Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He keeps perfect watch over His sheep, and He doesn't need any help. It's amazing, then, to realize that Jesus chooses to share with others the work of shepherding His people. He Himself appoints undershepherds-elders-to carry out the work of leading, guarding, and feeding His sheep.

In Elders Reformed, Pastor Tim Bayly and Pastor Jürgen von Hagen bring decades of diverse pastoral experience to helping elders of Christ's Church understand what it means to shepherd the flock of God. With Scripture as their foundation, they teach how elders should be chosen and appointed, what elders should be like, and the difficult work elders must do. They then combine hundreds of years of church history with their own experiences of ministering to God's sheep-rich and poor, educated and uneducated, black and white, local and international.

This book deals forthrightly with the dangers and challenges which face church elders every day. It addresses the horrors of sin which exist inside the church's walls, both among church members and-more importantly-among pastors and elders themselves. Pride, greed, cowardice, and abuse are all on the table. Elders will come away from Elders Reformed convicted and sobered, practically helped, and encouraged by God's promises to those who faithfully carry out the work of the Chief Shepherd.

Acknowledgments

Introduction - Life & Death

Part 1 - The Elder

1. What Are Elders?

2. Where Do Elders Come From?

3. What Are the Qualifications for Elders?

Part 2 - The Elder's Work

4. Elders Under Attack

5. Winning the Congregation's Trust

6. Conflict

7. Guarding the Flock

8. Guarding the Sheep

9. Church Discipline

Part 3 - Common Dangers

10. Administration and Money

11. Lording It Over the Sheep

12. Conflict in the Session

Part 4 - Last Things

13. Men Who Must Give an Account

14. The Joy Set before Us

Scripture Index