The 3 C’s of Eldership Development

Becoming an Elder and joining a Session is not the end point of eldership development, it is the beginning. Of course the rigours of Elder Candidate Course and and the processes of qualifying are behind a man, once ordained and inducted - but developing as an elder is a lifelong ministry. For this edition of Eldership Development, let me introduce you to the three C’s.

In many Aussie evangelical circles, saying the “three C’s” paints the picture of “character, competencies and convictions” that the MTS platform uses. The METRO platform that we engage with for apprenticeship training simply took those three principles and changed the language to make it pointedly about Jesus being like Jesus (in character), thinking like Jesus (in convictions) and serving like Jesus (in competencies). So then, what are we talking about when we say the three C’s? It’s something that we value particularly at Reforming, that we ask future elders to sign up to our Confession, Code and Culture.

The Westminster Confession of Faith

Now you may think, “well that’s a given!” Yeah, but…

You see, every Presbyterian church requires that elders sign up to assert, maintain and defend the Westminster Confession of Faith. It’s a subordinate standard of the church that explains what we believe the Bible teaches in 33 chapters. Yet for any current serving Elder in the PCV, signing up to assert, maintain and defend the Confession is a given.

From the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 1, Section 1.

What about the Code?

Our PCV Code Book is a denominational book of rules and regulations that help us understand church polity and how we serve people in structures. And since the Code is often tweaked and changed as needed General Assemblies over time, with an updated version each year - it is so helpful for an Elders to be familiar with church operations through the Code Book.

Then, for us at Reforming there is the third C which increased in value over time at out our local church, and has been important for us all - especially Elders. This is the “signing up for” our culture. Our local church culture, Reforming’s culture.

From the PCV Code Book

Church Culture

Culture is a whole bunch of shared values. No matter what you have as your strategy on your wall or website, it will be your culture that is most important - the heartbeat of your church community.

In the early days of Reforming, when we were tiny, we were just trying to survive. But then came the time when we became a church that could walk on our young feet and we needed to work out what kind of church we prayed to be, culturally.

Recently I heard a church-planting guru say that “working out what kind of church you want to plant is not important, but that you will do anything to evangelise the lost”. Yes. Kind of. Not really. And that is an article for another day.

For now though, we worked out pretty early on that as baby Reforming was being pulled in lots of different directions, we needed to work out prayerfully what kind of church we would like to have as a people of shared values.

What this means for eldership development is so important that we make it part of our meetings together. We want to see future and currnt elders who are like Christ, and who love a culture-of-Christ that is who we are of Reforming Church. This is not a tertiary issue for us, is core to the gospel, core to church, and therefore core to our leadership in the men who form our eldership.

Read 1st Peter 5:1-11