ELDER SELECTION PROCESS
Southwest Church of Christ,
Jonesboro, AR
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I. ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE TO SUPERVISE THE
PROCESS
A.
The congregation
will select the committee to supervise the selections of elders.
B.
This committee
will be known as the Administrative Committee.
It will be composed of 7 members of the congregation. Elder candidates will not serve on this
committee nor will currently serving elders.
C.
Selection of the
administrative committee shall be posted and each congregational member shall
vote by listing seven names on a sheet of paper. At a later time nominees will be ranked in
order of votes received and individually contacted to determine willingness to
serve. The first person contacted will
be the one with the most votes, then the second and so on until seven have been
so selected.
D.
The committee
will select its own chairman and recorder.
E.
The committee
will review the records and recommendations form previous committees and draft
any revisions they choose to the selection process. This revised procedure will then be presented
to the congregation at an open business meeting for their approval.
F.
The committee will
prepare and publish in writing a proposed time schedule to be followed in the
elder selection process.
II.
NOMINATION
A.
All members of
the congregation will be asked to submit in writing the names of men who they
wish to nominate as elders. The existing
elders are also subject to the selection process. Members are encouraged to contact nominees
before submitting their names.
Nominations must be in writing and must be signed.
B.
The number of
nominees shall not be limited in advance.
In order for a man to be nominated as a possible elder, his name must
appear on at least 5% of the total number of nomination forms received. For example: if the number of nomination
forms turned in is 400, then a man must be nominated by 20 people to be
considered as a possible candidate for the eldership.
C.
Once all
nominations are received, the committee shall carefully review all the
nominees. Each nominee will be contacted
by a member of the administrative committee to determine if any biblical reason
exists for the nominee not to serve as an elder if selected by the
congregation. Where biblical
qualifications may be involved, the committee will discuss the matter in
private with the nominee to provide an opportunity for the candidate to
withdraw from the process. In the event
that the matter is not resolved in that way, the committee will take the matter
to the current elders for their recommendations.
D.
The list of the
nominees will be presented to the congregation.
Nominees must give a final answer to the committee within a time frame
set by the committee. After the time
frame has expired, men who do not wish to be considered will be eliminated form
further consideration.
E.
A list of
nominees willing to be considered will be presented to the congregation. The list will include general biographical
data on a form provided by the committee.
III.
INTROSPECTIVE
REVIEW
Each nominee for elder will
be asked to submit written responses to an introspective questionnaire. The questionnaire allows the candidate to
thoughtfully and prayerfully examine himself and provides insight for the
congregational members who may not know all the nominees on a personal
basis. A nominee for elder will be asked
to agree that, if selected he will serve under the spiritual oversight of the
other elders. These completed
questionnaires will be kept on file in the church office and will be made
available for review by any member of the congregation during office hours,
before and after service and during Bible class time.
IV.
CONGREGATIONAL
REVIEW OF QUALIFICATIONS
A.
If any member of
the congregation has a question or reservation about the scriptural
qualifications of a nominee, that member is encouraged to go to the nominee and
tell him of the objection and provide the committee with a written, signed
objection.
B.
Unsigned
objections will not be considered.
C.
Objections will
be carefully reviewed by the committee.
The committee will relate its findings to the objecting member(s). A serious, disqualifying objection will be
referred to the existing elders so they might counsel with the nominee. The name of the member raising the objection
will be known only by the committee and the current elders.
V.
PREPARING FOR
CONSIDERATION
A.
Nominees will be
asked to be prepared with not being selected.
Nominees will not be questioned in front of the congregation.
B.
The level of
affirmation by vote during the nomination phase, will be set at 70%. This is calculated by taking the number of
yes votes and dividing them by the yes and no votes. If the candidate would like to hold himself
to a higher level of affirmation, he may.
C.
The number of “I
don’t know” votes will be recorded and any nominee who receives 30% or greater
will not be affirmed.
VI.
AFFIRMATION BY
THE CONGREGATION
A.
Each member of
the congregation will be provided with the scriptural qualities
and qualifications for elder and a list
of the men duly nominated.
B.
The affirmation
ballot shall provide opportunity for members to vote on each nominee. The
affirmation vote will be done on Sunday morning with the announcement
made that night. Each member will mark
on the sheet one of three choices:
1.
Yes, I will serve
under his oversight.
2.
No, I prefer not
to serve under his oversight.
3.
I do not know
this man well enough to evaluate.
C.
The ballots will
not be signed.
D.
The committee
will tabulate the affirmation ballots and based on the previously established
affirmation percentages, (from Section V Part B) discern the wishes of the
congregation as to those who are selected to serve as elder.
E.
Nominees shall be
privately notified of the results of the process by a member of the committee.
F.
The percentage of
affirmation achieved by each nominee is confidential and is not announced to
the congregation or the individual nominee.
G.
There will be an
ordination service to install these men as elders.
VII.
REVIEW AND
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SELECTION
A.
An opportunity
will be given for the congregation to give input into the process for the next
committee. The committee will prepare a
written report in which they evaluate the selection process and offer
recommendations for the next committee.
This report shall be preserved in the church files for review by the
church. The minutes of the committee’s
proceedings will be sealed and preserved in the elder’s office for the confidential
review by the next administrative committee only.
B.
The next elder
selection process will occur in approximately 3 years.
