, to hear the Spirit’s direction for God’s best in a given situation, to provide guidance and solutions in the midst of conflict and confusion
- Leadership—The divine ability to envision the future of the church coupled with a humble heart to serve others. People with this gift are servants by nature; eager to see the church prevail and who demonstrate spiritual foresight that anticipates the work of God, that allow Scripture and prayer to inform their decision-making process.
- Other—Teaching, administration, encouragement, and mercy are also spiritual gifts of great value to church leadership

The goal is to ensure as far as possible that men and women who are affirmed as Elders, have been called by God to that position and appropriately equipped by the Holy Spirit.