Without a proper understanding of the nature of eldership the risk is all too great of simply replacing the old heresy of the clergy/laity divide with that of a shepherd/sheep one. The idea of an elder being just a fellow pleb - one of the lads, so to speak - is not everywhere adhered to, and yet is, as Beresford here clearly demonstrates, what the Bible teaches in no uncertain way about leaders. Authoritarianism, along with leadership from above, rather than among the people, have blighted many churches, and the failure to see leadership as functional, rather than positional, has led to a thousand ways for Satan to bring dishonour on the body of Christ. This talk also covers the subject of recognising new elders who are being raised up by the Lord.