The Role of Unpaid Elders in Southern Baptist Churches: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to discover the roles fulfilled by unpaid elders in Southern Baptist churches. This project involved two phases. Phase 1 utilized a forty-five question survey which asked about duties of unpaid elders, competencies of unpaid elders, and barriers to decision making among elder teams. Phase 2 involved qualitative interviews of a purposive sample of survey respondents. The interviews sought clarifying information about elder duties, elder selection, and information about transitioning to plural elder leadership. A random sample of 2881 Southern Baptist churches was surveyed. One hundred-forty-six usable surveys were returned. Eight men were interviewed for Phase 2.Data from both phases indicate that the role most filled by unpaid elders is teaching. Other frequent duties include prayer for the church, pastoral care, ministry oversight, and property maintenance. Results suggest that more of the elders in this sample play a shepherding role than a governing role. Key words: unpaid elders; church polity; elder roles