Elders

These are the leaders of our church.  Our elder board consists of up to 8 men and women selected by our partners who are tasked with guiding the church and advising our lead pastor.

Elder Nominations

The Nominating Committee is now accepting nominations for the position of Elder. If you are a Partner at Grace Raleigh and would like to submit a nomination, please read the description below and fill out the form. Nominees must be a Grace Raleigh Partner. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

Who Should Be an Elder at Grace Raleigh?
Scripture teaches that each of us has equal standing before God. When it comes to our status as God’s children, there are no divisions of ethnicity, social class or gender (Galatians 3:28). Scripture also teaches that every believer has a spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:7). No matter who you are or where you come from, if you are a believer you are gifted. We celebrate that and want to see people use their gifts to the fullest.

However, the role of Elder is a calling, and not everyone is given that calling. While status in the community, popularity, and secular leadership are certainly attractive, they are not the factors that indicate a calling to the role of Elder. Even faithful service and influence in the church, as important as they are, are not enough to indicate that one should be an Elder.

Rather, in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9, Scripture gives us a snapshot of the kind of people who should serve as Elders. These passages contain a list of 20-plus qualities that an ideal Elder would possess. Some of them relate to gifting, some to character, and some to circumstances.

To be honest, the list can be overwhelming, both in number and in the demands it seems to place on Elder candidates. The Nominating Committee will strive for a balance here: on the one hand, we want this list to be a guiding force in the Elders we nominate. On the other hand, we embrace the fact that none of us is perfect. All partners of Grace Raleigh, including your Elders, are people who stand in need of God’s mercy and enablement.

Having said that, we see the requirements as falling into the three categories below, which we would encourage you to look for in nominating men and women to the role of Elder:

• A family life that reflects godly leadership. The first place an Elder’s leadership shows up is in his or her family.
• Individual character that reflects godly leadership. The quality of an Elder’s character should be evident to both those inside and outside the faith.
• An ability to understand and share God’s Word. Elders don’t have to be public speakers or expert theologians, but they need to be able to state and defend the truth, so that leadership decisions are made from a gospel perspective.

If you are a Grace Raleigh Partner and would like to receive a copy of the Elder Meeting Minutes, please contact Julie Sauls.