I have the privilege of sitting with pastors and elder boards across the Northeast. I’ve seen some incredibly healthy leadership teams and I’ve also seen how easily an elder board can lose sight of its most important work. 

Usually, it isn’t because elders don’t care. Quite the opposite. These are people who love Jesus, love their church, and take their responsibility seriously. But over time, even good leaders can drift into spending enormous amounts of energy on things that matter less while neglecting the things that matter most. 

In Acts 20:28, Paul tells the Ephesian elders: 

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers…” 

That is a significant responsibility. Elders are called to oversee. They are shepherds and spiritual leaders entrusted with the health, direction, and faithfulness of the church. 

So what does healthy elder leadership look like? Here are three shifts I believe many elder teams need to make. 

1. Get Out of the Weeds 

I’ve sat in elder meetings where talented, spiritually mature leaders spend an extraordinary amount of time discussing things that simply do not require elder-level leadership. 

Facilities. Scheduling. Minor policies. Operational details. The color of something. The placement of something. Issues that could easily be handled by staff, ministry leaders, or volunteers. 

Meanwhile, the bigger questions receive very little attention: 

Are we spiritually healthy? Are we accomplishing our mission? Are people meeting, knowing, and following Jesus? Are we developing leaders? Where is God leading our church next? 

Acts 6 gives us a helpful picture. When an important ministry need arose, the apostles did not ignore it—but neither did they personally assume responsibility for managing it. They empowered others so they could remain focused on prayer and the ministry of the Word. 

The solution: Before discussing an issue, ask: Does this require elder oversight, or can we empower someone else to handle it? 

Healthy elders don’t need to make every decision. They make sure the right people are making the right decisions. 

2. Focus on the Ends, Not Just the Means 

Churches naturally develop programs, structures, policies, traditions, and systems. Many of them are good and necessary. 

But they are means, not ends. 

Jesus gave the church a remarkably clear mission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). 

The goal isn’t to preserve our programs. The goal is to make disciples. 

That distinction matters because an elder board can spend its energy asking, “How do we keep this ministry going?” when the better question might be, “Is this ministry actually accomplishing what God has called us to do?” 

Healthy elders continually bring the conversation back to outcomes. 

The solution: Regularly ask three questions: 

• What are we trying to accomplish? 

• How do we know whether it is working? 

• Is what we are currently doing the best way to accomplish it? 

Programs can change. Strategies can change. Structures can change. The mission cannot. 

3. The Whole Church versus Personal Preference 

Elders are not representatives of individual ministries, constituencies, generations, or personal preferences. They are entrusted with the spiritual health and direction of the whole church. 

Peter tells elders to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight” (1 Peter 5:2). 

That requires elders to have a wide lens. 

The question cannot simply be, “What do I want?” or even, “What does my ministry need?” It must become, “What is best for the church and where God is leading us?” 

That means thinking about people who have been in the church for 30 years—and people who haven’t walked through the doors yet. It means thinking about children and students, young adults and seniors, discipleship and evangelism, current ministry and future mission. 

The solution: Make sure every significant elder conversation includes a whole-church perspective. Ask: How does this decision advance the mission, strengthen the church, and help us faithfully steward what God has entrusted to us? 

Elders Should Lead from the Balcony 

There are moments when elders need to come down into the details. But they cannot live there. 

Someone has to keep looking across the whole church. Someone has to guard the mission. Someone has to ask the questions that may not feel urgent today but will determine the health and direction of the church five years from now. 

That is part of the sacred responsibility of elder leadership. 

Paul’s words remain important for every elder team: “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock.” Acts 20:28 

Not just the budget. Not just the programs. Not just this week’s problem. 

The whole flock. The whole mission. The whole church. 

At this year’s Advance Conference, I’ll be leading a panel conversation on healthy elder leadership. We’ll talk honestly and practically about what effective elder leadership looks like, the traps boards commonly fall into, and how pastors and elders can work together to lead healthy, mission-focused churches. 

If you are an elder, pastor, or church leader, I hope you’ll join us. Bring your questions—and better yet, bring your elder team!