When Choosing A Church, Is Elder-Led Governance Important?
Q: We came from a conservative elder-led church. The church that we have been considering uses committees, and the current preacher selection process feels unbiblical. How should we weigh this in choosing a new church home? How should believers evaluate church governance models—such as elder-led leadership versus committee-based decision-making—when choosing a church?
A: Yes, you should take it into consideration. If there’s a better church for you to commit to within a distance that you can practically go to, choose that. In and of itself, governance model is not the highest priority factor in choosing a church, but you should take it into consideration. You might want to see who the committee picks for the next preacher or pastor and then note how long he lasts. Sometimes a committee will call a good, godly leader, but then eventually subvert them. It’s okay to either wait and see or to continue looking for something better.