And when they (Paul and Baranabas) had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed—Acts 14:23.

Therefore brothers pick out from among you seven men of good repute full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty (deaconing)—Acts 6:3.

In the book of Acts we find a simple description of how the early church selected its officers. How are Tenth’s elders, deacons, and deaconesses selected? Tenth uses a nominating committee, whose members are elected by the congregation, to identify and pursue nominees for these offices. These nominees are then presented to the congregation for election at the congregational meeting in December of each year. As your Nominating  Committee we work to find those whom the Lord is calling to serve in these roles through praying together,  discussing congregational needs with the elders, the diaconate and parish councils, and pooling our individual knowledge of Tenth’s members. But we realize that despite these efforts there will still be significant gaps in our knowledge of a congregation of over one thousand.That’s where you come in. We are asking you—the members of Tenth church—to submit to the Nominating Committee the names of prospective candidates for these positions for our consideration. 

When suggesting someone to us, remember the qualifications described in 1 Timothy 3: 1–13:

….[A]n overseer (elder) must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 

Their wives (or women) likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but soberminded, faithful in all things.

Pray about your suggestion and for the nominating process as a whole. Be aware of  the elders’ and the diaconate’s responsibilities in shepherding and caring for the congregation. 

If you can, please tell us something about why you are suggesting a particular person so we can get a head start on our evaluation. Also, it is best if you do not tell the person whom you are recommending to us that you have done so. Since the nominating process is confidential and since there are a limited number of vacancies on these boards each year, it is possible the person will not hear from us at all this year, but  your recommendation will be valuable to us for future consideration.  

Please contact us by either speaking to one of us directly or by writing the person’s name and the position you are suggesting them for on one of the welcome cards in the pew and putting the card in the offering plate or an oak box. Or you can email the committee. 

Thank you for your help. We look forward to hearing from you.

Nominating Committee: Bert Fink, Jim Hala, John Blanda, Cathy Kempf, Beth Ferner, Joyce Ostertag, Scott Sweeney