Elder Position Paper
About This Class
This course equips churches to craft a biblically-grounded elder position paper, a vital tool for fostering strong church leadership. Through Scripture-based guidance, churches learn how to evaluate elder qualifications rooted in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, focusing on character, doctrinal integrity, and a genuine calling. The course unpacks the spiritual weight of eldership—far beyond meetings—highlighting the need for visible, active, and faithful leadership. It addresses critical issues such as gender roles in eldership, financial support for full-time leaders, and the six key responsibilities of elders, including teaching, hospitality, and conflict resolution. The course examines essential elder traits like integrity, humility, and maturity, alongside family life standards that reflect faithful home leadership. The final sessions cover handling sin in leadership and the careful, prayerful process of appointing new elders. Ultimately, the course calls churches to raise up spiritually sound leaders who reflect Christ’s example and ensure the church thrives under godly oversight.
About the Professor
Bill Mounce
Bill Mounce has had a distinguished career as an author, translator, and teacher. As the founder of BiblicalTraining.org and also serving on The Committee for Bible Translation to create the NIV translation of scripture, Bill is well-known for his best-selling biblical Greek textbook ‘Basics of Biblical Greek’ amongst other acclaimed works.
Lessons
- Discover how to create a biblical elder position paper using Paul’s historically specific qualifications as a guide to evaluate character, ensure spiritual integrity, and strengthen church leadership.0% Complete
- Learn how to create a biblical elder position paper using Paul’s historically specific qualifications as a guide to evaluate character, ensure spiritual integrity, and strengthen church leadership.0% Complete
- Eldership requires deep commitment, balancing church, family, and growth. Leaders must be spiritually healthy, active, and present. Supporting and valuing leaders is vital, as strong leadership transforms the church community.0% Complete
- Dr. Mounce explores two key topics: the biblical basis for gender in eldership and fair financial support for elders. Churches must lead with Scripture, not tradition—honoring both calling and those who serve full-time in teaching and oversight.0% Complete
- Elders must lead with oversight, resolve conflict, model godliness, stay involved, show hospitality, and teach truth. Leadership is personal, active, and about raising future leaders—not a part-time role but a visible, committed calling.0% Complete
- Dr. Mounce unpacks eight core traits of a qualified elder, starting with being above reproach. True spiritual leadership shows in character, not perfection—how one handles conflict, stress, and responsibility reveals if they’re fit to lead.0% Complete
- Elders must lead their families with faithfulness and integrity—prioritizing marriage, guiding children spiritually, and modeling love at home. True leadership starts in the household, with grace, presence, and commitment.0% Complete
- This session covers handling sin in leadership and appointing elders. Address sin with humility and care. When appointing, test character, seek feedback, and never rush, and look for those already leading well.0% Complete
Class Resources
About BiblicalTraining®
BiblicalTraining® wants every Christian to experience a deep and loving relationship with Jesus by understanding the life-changing truths of Scripture. To that end, we provide a high-quality Bible education at three academic levels taught by a wide range of distinguished professors, pastors, authors, and ministry leaders that moves from content to spiritual growth, all at no charge. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit funded by gifts from our users. We currently have over 180 classes and seminars, 2,300 hours of instruction, registered users from every country in the world, and in the last two years 1.4 million people watched 257 terabytes of videos (11 million lectures).
Our goal is to provide a comprehensive biblical education governed by our Statement of Faith that leads people toward spiritual growth.