Shepherds are part of God’s plan for the health and mission of every local church. Just consider all that God intends to accomplish through this role:  

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. —Ephesians 4:11–16

Christ is the goal and substance of our life as a church. Shepherds and teachers, which refers to one role, are part of how Christ gets this done.

Why Is This Good for Us?

One way our elders at Heritage seek to lead our church to maturity in Christ is by the simple work of answering questions. We do this in informal and private ways, and we do this in especially public ways such as our annual Elders Q&A. On November 22 at 4:30 p.m. we will host our second annual Elders Q&A.  

This event serves a number of interlocking purposes:  

• To promote a culture of openness and vulnerability.
• To model healthy question asking and answering.
• To enhance our elders’ unity and insight into the ministry.
• To clarify any ambiguities or gaps in our leadership for our members.
• To instruct in biblical eldership and increase the visibility for our team.
• To update the congregation on any timely projects or studies we’ve been working on.

We’ll plan for an hour and fifteen minutes. We won’t share dinner, as is our tradition at these meetings, due to COVID, but we’ll certainly bring that back next time around.

What’s On Your Mind?

If you have a question—think doctrine, church life, plans for our shared mission, etc.—you can get it to us in a variety of ways:  

• Text. Text your question to 864.735.7465.
• Email. Email your question to [email protected]
• Write. Grab a Connection Card on Sunday, scratch out your question, and drop that in an offering box.
• Form. Submit a question here.
• Tell. Communicate your question for the Q&A to an elder in person or through email. They’ll ask you to write it down so that we don’t lose your intent in translation, but you’re welcome to start with a conversation.
• Show Up. Show up with your question on November 22nd. The elders will take some questions from a mic during the evening.

As a help in this process, aim to submit your questions by Sunday, October 25. This lead time helps us notice recurring themes, know how to devote time to particular questions, discuss any topics as a team if needed, and order our time in a way that best serves the congregation. We’ll certainly consider any questions that come in after that date.

As a reminder, we won’t be able to answer every question that gets asked. However, if you put your name on a question and we did not answer it at the Q&A, we will reach out to answer that question for you in person or by email. In some cases, we may devote a blog-post to the topic.

Before the Q&A, get acquainted with Heritage’s elders at the About Page. Also, here’s the recap of last years Q&A for those that couldn’t join us.