OPC Ruling Elder Podcast

John Muether reflects on the qualification “able to teach”.

John has served as a ruling elder for 35 years, first in Lake Sherwood OPC for 12 years and then in Reformation OPC, Oviedo, FL for 23 years. For many years John served as Historian for the OPC, and still serves on the Committee of the Historian and the Committee on Christian Education. He is currently Professor of Church History at RTS, Orlando, and Dean of Libraries for RTS.

A pdf of Murray Smith’s article is available here.

The Catechism by Packer (To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism (Approved Edition) J.I. Packer and Joel Scandrett, Crossway, 2020) is currently out of print. It may be available second hand.

A good recent introduction to the Means of Grace is Harrison Perkins book, Meeting God in His Means of Grace: How Word, Sacrament, and Prayer Help Us Encounter Christ. (Baker Books, 2026).

John's Book Recommendations

• J. I. Packer and Gary Parrett, Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way. (Baker Books, 2010).
• Thomas E. Bergler, The Juvenilization of American Christianity (Eerdmans, 2012)
• Christian Smith and Melina Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. (Oxford University Press, 2009)

Rev. Craig Troxel continues the Podcast discussion of qualifications for elders, emphasizing the need for godly character. Ruling elders are to be sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, and hospitable. 

On today's episode we also discuss a recent article by Murray J. Smith
“An Overseer must be…Able to Teach” (1 Tim 3:2): ΔΙΔΑΚΤΙΚΟΣ as the Center of the Character Chiasm in 1 Timothy 3:1–7” JETS 69.2 (2026): 301–320
An online pdf is available here.

Lawerence Eyres says, “hospitality does not mean just an open door to one’s home. The hospitable man is one whose heart is first open to the lonely, the rejected, the alien among men of all kinds, and in all conditions.” (The Elders of the Church, p. 30)

Craig's Three Book Recommendations:

• The Pastor: His Call, Character, and Work. Written by faculty and friends of Old Princeton, with an introduction by Sinclair B. Ferguson. Banner of Truth, 2021. (The chapters in this book have been selected from the two-volume Princeton and the Work of the Christian Ministry, also published by the Banner of Truth.)
• Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry, With an Inquiry into the Causes of its Inefficiency, Banner of Truth.
• Samuel Miller, The Ruling Elder: The Warrant, Nature, and Duties of the Office in the Presbyterian Church. Available in various formats.

Photo by Sam Carter on Unsplash

Archibald Allison introduces the Biblical qualifications of ruling elders. Archibald is pastor of Emmaus OPC in Fort Collins, CO.

His 1994 article in Ordained Servant (Vol 3, No.4. pages 80-96) is available here.
That article, combined with a subsequent article on qualifications for deacons, is also available as a free CCE ebook here.

Over the next several issues of the ruling elder podcast several men will outline the Biblical qualifications for elders.

Sinclair Ferguson’s comments about the Fruit of the Spirit in proper proportion can be found on Things Unseen here.

Archibald’s Book Recommendations

• Following God Fully: An Introduction to the Puritans, by Joel Beeke and Michael Reeves, Reformation Heritage Books, 2022.
• Devoted to God's Church: Core Values for Christian Fellowship by Sinclair Ferguson, Banner of Truth, 2020.
• The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance―Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters, by Sinclair Ferguson, Crossway, 2016.

Photo by Alberto Bigoni on Unsplash

The Rev. Everett Henes, Moderator of this year's General Assembly, reflects on moderating the Assembly and the place and importance of ruling elders participating in the higher assemblies.

GA Reports on various subjects can be found here.

This year's GA had 87 ministers and 52 ruling elders, for a total of 139 voting members.

Everett’s Recommended Books

• Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution, Crossway, 2020.
• J C Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, Banner of Truth.
• Bryan Chapell, The Hardest Sermons You'll Ever Have to Preach: Help from Trusted Preachers for Tragic Times, Zondervan, 2011.

Ruling Elder Keith LeMahieu talks about term eldership. Keith is a ruling elder in Bethel OPC, Oostburg, WI. He serves on the GA Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension, and the Committee on Coordination. Many of the listeners will know him from his work on planned giving.

The Form of Government of the OPC puts the matter of elder's tenure into the hands of local congregations.  Fg. XXV. 2. “Each congregation shall determine, by vote of communicant members in good and regular standing, to choose elders or deacons for either lifetime service or limited terms of service on the session or board of deacons.”

Further Reading

Ordained Servant

• “Some Thoughts on Term Eldership.” (John R. Sittema) 13:1 (Jan. 2004): 14-16. Available here.

The Presbyterian Guardian

• John Murray, The Ordination of Elders: Some Arguments against Term Eldership. The Presbyterian Guardian, Vol 24. No. 2, (Feb. 15, 1955), pp. 23-25. Available here. An expanded edition of this article was published in the Collected Writings of John Murray, Vol. 2, pp. 351-356
• Ned B Stonehouse, May We Prohibit Term Eldership? The Presbyterian Guardian, Vol. 24, No. 5, (May 16, 1955), pp. 75-77. Available here.

