An elder, in many

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

churches, is an

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

minister that has the responsibilities to preach and teach, preside at the celebration of the

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...

, administer the church through pastoral guidance, and lead the congregations under their care in service ministry to the world. The office of ''elder'', then, is what most people tend to think of as the

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

al,

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

ly,

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

office within the church. In some of the denominations within Methodism that use the title,

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to this office is open to both men and women, including the Global Methodist Church,

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

Free Methodist Church The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is Evangelicalism, evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian in theology. The Free Met ...

Bible Methodist Connection of Churches The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

, and Evangelical Methodist Church. In other denominations such as the Primitive Methodist Church,

Evangelical Methodist Church of America The Evangelical Methodist Church of America (or Evangelical Methodist Conference) Christian denomination based in the United States. Ardently Fundamental, the denomination has its roots in a movement of churches that broke away from Mainline M ...

, Fundamental Methodist Conference, Evangelical Wesleyan Church, and Southern Methodist Church, only men are ordained as elders. Methodist denominations that have "a threefold ministry of deacons, elders, and bishops" include the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Free Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church, among other denominations represented in the

World Methodist Council The World Methodist Council (WMC), founded in 1881, is a consultative body that represents churches within Methodism and facilitates cooperation among its member denominations. It comprises 80 denominations in 138 countries which together repres ...

Etymology and origin

"Elder" is an English translation of the Greek word ''Presbuteros'' (), found in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. The word is also commonly transliterated as "

presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros'', which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer ...

". The office or "order" of presbyter is one of three orders of the traditional Christian priesthood, along with

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

and

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. The founder of Methodism,

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

, in the

rite, supplanted the '' Book of Common Prayer's'' term "

" for "elder", although the rest of the liturgy remained the same.

Denominational statements

Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection

The ''Discipline'' of the

Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (AWMC) is a Methodist denomination within the conservative holiness movement. It is primarily based in the United States, with missions in Peru, Ghana, and Haiti. The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Conne ...

states that:

Free Methodist Church

The ''Book of Discipline'' of the

states that:

Primitive Methodist Church

The ''Discipline'' of the Primitive Methodist Church states that:

United Methodist Church

The '' Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church'' states that:

Vestments and clericals

While not presiding at a service of worship, Methodist elders are sometimes seen wearing the clerical collar and clergy shirt in public. Preaching tabs can also be worn around the neck in lieu of the clerical collar. Many Methodist elders choose not to wear

clerical clothing Clerical clothing is non-Liturgy, liturgical clothing worn exclusively by clergy. It is distinct from vestments in that it is not reserved specifically for use in the liturgy. Practices vary: clerical clothing is sometimes worn under vestments, a ...

in their daily activities. When presiding at a service of worship, Methodist elders are often seen wearing church vestments, namely the pulpit robe or

alb An Alb is a liturgical vestment. ALB, Alb or alb may also refer to: * Alb, Alpine transhumance in Allemannic German Places * Alb (Upper Rhine), a tributary of the Upper Rhine in northern Black Forest near Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany * Al ...

, and to a lesser extent, the

chasuble The chasuble () is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian churches that use full vestments, primarily in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In the Eastern ...

. Stoles that reflect the season of the Christian year are worn over the vestment.Grace Incarnate: Vestments in the Methodist Tradition
/ref> Other elders choose not to wear vestments and are often seen in suits, dress clothes or casual clothing. However, stoles which represent the "yoke" of responsibility to the Church and to God are not to be worn unless the person has gone through the process of ordination which extends past education to a provisionary period culminating with a formal ordination service where the bishop presides.

Educational requirements

In most cases, United Methodist elders must have graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in liberal education or equivalent degree in a college or university listed by the ''University Senate of the United Methodist Church'' and must have a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

or equivalent degree in a school of theology (seminary).''The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church: ¶ 415 - Educational Requirements'' (retrieved 22 May 2007). However, individual Annual Conferences may require that a

or equivalent first professional degree be the minimum standard for entrance into the Annual Conference's Order of Elders, or presbyterate. Changes were made by the 1992 and 1996 General Conferences which revamped many aspects of the ordained offices in the

's polity and doctrine and made the Order of Deacon a permanent, rather than transitional, office. These reforms also elevated the previously ''un''ordained office of Diaconal Minister, who were lay persons performing specialized tasks within a congregational or ministry staff setting (such as music, education, youth ministry, etc.) to ordained status as permanent deacons as well.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

The United Methodist Church: Pastoral Appointments - Overview
Methodism Methodist ecclesiastical offices Ecclesiastical titles