Nominate Now!
Nominations for offices of Elder, Deacon and Trustee
Nominations are being accepted for the offices of Elder, Deacon, and Trustee. Five elders, five deacons, and one trustee will be elected for three-year terms that begin in January 2024.
The Nominating Committee invites you to prayerfully consider who you feel is being called to serve in these important roles. Who do you recognize in our church family as having the gifts, energy, and spiritual maturity to fulfill the assigned duties? Perhaps you yourself feel called and would like to be considered! If so, please feel free to nominate yourself!
The Nominating Committee will be accepting nominations through November 26.
Please put only one person per form (complete a new form for each additional name).
How to nominate:
Fill out a printed form (available on the tables outside both services)
Fill out the nomination form online
Email your suggestion to nominations@fpcbristol.org
The Duties of Elders
The Book of Order, G-2.0301, states: As there were in Old Testament times elders for the government of the people, so the New Testament church provided persons with particular gifts to share in discernment of God’s Spirit and governance of God’s people. Accordingly, congregations should elect persons of wisdom and maturity of faith, having demonstrated skills in leadership and being compassionate in spirit. Ruling elders are so named not because they “lord it over” the congregation (Matt. 20:25), but because they are chosen by the congregation to discern and measure its fidelity to the Word of God, and to strengthen and nurture its faith and life. Ruling elders, together with ministers of the Word and Sacrament, exercise leadership, government, spiritual discernment, and discipline and have responsibilities for the life of a congregation as well as the whole church, including ecumenical relation- ships. When elected by the congregation, they shall serve faithfully as members of the session. When elected as commissioners to higher councils, ruling elders participate and vote with the same authority as ministers of the Word and Sacrament, and they are eligible for any office.
The Duties of Deacons
The Book of Order, G-2.0201, states: “The ministry of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of compassion, witness, and service, sharing in the redeeming love of Jesus Christ for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the lost, the friendless, the oppressed, those burdened by unjust policies or structures, or anyone in distress. Persons of spiritual character, honest repute, exemplary lives, brotherly and sisterly love, sincere compassion, and sound judgment should be chosen for this ministry.”
The Duties of Trustee
The Book of Order, G-4.0101, states: “The (trustees of the) corporation shall have the following powers: to receive, hold, encumber, manage, and transfer property, real or personal, for the congregation, provided that in buying, selling, and mortgaging real property, the trustees shall act only after the approval of the congregation, granted in a duly constituted meeting; to accept and execute deeds of title to such property; to hold and defend title to such property; to manage any permanent special funds for the furtherance of the purposes of the congregation, all subject to the authority of the session and under the provisions of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The powers and duties of the trustees shall not infringe upon the powers and duties of the session or the board of deacons.”