I understand that to be qualified as an elder a man must be the husband of one wife.\u00a0 If the wife dies that man is no longer qualified.\u00a0 The elder must also have believing or faithful children.\u00a0 If the children should die having been faithful their entire lives would that elder then be disqualified?<\/p>\n\t
It is an interesting question, to which I’m not certain of the answer. The qualifications for being an elder are listed as one currently possessing (I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). What makes it a bit different than that of a wife is that marriage ends at the death of a spouse (Romans 7:2-3), but such is not the case between a father and his children. I can see it reasonably argued that the man still has faithful children even though they have journeyed to the spiritual realm.<\/p>\n\t
Thanks so much for your response.\u00a0 I look at this question the same way you do.\u00a0 You are correct —\u00a0hard to be sure on the answer.<\/p>\n
By the way, thanks also for your many topical studies on the web site.\u00a0 I have enjoyed reading through many of your entries.<\/p>\n\t
Happy to be of service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I understand that to be qualified as an elder a man must be the husband of one wife.\u00a0 If the wife dies that man is no longer qualified.\u00a0 The elder must also have believing or faithful children.\u00a0 If the children should die having been faithful their entire lives would that elder then be disqualified?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[123],"class_list":["post-19048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-elders"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9229,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-an-elder-need-to-step-down-if-one-of-his-children-falls-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":19048,"position":0},"title":"Does an elder need to step down if one of his children falls away?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question pertains to elders and having believing children. If when they, believing children of an elder, leave home and happen to fall away from the church should the elder step down? Or does this fall under the example aspect and he should step down because of that? Another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91021,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-deal-with-an-elders-wifes-gossiping\/","url_meta":{"origin":19048,"position":1},"title":"How do you deal with an elder’s wife’s gossiping?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do the wives of the elders have any authority over the other women of the congregation? Are there qualifications for the wife of an elder? How should it be handled when the wife of an elder repeats hurtful information about a member of the church she learns from her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41588,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-an-elder-an-elder-for-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":19048,"position":2},"title":"Is an elder an elder for life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A brother in our area is claiming to be \"an elder for life\" even though he has moved from one congregation to another and has not\u00a0been a serving elder in either. He was an elder for a congregation, but that eldership was dissolved because of his domineering attitude and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47990,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-be-an-elder-if-his-adopted-son-is-unruly\/","url_meta":{"origin":19048,"position":3},"title":"Can a man be an elder if his adopted son is unruly?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a question about the children in the qualifications for elders. If a man has a natural-born child and adopts a child, would this be plural children? What if the adopted child is unruly and irreverent and eventually moves away from home?\u00a0To me, this does not fit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2007,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happens-if-an-elders-wife-dies\/","url_meta":{"origin":19048,"position":4},"title":"What happens if an elder’s wife dies?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a man is qualified to serve as an elder but his wife dies before he is installed, can he still become an elder? If an elder's wife dies may he continue to serve? Answer: In looking for qualified men to be elders, we put so much emphasis on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3121,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-old-does-a-person-need-to-be-to-become-an-elder\/","url_meta":{"origin":19048,"position":5},"title":"How old does a person need to be to become an elder?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 21, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How old does a person need to be to become an elder? Answer: The word translated as \"elders\" in the New Testament comes from the Greek word\u00a0presbuteros, which refers to an older person. No set age is implied by the word and it is sometimes used to denote relative\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}