We’re conducting a class in which we’re going over the basics of Christianity and just last night, we started discussing the qualifications of elders and deacons. I almost fell out of my seat when our minister stated it’s OK for an elder to keep on serving after<\/em> his wife dies or passes on. Both during and afterward, I pointed out some of the basic facts, i.e. he’s no longer married, etc. But most of the crowd seems to agree with him so I told him I would look into this matter and get back to him. I read your answers to the queries on this subject and am so glad you agree with me. I plan to show him your answers from your website, so I really do appreciate your posting your\u00a0position on the website. However since most of our group agrees with his interpretation, it looks like I might have a minor struggle on my hands.<\/p>\n Again I’m very comfortable with the position you and I take on this matter, but I really don’t want to start a ruckus in our congregation, and I’m thinking since the other position is one way to interpret based on the different translations, it’s difficult to see this matter as one to divide up the Lord’s body. What do you think? And, yes, it’s very much applicable. One of our elder’s wives had a brief brush with the very real possibility of dying on us during surgery and she’s\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0completely out of trouble quite yet?\u00a0Looking forward to your response.<\/p>\n\t Since this isn’t currently an issue, then study with people about the issue. Even if they might not agree with your position, they will at least know where you stand and why. If the matter does come up, then you’ll have to decide if you want to continue to worship with a congregation that has an elder serving it who doesn’t meet the qualifications set down by the Lord. You never know, you might find that the elder steps down voluntarily so as to not cause a problem.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: We’re conducting a class in which we’re going over the basics of Christianity and just last night, we started discussing the qualifications of elders and deacons. I almost fell out of my seat when our minister stated it’s OK for an elder to keep on serving after his wife dies or passes on. Both…<\/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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[123,544],"class_list":["post-34542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-elders","tag-membership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19244,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happens-when-one-of-a-congregations-two-elders-moves\/","url_meta":{"origin":34542,"position":0},"title":"What happens when one of a congregation’s two elders moves?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When one elder relocates to another district and there is no one to replace him, who leads the church? Is it the remaining one elder? Please explain to me with clear scripture references because we have this problem at our congregation. Answer: A congregation with only one man qualified\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":17635,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/any-advice-for-a-new-elder\/","url_meta":{"origin":34542,"position":1},"title":"Any advice for a new elder?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a brother in Christ who's been an elder for a short time. There are two older elders who have been in the church for many years and he feels like a junior elder and they are senior elders. The church recognizes it at times because it's being\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":14950,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-christian-have-the-right-to-privately-criticize-an-elder\/","url_meta":{"origin":34542,"position":2},"title":"Does a Christian have the right to privately criticize an elder?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does a church member have the right to privately confront or send a message to an elder, for the purpose of disagreement or criticism? If this not acceptable, what consequences should follow a disagreement? Answer: \"Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for\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":16719,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-have-other-material-on-an-elders-children-being-faithful\/","url_meta":{"origin":34542,"position":3},"title":"Do you have other material on an elder’s children being faithful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read your article on faithful children per Titus 1:6 and I must say I appreciate the way you handled it. I am in my first full-time work after graduating from preaching school and this question has come up. As if by providence we began our study of\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":18943,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-elders-have-the-consent-of-the-congregation-in-order-to-serve\/","url_meta":{"origin":34542,"position":4},"title":"Must elders have the consent of the congregation in order to serve?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Curious what you would have to comment on related to this topic of elderships and having the consent of the Lord's body to serve as elders.\u00a0\u00a0 Flavil Yeakley in his book Church Leadership and Organization\u00a0makes this assertion: \"One thing that has confused some people about the authoritarian style of\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":47145,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-work-of-elders-is-the-critical-matter\/","url_meta":{"origin":34542,"position":5},"title":"The Work of Elders Is the “Critical” Matter","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Randy Blackaby Virtually any study or discussion of church \"elders\" immediately focuses on the qualifications for this office. Does the person have \"believing children,\" what does that entail, and must all his children be faithful? Is the person \"apt or able to teach\" and is he a good leader\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34542","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=34542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n