Installation of New Elders
During last weekend's services, the elders reaffirmed their vows to serve God's flock and the congregation also committed to support and work together with them for the good of the gospel.
At our recent English Congregational Meeting, we affirmed Gerald Chua as our new elder and also renewed the term for Elder Caleb Yap and Elder Mok Chuan-Xin for another three years.
We are thankful to God for these men, who have sought to obey God and be faithful in this way. We are also thankful for the other elders, whom the Lord has raised up as undershepherds.
These men were installed as elders at our services last weekend. The new elders were joined on stage by the existing elders team, and together, the team affirmed the elders' vows.
In the vows, they affirmed ten different statements regarding their faith and their calling. Among the statements, the elders affirmed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and also believed that the Scriptures are the Word of God, "totally trustworthy, fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the supreme, final, and only infallible rule of faith and practice". As elders, they also believe in our church's statement of faith.
Elders do not function independently of the church, and they too, "promise to submit to their fellow elders in the Lord", as well as "subscribe to the government and discipline of the church". Our elders also pledged to be "zealous and faithful in promoting the truths of the gospel" and to be faithful and dilligent in their duties, by the grace of God. They commited to taking personal responsibility to "oversee the ministry and resources of the church" and to prayer, ministry of the Word and shepherding of the flock here at GBC.
These are important pledges, and as they articulated their heart and desire for the church, they also humbly acknoweldged that it is impossible to do so by man's resolve. These are only possible by the grace of God.
And as we witnessed these pledges, the church was also given a chance to respond. We pledged together as members of the church to "acknowledge and publicly receive these men as elders, as a gift of Christ to this church". We also committed, by the grace of God, to keep these men in prayer, and seek to work together with them humbly and cheerfully, that "we may accomplish the mission of the church, giving the elders all due honour and support in their leadership to which the Lord has called them, to the glory of God".
Elder Chong Tien ended the installation segment by leading the congregation in prayer for these men and their families, and in doing so, reminded us to humbly seek God's help to fulfill His calling and to do His work. Let us continue to care for our elders and their families by praying for them and partnering with them, as they seek to "equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:12-13).