Anelder, in manyMethodist churches, is anordainedminister that has the responsibilities to preach and teach, preside at the celebration of thesacraments, administer the church through pastoral guidance, and lead the congregations under their care in service ministry to the world.
The office ofelder, then, is what most people tend to think of as thepastoral,priestly,clergy office within the church. In some of thedenominations within Methodism that use the title,ordination to this office is open to both men and women, including theGlobal Methodist Church,United Methodist Church,Free Methodist Church,Bible Methodist Connection of Churches, andEvangelical Methodist Church. In other denominations such as thePrimitive Methodist Church,Evangelical Methodist Church of America,Fundamental Methodist Conference,Evangelical Wesleyan Church, andSouthern Methodist Church, only men are ordained as elders.[1][2]
Methodist denominations that have "a threefold ministry of deacons, elders, and bishops" include theAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church,Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Free Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church, among other denominations represented in theWorld Methodist Council.[3]
"Elder" is an English translation of the Greek wordPresbuteros (Greek:πρεσβύτερος), found in theNew Testament. The word is also commonly transliterated as "presbyter". The office or "order" of presbyter is one of three orders of the traditional Christian priesthood, along withdeacon andbishop. The founder of Methodism,John Wesley, in theordination rite, supplanted theBook of Common Prayer's term "priest" for "elder", although the rest of the liturgy remained the same.[4]
TheDiscipline of theAllegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection states that:[5]
An elder is a preacher of the gospel, fully invested with all the functions of the Christian ministry. An elder is constituted such by election of the Connection, and by the laying on of the hands of some of the elders, and prayer. The president of the Connection shall lead the service unless the Connection orders otherwise and appoints some other person in his stead. ... It is the duty of an elder to preach the gospel, to administer baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to perform all parts of divine worship, and to solemnize the rite of matrimony.[5]
TheBook of Discipline of theFree Methodist Church states that:
Election to elder’s orders constitutes the acknowledgement of the annual conference that the person so elected has met all the biblical (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1) and ecclesiastical requirements to serve as an overseer in the church. Only an ordained elder may serve as a ministerial delegate to General Conference, a conference superintendent or a bishop.[6]
TheDiscipline of thePrimitive Methodist Church states that:
An Elder shall have met all the requirements of the School of Theology and the Conference, and shall have received the rite of ordination. He shall have the full rights and privileges of the Conference and shall be entitled to participate in the system of itinerancy.[1]
TheBook of Discipline of the United Methodist Church states that:
Elders are ministers who have completed their formal preparation for the ministry of Word, Sacrament, and Order; have been elected itinerant members in full connection with anAnnual Conference; and have beenordained elders in accordance with the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church.
While not presiding at aservice of worship, Methodist elders are sometimes seen wearing theclerical 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 wearclerical clothing in their daily activities.
When presiding at a service of worship, Methodist elders are often seen wearingchurch vestments, namely thepulpit robe oralb, and to a lesser extent, thechasuble.[7]Stoles that reflect the season of theChristian year are worn over the vestment.[8] Other elders choose not to wear vestments and are often seen insuits,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.
In most cases, United Methodist elders must have graduated with aBachelor of Arts in liberal education or equivalent degree in a college or university listed by theUniversity Senate of the United Methodist Church and must have aMaster of Divinity or equivalent degree in aschool of theology (seminary).[9] However, individual Annual Conferences may require that aMaster of Divinity or equivalent first professional degree be the minimum standard for entrance into theAnnual Conference's Order of Elders, orpresbyterate. Changes were made by the 1992 and 1996 General Conferences which revamped many aspects of the ordained offices in theUnited Methodist Church's polity and doctrine and made the Order of Deacon a permanent, rather than transitional, office. These reforms also elevated the previouslyunordained 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.
Methodist Churches of the North American pattern that goes back to the Methodist Episcopal Church (founded in 1784) have historically maintained a threefold ministry of deacons, elders, and bishops, although such early American Methodist leaders as Francis Asbury maintained that the episcopacy was not a distinct order of ministry but a higher status of elders. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and the United Methodist Church all follow this pattern of episcopal leadership.