It is a blessing to know that we have men who are qualified and desiring to serve the Lord and this church family by being shepherds of God’s flock here at South Fork.  Sunday morning Chuck Hummel made the announcement for the elder selection administrative committee that there were four men whom the congregation had nominated and were willing to have their names placed before the congregation, and I am personally thrilled with the prospect of these four joining our current elders as overseers here at South Fork.  Here are the names of those four men.

  • Charlie Branch
  • Aldine Cloud
  • Chuck Downing, Jr.
  • Scott Mills

We are grateful to God for His continued leadership in this process, and ask the Lord’s continued blessing and your continued involvement.  From now to July 2nd you can contact any of these men with your encouragement as well as questions about their fulfillment of the qualities and qualifications, character and characteristics, that God calls on us to see in these men for them to be placed in such a significant servant role.

And it is a role that is just that: a servant role.  Elders are shepherds who oversee the work of God and His people in a particular church setting, and they do that through their example, their teaching, their involvement in the lives of the sheep.  They do this by serving.

They do this by recognizing that they too have a Chief Shepherd.

This past Sunday evening we considered that favorite of all psalms, the 23rd Psalm, and the question I proposed the Lord asks of us all through these beautiful words.  The question is simple: “Who is my shepherd?”

As we continue this thought in our sermon time this week, we will consider these words of reminder from one shepherd to another; from one elder to another; from the apostle Peter to his fellow elders:

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.  (1 Peter 5:1-4)

You see, elders are mutually accountable to each other, for they are a part of this same church family.  And they have a Chief Shepherd themselves, just as we all do.  As we saw this past Sunday morning, He is Jesus Christ: “I AM the good shepherd.” (John 10:11)

Continue in prayer for Charlie and Lesa, Aldine and Betty, Chuck and Leah, Scott and Sue Ann.  Continue in prayer for our South Fork church family, and the amazing things God has in store for us!

The psalmist could say unequivocally, “The LORD is my Shepherd!”  Can you?