This first interview is with Wallace Tinsley, pastor of Filbert Presbyterian Church in Filbert, S.C. (See the lead article by Tinsley)

Where are you located? We are located three miles outside a town of 8,000 people.

• How many members does Filbert have at this time? We have about 250 members.

• How many officers (elders and deacons) do you have? We normally have seven elders and seven to nine deacons.

• Do they serve is classes? If so how long are the classes? Both the elders and the deacons serve in three classes of three years each.

• How many are on staff at your church? We have a pastor and are adding an associate pastor this year.

• Describe the process you use in training officers at Filbert. We view the process of officer nomination to be a matter of recognizing those men who have already begun to exhibit the life of the godly man, by grace, described in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Therefore, the development of officers is a much larger subject than the training of officers. In essence, it is simply a matter of Christian discipleship over a long period of time. Our three-point job description is: 1.Be. 2. Be there. 3. Do.

1. Be a maturing Christian man.

2. Be involved fully in this particular Christian fellowship.

3. Do the work of elder or deacon.

Officer training consists in working through the Westminster Confession, chapter by chapter, to be certain the potential officer understands the content to which he will be vowing agreement, if elected. The Session asks for a restatement of his Christian testimony and examines him in theology and Bible knowledge. The credibility of his testimony is tied to personal knowledge of his life and work in the community.  

Covering a summary of Reformed doctrine is not very difficult. Gaining a working knowledge of the 66 books takes an investment of years. Being discipled into a man of God takes the work of the Holy Spirit, a miracle.

A maturing Christian man, properly described, by grace, in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1 (“Be.”), who commits his life and service to a particular body of saved sinners (“Be there.”) can simply be pointed in the direction of the job description of elder or deacon. He will humbly, joyfully, and diligently fulfill his calling (“Do.”)

• What would you say has been the benefit of such an approach? By God’s grace, He has blessed our congregation with godly elders and deacons. Both stability and excitement in service have been the result.  

This second interview is with Associate Pastor for Ministries Bill Leach at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg, Va.

Covenant is a church that does not take its leadership lightly, especially the process of electing and installing its officers. We wanted to highlight these two different types of PCA churches, particularly considering their approaches to training officers in the church. We asked the following questions of pastor Leach.

• Pastor Leach, briefly describe your church for us. The Covenant Presbyterian Church is located in Harrisonburg, Va., a town with approximately 40,438 population, according to the 2005 census.

• How many members, approximately, does Covenant have?  We have about 700 members with an average attendance of 1,000 plus on Sunday.

• How many are on staff at Covenant at this time? Our staff consists of five teaching elders, one of whom is working to plant a Latino congregation. We also have four ministry directors (administration, youth, children, and worship). There are three full time and one part time ministry support staff and one church sexton.

• How many officers do you have at this time? We currently have five active ruling elders and 13 deacons. We have had about eight ruling elders in the recent past.

• Do they serve in classes? If so, how long are the classes? The men currently serve three year terms with a one-year “sabbatical.” After the sabbatical the men are interviewed by the Session and then re-elected for another three year term by the congregation.

• While I understand you are evaluating some of your present officer training procedures, I understand you do something a bit unique in electing your officers. Would you describe that process? As I stated above, the officers are elected for three-year terms with a sabbatical before re-election. But your reference to doing something different, every officer that is elected serves one year as a candidate for the office before being presented to the congregation for election for final ratification.

• Do the officers elect meet with the session and or diaconate during the year of internship? Yes, the candidates meet with their respective bodies during the year of candidacy, going to the meetings and helping with many of the functions of the office.

• What would you say has been the benefit of such an approach? The candidacy gives the man being considered hands-on exposure to the office before making a final decision concerning his sense of call. It also gives the other officers the opportunity to observe the candidates gifts and how he works with the other officers and the congregation.  

We are certain that a seed will be planted for other churches who, like Covenant, are in the process of evaluating and implementing their officer training procedures.