Our Elder Team

The Elder Team

We believe that Jesus Christ is the “head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18 ESV), and therefore He alone is the Leader of our church. We believe that He guides us as a church through His Spirit and through His word as we yield to His loving leadership. As the “chief shepherd” Jesus appoints some believers in the church family as shepherds (1 Peter 5:1-4 ESV) to provide leadership and pastoral care under His guidance. These individuals are called Elders.

At Grace Community Church (GCC), there are two types of elders:

• Leading Elders (or 'Ruling Elders’) — men drawn from our congregation who work in the community and are not paid by the church for their ministry.

• Teaching Elders — men who, in addition to their leadership responsibilities, also serve on the paid pastoral staff of our church.

These two terms are based on 1 Timothy 5:17,  and are simply descriptive terms. Both Leading and Teaching Elders possess the same character and behavior qualifications (as outlined in 1 Timothy). They also equally share in leading and guiding our church (whether they are paid or unpaid).

As the church grows in size, it also grows in its administrative and ministry complexity. As this happens, the Elders form other teams who deal with matters of administration, finances, and world missions. These teams then function, under the guidance of the Elders to assist the Elders, the Staff, and the entire Body to fulfill our vision and mission.

In order to help the Elder Team function in a healthy, balanced way, members of the team periodically rotate off of the team for a season of personal renewal (called a ‘sabbatical’). Additionally, an Elder may decide to step away from active Elder functions, but remains a part of the congregation.  These individuals are considered Adjunct Elders, and will return to the Elder team from time to time to assist with special projects or major decisions.  

The following descriptions highlight the differences between active and adjunct elders:

• Active Elders — attend meetings and lead our church.

• Adjunct Elders — do not attend meetings but do serve our church.

The GCC Elder Team includes:

Larry Campbell

Pat Fuelling

Mike Jones (on sabbatical)

Dan Steinhart

Chris Gray (on sabbatical)

Tom Wallace (on sabbatical)