A big change is coming... that is also somehow small

This coming Sunday, June 1, we have a big change coming to the church. We're going to try out this prosperity gospel thing and see how we like it. Just kidding.

This Sunday, we will install three new overseers to the church. Travis Maxwell, Scott Stephens, and Glen Campbell have completed an elder apprentice process that lasted well over a year, and they will be installed as overseers of the church. I say this is a big change because as these three guys join the voting elder board, it will necessarily change that group of elders. 1 Timothy 5:17 (depending on the version you read) implies that elders govern the affairs of the church. 1 Peter 5:1-2 says that elders should be shepherds of the flock and exercise oversight. Jesus says that a true shepherd is one who lays his life down for the sheep. 

For these reasons, adding three new men to the elder team is a big change. At the same time, it's not that big of a change because these three guys have already been doing the work of overseers for years. The way elders are installed works like this: the current elders prayerfully considered men who have already been doing the work of elders. We brought our suggestions together and selected the names that the majority of us came up with during prayer. 

We invited those guys into an elder apprentice process. They all knew that the invitation was in no way a guarantee that they would be made elders. During the process, we had them in our elder meetings. We asked them theological and pastoral questions. We asked their accountability partners about them. We asked close friends about them, and we gave the church time to give us feedback about their interactions with these men over the years. 

After more than a year in the process, we feel confident that these three men will be humble servant leaders who will lay down their lives to protect, teach, lead, and serve the body of Wellspring.


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