What is an Elder?
Simply put, elders are pastor-shepherds of the church family. 1 Peter 5:2-4 instructs elders to “Shepherd the flock of God among you,” along with specific descriptors. This metaphorical imagery portrays leaders who pastor a church with a shepherding mindset, which primarily includes leading, feeding, caring, and protecting. The elders are the servants of the church body who stand accountable before the Chief Shepherd – Jesus Christ – in their faithful stewardship of God’s flock. All of our elders must demonstrate a lifestyle that upholds the biblical qualifications of an elder (1 Timothy 3:1-7 & Titus 1:5-9).
As a church, we always want to cultivate accessibility with our leadership. If you call TSF your home church and would like to meet with one of the elders for any reason, please contact them at the email addresses above.
Elder Update (October, 2022)
What an honor it is to serve and lead at TSF! We are thrilled to announce that Wes Pogue has joined us as an elder at The Sanctuary Fellowship!
Wes and his family have been an integral part of our TSF family for over six years. Just over one year ago, Wes joined us on staff as Family/Associate Pastor. A big part of the application process to come come on to our pastoral staff covered much of the required pieces of an elder candidate’s application, also. After having Wes on staff with us and serving with him in this capacity and with him having finished all of the paperwork and interviews necessary for eldership at TSF, we were thrilled to welcome him on board as an elder in August of this year. If you see Wes, Beth and the family around TSF, welcome him as an elder and thank him for his faithful ministry and leadership in our church!
As we look back at the first three quarters of 2022, we are overwhelmed and so thankful for how the Lord has used and blessed us at TSF. We have created new Life Groups for community, taken dozens and dozens of people on mission trips, supported 5 sets of missionaries all over the world, continued our sponsorship of 80+ children in Uganda, and so much more! Weekly, TSF ministers to hundreds of people, with TSF Kids, Sanctus Students, college Refuge and young adult Evolve ministries leading the way. We have launched the beginnings of a vibrant Men’s Ministry. Our church paid for and packaged 10,000 meals that have been shipped to Honduras to distribute through the Convoy of Hope that meets the needs of hungry and malnourished families. What a great year it’s been!
Looking forward, there is still much work to be done and ministry to be accomplished! We will host our 10th annual Fall Festival on Sunday, October 30. It’s a great time for our TSF families to come and enjoy games and food together, but more importantly, it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to reach out to our friends and families and neighbors that need a wonderful church home to enjoy our fantastic church in a safe, fun environment. Our Ladies Ministry will host their annual amazing Christmas event on December 3. Beginning November 27, we will begin 30 Days of Christmas and the Advent season; a full month of celebrating the gift of Jesus and the love of God through Jesus!
We want to see you grow and learn and develop a deep faith and love for Jesus in every area of your life. We pray that you will join our TSF family for as many Sundays and special events as you possibly can- it’s for your good! We also want you to know that one of the ways we worship the Lord is through our financial gifts to the Kingdom’s work at TSF. We have a full load of ministry and Gospel-outreach plans for the rest of this year and into 2023, so we need all of you to be faithful to generously and joyfully give for the mission here at TSF! You can give on Sundays through the offering plate, online at www.tsf-church.com/give/ once or to set up recurring gifts, or through the mobile Church Center app. Join us in the mission by giving faithfully and generously to The Sanctuary Fellowship!
As always, reach out to us by email if we can help or minister to you in any way! Bennett Murff (bmurff@tsf-church.com); David Ross (dross@tsf-church.com); Wes Pogue (wes@tsf-church.com); Joe Sanders (joe@tsf-church.com).
With love for you in our hearts and the beauty of Christ in our hearts-