Commissioning Elders to Lead and Serve

Last Sunday we commissioned David Nichols to serve as an Elder of Goshen Baptist Church.  Here are the questions we asked him, and to which he responded in the affirmative:

Do you reaffirm your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?  •  Do you accept all Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired and inerrant Word of God, and do you affirm the Goshen Baptist Church Statement of Faith as a fitting summary of Bible doctrine?  •  Do you promise to serve in mutual submission alongside your fellow Elders?  •  Do you promise to be zealous and faithful in promoting the truths of the Gospel and the purity and peace of the Church?  •  Will you be diligent in the exercise of all your duties as Elder, whether personal or corporate, private or public, and will you endeavor by God’s grace to uphold the Gospel and follow Jesus faithfully before this congregation?  •  Are you willing to take personal responsibility in the life of this church as an Elder to help to oversee the ministry and resources of the church, and to devote yourself to prayer, the ministry of the Word, and the shepherding of God’s flock, relying upon the grace of God, for the good of his church and the glory of his Name?

Please translate these vows into prayer—ask the Lord to lead and guide all our Elders (Darrel Tedrow, Russ, Nixon, Patrick O’Leary, Dan Steinfield, Paul Yeung, David Nichols, Pastor Peter Nelson).

And here are the promises the congregation was asked to make, and to which the people responded in the affirmative—again, convert these vows into prayer for our church family:

Do you, the members of Goshen Baptist Church, acknowledge and publicly receive David as an Elder given by Christ to this church?  •  Will you love him and pray for him in his ministry, and work together with him humbly and cheerfully, that by the grace of God we may accomplish the mission of the church, giving the Elders all due respect and support in their leadership to which the Lord has called them, to the glory and honor of God?