Listening Elders | Developing Leaders | Genesis Conference of the Free Methodist Church

What is a Listening Elder?

A Listening Elder is a pastor who other pastors can approach to talk about what they're dealing with. You are encouraged to contact the person that you feel most comfortable reaching out to, or in specific cases, the one who specializes in the area you’re struggling with. Our current Listening Elders and their email contacts are listed below.

A Listening Elder will engage in up to three conversations with you about what's on your mind, and may be agreeable to checking in or coaching after that. If there is still more to unpack or process after a few conversations, they may recommend you pursue further counsel or reach out to Conference staff.

Listening Elders cannot provide professional counseling or therapy, but can offer coaching, mentoring and facilitating healthy spiritual conversation. They listen and oﬀer feedback and prayer, but are not there to diagnose or fix.

If it's deemed necessary, a Listening Elder may notify you that they are going to confer about your situation with another Listening Elder or Conference staff, and do so anonymously whenever possible.

Why Would I Contact a Listening Elder?

We all have areas of our lives that feel like a struggle. Discouragement and temptation are common to all of us and have been throughout all of human history. Should we ever become convinced that this is not the case, to echo the Apostle Paul’s sentiments in 1 Corinthians 10, we need to be careful that we don’t fall.

Perhaps you are feeling anxious or depressed or hurt, or have a relationship that is struggling. Or, maybe you find that you’re stuck in a pattern of sin, or that the recurring temptation itself has become more than you can bear. If you're a pastor who needs someone to listen to what you’re dealing with, especially if its the sort of thing that you feel like you can’t share with others in your network, we have people in the Genesis Conference who are willing to help you, people who have agreed to serve as Listening Elders.

It all starts with you being honest with the Lord about what is happening in your life, and then being honest about it with one of us.

Covenant of Restoration

In cases where temptation has led to recurring sin, your objective will be to work with your Listening Elder to develop a plan for restoration. The restoration plan that your Listening Elder develops for you and with you will include regular discipleship conversations with them, safeguards and accountability put in place to help you resist the temptation to give in to or continue in that sin, referrals to recovery or support groups as needed, and other components that are deemed necessary to help you follow Jesus and lead your ministry more faithfully.

The timeframe for the restoration plan and your communication with your listening elder is mostly dependent upon the benchmarks that are developed and how long it takes you to reach them. Your name, conversations and the content of them will remain anonymous to the Conference staff for as long as the covenant of restoration is maintained.