What is an elder?
Elders are "Shepherds." The Old and New Testaments both use "Shepherding" as a metaphor to describe the spiritual leaders of the church. (Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 5:1-4). Elders lead, teach and protect the members of their church, like a shepherd would care for his sheep, leading them into spiritual health and maturity (Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 3:2; Acts 20:28).
Preachers are often called "Pastor" because they "shepherd" their church. Pastors and Elders are models for Christian maturity (Acts 15:4; Titus 1:5, 1 Peter 5:3; Hebrews 13:7). Elders and Pastors are not perfect people, but they should be able to come along side their church body with encouragement and love, teaching and feeding them (1 Timothy 3:2), and protecting them from false teaching (Titus 1:9 Acts 20:30-31); knowing that they are accountable to God on the churches behalf.
