In the New Testament, each local church that was planted, at the appropriate time, was to have appointed for them a unified team of godly, Scripturally qualified, and diversely gifted elders (or overseers) to govern and shepherd the local church. Our heart and desire is to actively apply the teaching of Scripture to our context today by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Throughout church history elders have been appointed in churches in a variety of different ways. In the New Testament church planting context, the responsibility and authority of appointing initial elders for a church fell on the shoulders of the apostles or apostolic leaders of the church, often those who planted the church initially (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). At Antioch Lake Cities, as a new church plant, we aim to be faithful to this Scriptural example, provide transparency, and also have a process that involves appropriate levels of input from our congregation in regards to the character of elder candidates. For more info, see documents below and listen to message from August 18th - Eldership In The Church.

  • Elder Appointment Process

    During the last 12 months, we have been seeking the LORD diligently through a very thorough and multi-step process to appoint elders. Following the teaching of Scripture in 1 Peter 5:1-7, in our process we've sought to walk with courageous humility and integrity, submitting to the LORD, to one another, and humbling ourselves before the body of Christ. Here is the detailed step by step Initial Elder Selection Process document.

  • Elder Expectations At Antioch Lake Cities

    While the character of an elder is described in the Scriptures, along with some of their functions in the church, there is also a lot of freedom in the Scriptures regarding the expression of shepherding and governing a local church eldership exercises due to the various contexts, sizes, and locations of a local church. At this stage of our church's maturity and development, here is the current Elder Expectations at Antioch Lake Cities.

  • Elder Candidates & Church Input

    On Sunday, August 18th, Pastor Jeremy shared the names of 4 elder candidates with church: David Isenberg, Joe Florence, Terry Morris, and Marty West. During the next 3 weeks (Aug. 18 - Sept. 8th), if any person has any biblical reason why any of these candidates should not serve as an elder, they are to go to the candidate and tell them the reason and discuss their concern. If after meeting with the candidate the concern is not resolved, they are to submit their reason in writing to Pastor Jeremy and meet with him and the candidate to address.