Keith’s Recommended Books

• Martin Bucer, Concerning the True Care of Souls (Banner of Truth).
• David Dickson, The Elder and His Work (P&R Publishing).
• William Boekestein and Steven Swets (Editors) Faithful and Fruitful: Essays for Elders and Deacons (Reformed Fellowship).

The Ruling Elder Podcast speaks to Drew Gordon about his book 'The Elders of the People: Leadership in Christ’s Church' (Grassmarket Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 2025).

Drew is a ruling elder in the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America, serving in Covenant Fellowship RP church in Pittsburgh PA, and is publications director for Crown and Covenant Publications.

Other books in the series mentioned in the podcast;

• Written on the Heart: The Law of God by Stephen Steele
• Remember the Poor: Cultivating a Heart of Generosity by Peter Smith
• Worship, Feasting, Rest, Mercy: The Christian Sabbath by Daniel Howe
• Together: Why We Need the Local Church by Gabriel and Isaac Wingfield

Other books in the series can be found at Grassmarket Press

Drew’s recommended books.

• Timothy Z. Witmer, The Shepherd Leader: Achieving Effective Shepherding in Your Church (P&R Publishing, 2010)
• Lawrence R. Eyres, The Elders of the Church, (P&R Publishing, 1975)
• Leonard Stob, Mission Directed: Governing your Christian School with Purpose (Kindle Ebook)

Archibald Allison’s OS article on Biblical Qualifications for Elders can be found here. (Ordained Servant — Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 80-96)

Rev. Brett McNeill and ruling elder Steve Ethridge of Reformation Presbyterian Church, Olympia, WA, talk about the work of ruling elders before, during, and after a pastor’s sabbatical.

Information on the Committee on Ministerial Care’s grant can be found here, and their policy example (Appendix A) can be found here.

Brett’s reflections on his sabbatical can be found here.
The CMC’s video is available here.

Brett’s recommended books.

• Paul Tripp, Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do (Crossway, 2015, 2025).
• Gerhard Forde, On Being a Theologian of the Cross: Reflections on Luther's Heidelberg Disputation, 1518 (Eerdmans, 1997).
• Zach Eswine, Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being (Crossway: 2013) or The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus (Crossway, 2015)

Steve’s recommended books

• Steve Baugh, The Majesty on High: Introduction to the Kingdom of God in the New Testament (2017)
• Octavius Winslow. Any title by Winslow.

Dr. Stephen Fix talks about John Thomson’s An Explication of the  Shorter Catechism. Thomson was an early American presbyterian who played an important part in American Presbyterian history. Dr. Fix is his seven-times great grandson.

This work is important for two reasons, first, it is representative of Old Side  Presbyterianism during the first Great Awakening, and second, it is an excellent catechism on the catechism itself. Ruling elders will find the history just as helpful as the approach to explaining the catechism.

John Thomson, An Explication of the Shorter Catechism, edited by Dr. S. A. Fix, with an introduction to John Thomson and his work. (Westminster Seminary Press 2025).

For more information on Robert Letham on the Covenant of Redemption see his book The Westminster Assembly: Reading Its Theology in Historical Context, pp. 235-6, (and fn. 34.), P&R, 2009

Dr. Fix’s book recommendations.

• The Bible. (Especially recommended is the Crossway ESV with Creeds and Confessions)
• Zach Keele and Michael Brown, Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored (2nd Ed), Reformed Fellowship, Inc. 2019. (Available in Kindle)
• Robert H. Thune, Gospel Eldership: Equipping a New Generation of Servant Leaders, New Growth Press, 2016

Dr. David Garner, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, talks about the relationship between seminary and church, focusing on how ruling elders and seminary professors can help the church thrive in godly knowledge and grace.

You can read Dr. Garner's article “Strings Attached: The Church, The Seminary, and Abraham Kuyper’s Animating Ecclesiology” in the most recent Westminster Theological Journal, WTJ 87 (2025): 123-48. A video of the Krahe Lecture from April 2025, is available to watch online here.

Dr. Garner’s recommended reading.

• The Wonderful Works of God by Herman Bavinck, Westminster Seminary Press, 2020.
• The Certainty of Faith by Herman Bavinck, Westminster Seminary Press, 2025.
• A Word Fitly Spoken, A Theology of Communication by Aaron Garriott, Ligonier, 2025.
• An Explication of the Shorter Catechism by John Thomson, Edited by S. A. Fix, Westminster Seminary Press, 2025.

In this episode of the Ruling Elder Podcast we review a new book by Christopher Ash, Not Old, Not Young, Not Done. Following Jesus in Your 50’s and 60’s. (The Good Book Company, 2025, 192 pages). Available in paperback and Ebook.

Also recommended:

• Derek Prime, A Good Old Age. An A to Z of Loving and Following the Lord Jesus in Later Years. (10Publishing, 2017)
• J. I. Packer, Finishing our Course with Joy. Guidance from God for Engaging with Our Aging. (Crossway, 2014)