Book Review: The Elder-Led Church, by Murray Capill

Murray Capill, The Elder-Led Church: How an Eldership Team Shepherds a Healthy Flock. P&R, 2024. 264 pages.

The Elder-Led Church is a useful addition to the topic of local church leadership. In the introduction, Murray Capill notes the need he’s seen that called for this monograph:

While there are scores of books on leadership and dozens of books on eldership, the intersection between the two is seldom explored. Church-leadership books are typically written to “sole” leaders: a pastor, senior pastor, or ministry leader. If eldership is in view, it is by way of an accountability structure for the sole leader, not a model whereby the overall leadership is a shared responsibility. Eldership books, by contrast, frequently deal with nearly everything except leadership. (xviii)

I agree entirely and will add that the books written about “church leadership” are typically light on theology. So while you may not agree with all of Capill’s conclusions, I bet you’ll find that this book scratches an itch that typically goes unscratched.

Here’s the question Capill aims to answer: “How can a team of elders lead a church in such a way that great clarity is brought to its entire life and ministry” (xvi)? With this question, Capill reminds us of something we all know but which merits constant repetition—teams of local church elders need to offer clarity to the sheep: “Churches thrive on clarity” (xxii). In his effort to offer clarity on the role of elders in the life of the church, Capill breaks the book into four parts.

Part One: Elders Are Leaders

For most of the 9Marks audience, this will be the section in which you’re most “at home.” He begins with the Bible’s story of eldership and notes six stages as the concept is developed throughout the canon—from “Moses and the elders of Israel” all the way to “the elders in glory” (Rev. 5, 7). As a local church elder who thinks about the office regularly, this section was helpful in rounding out the idea, especially when it comes to the Old Testament data.

He moves on from here to note the five biblical terms the New Testament employs to talk about this officer: elder, shepherd, overseer, leader, and steward. But the main idea according to Capill is that elders are “the lead leaders” (30):

[Elders] are not just a glorified management committee, overseeing property matters while the pastor leads the church. Nor are they merely a board of reference for the pastor to seek advice from, or a board of directors governing a company. They are heads of the community, shepherds of the flock, overseers of the church, leaders of God’s people, and stewards of God’s house.

Amen!

He tackles the wisdom of an elder team recognizing a “first among equals,” or, as Capill labels him, the “team captain.” To cut to the chase, Capill says, it’s “wise!” Realizing that there is a difference of opinion on the wisdom of recognizing one elder to fill this role (usually the guy who preaches most), if you’re looking for a conversation partner, even if you’re not ultimately convinced by his argument, I bet these four pages will prove helpful (38–41). One bit of food for thought: “It seems that there was some internal structure to the apostolic band. Four times in the New Testament, the list of the apostles is given, and each time not only does Peter’s name come first, but the first four names are the same, though the order of names two to four changes” (39).

He closes out this first section with instructions on raising up new elders. Leaning on Hebrews 5:11–6:1, he says, “Elders are chosen from among those who have gone on to meat, learned to discern, and become able to teach others” (59). And “while an elder should not a be a yes-man, neither should he be a maverick” (65). Helpful!

Part Two: Big-Picture Leadership

In this section, Capill leans on Keller’s Center Church by isolating three particular levels at which all churches function: theological convictions (level 1), theological/gospel vision (level 2), and ministry practice (level 3). Everyone reading this review should certainly agree with the importance of level 1. Capill cites Titus 1:9: “He [the elder] must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

But what about level 2? Now, just to be up-front, I have consistently found conversations about “vision, mission, and values” fairly dizzying. I probably call one of my pastor buddies at least once a year to say, “Remind me how a vision is different from a mission? And what are values supposed to be, again?”

Capill brings the concept down to earth. He defines gospel vision as “a clear picture, growing out of the Scriptures and our theology, of what God wants the church of the Lord Jesus to be . . . a picture of what it will look like for the church to love the gospel, reflect the gospel, stand for the gospel, and advance the gospel” (85). Capill says this should start with a “razor-sharp understanding of the church’s mission” (86), which he rightly asserts is the Great Commission (the thesis of the unusually helpful book What Is the Mission of the Church?, which Capill references). He lists eight characteristics of a faithful gospel vision:

1. the weekly gathering of God’s people,
2. evangelistic effectiveness,
3. trust in and use of the Bible,
4. a countercultural community,
5. training for gospel ministry,
6. the integration of faith and work,
7. the doing of justice and mercy,
8. and gospel partnership (89–95).

He goes on to explain the importance of a church’s “values” (95) and “culture” (98), and closes out the section describing effective structures, with helpful conversations on church life cycles and different church sizes.

Part Three: Leading Signature Ministries

Capill opens this section saying, “While the elders must not micromanage church life, three ministry areas are ‘signature’ ministries, setting the pace theologically, culturally, and practically for almost everything else. Oversight of these ministries must be high on the elders’ agenda” (125). The first signature ministry is “mission: local and global evangelism.” I found myself praying for my church according to his words on page 129: “We must resist any temptation to look for a few slick strategies to get the job evangelism ticked off the ‘to do’ list. Rather, what many churches need are some massive mind-shifts to make evangelism a core business, a signature ministry, of the local church.”

The second signature ministry, according to Capill, is “Sunday: Word and worship.” This is where our author undoubtedly earns the “P&R” on the spine of the book, and helpful quotes abound! “Since worship is the end goal of redemption, Sunday worship is rightly the pinnacle of church life. . . . This is the moment when the church goes public with its theological convictions, its mission and gospel vision, its values, and its culture” (142). He says that the eldership is responsible for the shape of worship, the preaching of God’s Word, the church’s music/song, the leading of worship, and the setting and aesthetics of worship.

The third signature ministry is “Shepherding: Care and Discipleship.” A few quotations will show the value of the chapter:

• “Our goal is that in all the ups and downs of life, people learn to cling to Christ, find all they need in him, grow in dependence on him, find joy in him, and serve him in whatever situation the Lord has placed them” (162).
• “In each pastoral situation, our aim is to see the person walk more strongly with the Lord, who is his or her strength, wisdom, and righteousness” (163).

Helpful, right? But lest you preaching elders start to feel guilty about the time away from the flock you’re spending on your sermons each week, Capill reminds us, “It must never be forgotten that the primary tool for care and discipleship is the preaching ministry. . . . Here the entire flock is shepherded at one time, making it the most time-effective form of care available” (165).

Part Four: Leading Well

In the final section, Capill discusses practical matters such as when the elders should meet, how these meetings should be structured, and how they should make decisions. He adds a helpful section on the unhelpfulness of requiring unanimity.) These chapters are a good way to sew up the topic!

The Bottom Line

As someone who gets so giddy about Baptist polity that I can’t think about it too close to bedtime, I quibble with some of the flexibility he offers in terms of the way elders can structure themselves (a “ruling” eldership within a more general eldership, p. 118) or in the way the congregation operates (not needing to be “fully supportive of the church’s doctrinal statement,” p. 78).

But the opportunities to quibble were few and far between. The book’s structure is helpful (including discussion questions at the end of each chapter for a team of elders to answer) and the main points are faithfully drawn from Scripture and presented crisply. Capill is also great at mining other resources for helpful quotations and paradigms. This is a book I’ll continue to consult as a helpful instructor and conversation partner.