August 29, 2021

Dear Fellow Creekers, We are writing to you as we seek the next generation of leadership at Fellowship of Oso Creek. This month we are beginning the process of seeking men to serve on the Fellowship of Oso Creek Elder Team. The Elder Team is charged with keeping Oso Creek on God’s path as well as servant leadership. Elders provide vital spiritual leadership to support the vision of Fellowship of Oso Creek. As a member, you have both the opportunity and responsibility to help seek the men that God would have in this role.

Attached is a page entitled “Elder Qualifications.” Please read these. They are the heart of spiritual leadership in the Church. These are the qualifications and expectations of an Elder that we see in the Bible. We are seeking men who are faithful and growing in these qualifications, NOT perfect (which would have eliminated all of us). We also require that Elders have been a member of Oso Creek for at least one year and already serving in some leadership capacity. Also, only those who have been nominated by at least two others will be considered.

The current Elder team is comprised of Micheal Ilse, Rob Conolly, Nathan Payne and Shane Faux. Elders serve for three years and then take at least a year off. As Nathan and Rob will be rotating off at the end of this year, it is important that the current Elders have others to serve alongside them. So please prayerfully consider who our next leaders will be and help select our new Elders by filling out the Elder Nomination Form. Please put it in the Joy Box by September 19.

Please note that you must have attended a New Member meeting and be a current Member of Fellowship of Oso Creek in order to nominate an Elder.

An Elder interview team will then interview each candidate. The interview team will recommend to the church for consideration those who are qualified. The new elder(s) will then begin to serve by October 10, 2021. We are excited about the work God is doing at Oso Creek and seek your prayerful input through this elder search process, as well as your continual prayers for Creek leadership. Blessings,

Blessings,

Fellowship of Oso Creek Elders

Fellowship of Oso Creek Elder Qualifications

Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey and with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. 1 Timothy 3:1-7

An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless-not overbearing, not quick tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. Titus 1:6-9

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be: not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve, not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 1 Peter 5:2 NIV

Elders should be members in good standing, meaning attending, serving and giving on a regular basis, modeling Christian commitment in all areas of life.