Yesterday I offered some thoughts on why an elder confession of faith is valuable in the life of a local church.

Today I want to offer two quick points of how it is valuable.

PRACTICAL BENEFITS OF AN ELDER CONFESSION

Unity. I think we can all agree that we are unified insofar as we agree on what’s true. A church’s under-shepherds are to be models of Christ before the church. One thing elders must model in their labor together is the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. An elder confession of faith, when done well,¹ greatly increases what the elder board agrees on theologically. Such agreement can only increase unity.

Maturity. An elder confession of faith represents one of the best discipling tools a church can have. I am increasingly convinced that the best systematic theologies the church has are historic confessions. They are precise and concise; two qualities average church members appreciate. If your elder confession of faith represents a more detailed and thorough – yet harmonious – articulation of the faith than the confession for church members, what you thus have is a document that details theological maturity. So, the confession for membership represents the seed of theological and biblical awareness and the confession for eldership the ordinary maturation that seed.

Our elders are currently walking through the elder confession of faith with about 10 different men in our church and I have heard nothing but excited feedback. I think it would be the same for you.