Your People Need to Know the “Why” of Shifting to a Plurality of Elders
September 14, 2026
September 14, 2026
Abstract: Zach Kilpatrick encourages pastors to help their congregations see the need for a plurality of elders, first from Scripture and then from the various ways it can bless the church and its pastors. Many Christians aren’t aware of the Bible’s teaching about elders, nor do they recognize the strain that pastoral responsibilities can put on the pastor in a senior pastor model. In this second of three articles dealing with transitioning a church from a single-pastor model to a plurality of elders, Kilpatrick helps pastors think through educating their people on this important change.
I never understood algebra until I took physics. Algebra was just abstract numbers until physics put those numbers to work. For instance, the quadratic formula helps determine how long a football can stay in the air and whether a receiver running at a certain speed could catch it. Now I’m interested.
That’s what most people want—not just abstract theory but practical application. When leading a church through a major change, you should put both on offer.
This article is the second in a three-part series on leading a church from a single-pastor polity to a plurality-of-elders model.11 .As in the previous article, I’m using the terms “pastor” and “elder” interchangeably. In the first article, we saw the importance of evaluating your church’s history to help predict hazards you will likely encounter. In this article, we will see the importance of education in the transition process.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter told the gathered crowd to “Repent and be baptized . . .” (Acts 2:38). However, before he gave this command, he preached a sermon full of reasons why they should eagerly do so.
In a similar way, we shouldn’t urge a change in polity until we’ve explained why that change needs to be made. Help your church see how a plurality of elders fits better with the teaching and example we find in the New Testament. Once they grasp the Bible’s model, adorn it with practical blessings that will come from adopting it—more on this in a minute.
I’m convinced many Christians would be surprised to learn what Scripture actually says about polity. It’s simply too often assumed rather than understood. Therefore, we need to help our members locate the ecclesial prescriptions in their Bibles.
Consider Paul’s example and instructions in Acts 20:17–35: elders should teach publicly and privately; teach believers and evangelize unbelievers; proclaim the “whole counsel of God”; know and care for all members of the flock; and protect the church against false teaching. According to Ephesians 4:11–12, elders are among those whom Christ has given to the church to “equip the saints for the work of ministry.” And when Paul tells Timothy the qualifications for being an elder, he says that elders should “manage [their] own household well,” “care for God’s church,” and be “above reproach” (1 Tim. 3:1–7).
Given the breadth of these pastoral responsibilities, it’s not surprising that the New Testament repeatedly underlines there being multiple elders for each local church (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5; Jas. 5:14). Even on a practical level, a plurality of elders appears to be a more sustainable model for pastoral ministry. But if you don’t educate the congregation on these things, many will never see it.
Once members understand the scope and difficulty of a pastor’s calling, they should begin to see that it is too big for one man, and I believe this is by design. It seems the reason God gives pastors a job that is too big for one man is that he never intended for one man to do it alone! Though we want to avoid coming across as complaining about our job, particularly given that many members also have difficult jobs, we can be honest with them about the strain of pastoring alone.
I told the congregation I often had to look at two pastoral responsibilities and choose which one to neglect. There were days when I didn’t have time to do marriage counseling and sermon prep, to be at the hospital for a member’s critical surgery and attend a finance committee meeting. I had to choose one and leave the other undone.
If you are a solo pastor, you know about these weighty decisions. You also know how often the thing you’re tempted to neglect is your own family. However, your church members may have no idea what you do in a given week. Helping them understand this burden can prove vital to their understanding the why behind having a plurality.
You may recall the old infomercials that used to be on TV all the time. You know why those worked so well? Because they showed you what you were missing!
They didn’t just say, “You need this spray to stop your roof from leaking.” Instead, they covered a screen in the gunk, made it the floor of a boat, and demonstrated just how effective it was in stopping water ingress by putting two fellas in the boat and rowing it around for a while. If it can do that, surely, it’d make a difference on my roof!
Though you aren’t selling your congregation a product, you can help them see not only what they lack but also what they would gain from having multiple elders. Here are six practical benefits.
Distributing leadership among multiple qualified men helps to reinforce the fact that Christ is the head of the church.
A plurality of elders affords more hands for the work, which means members receive better pastoral care.
A plurality of elders results in the greater diversification of pastoral gifting. Some are more cerebral and so are poised to defend the church’s doctrines against outside attack. Others are uniquely tenderhearted and so deal best with the weak and hurting among the members.
A plurality of elders means every pastor has pastors on whom he can depend and from whom he can receive care.
A plurality of elders makes it easier for elders to do elder things and deacons to do deacon things.
A plurality of elders provides continuity and consistent leadership during pastoral transitions.
Help your church see and desire these benefits, which a plural elder polity provides.
Now that you’ve identified potential hazards from your church’s history (see the “Evaluation” step from the previous article) and educated your people about why your church’s polity needs to change, you should be ready for the final step of the transition process: Execution. That’s where we’ll deal with pertinent questions and practical steps, such as how many elders to pursue, how to identify them, which bylaws need to be changed, and more.
