Leadership & Governance 2025 – Part 2
Opening My Eyes to Essential Kingdom Work
There I was, walking through the doors of an event all about church governance. This was a day designed to bring eldership and trustee teams together to receive teaching and engage in discussions about how to lead together for effective gospel advance. I had been an elder for only a couple of months at this point, so this was all rather new territory for me—and, in all honesty, though I knew that trustees were important, I didn’t really understand much of what they did or how they worked with elders to govern churches. This is why attending this event was so beneficial for me. I came away with an enriched vision of church governance, having been equipped to better serve alongside the trustee team at my local church.
Seeing the Bigger Picture
I know—governance doesn’t always sound like the most exciting topic. At least, not compared to what you might usually imagine when picturing an elder engaging in church ministry: prayer, preaching, and pastoral care. However, as the day unfolded, I started to see that governance isn’t a second-class Christian activity or an administrative burden—it’s essential Kingdom work.
One of the things that struck me most throughout the day was this: we want the world to see something beautiful when they look at the Church — and that they can see beauty not just in what we build, but how we build it as well. The way we do what we do is an opportunity to witness to the glory of God and the good news of Jesus Christ. Governance (and the work of trustees in local churches) is far more important than it is often thought to be.
Grateful and Growing
Sadly, churches often find this out the hard way—when things go wrong. One particular area of church life that can accumulate governance horror stories is finances. As a new elder who knew little about how church finances work, I was keen to attend the relevant breakout session and learn more about how we can better steward the money we’ve been given by God.
Across all the breakout sessions, sitting under the waterfalls of wisdom coming from such highly experienced and God-fearing men and women was incredible. It did me so much good to soak in all the spiritual and practical teaching.
So, with the event now over, there I was again—walking through those doors, not just more equipped for Kingdom work but also with an increased sense of thankfulness in my heart for the people in my church who faithfully, sacrificially, excellently, and wholeheartedly serve in the business of governance.
A Call to Action
If that’s you, thank you—you are greatly appreciated. And if you’re new to all this like me, I encourage you to take action. Get to know your trustees. Seek to understand what they do and how they do it. Invest in your relationship with them and actively serve by their side. And why not book yourself into the next Leadership and Governance Day happening next year? It will do you good—and it will do your church good as well.
