I.        A PCC (Princeton Christian Church, NJ)  Elder shall be a helper and adviser to the Pastoral Staff in the following areas:

a.       Spiritual teaching;

b.      Supervision of the Church ministries;

c.       Administration of the Church ordinances; and

d.      Discipline.

e.      As assigned by the Senior Pastor, to officiate the communion and baptismal service.

f.        The Elders shall carry out all pastoral functions in the absence of the Pastor.

g.       In case the position of Senior Pastor is vacant, one of the Elders (active and inactive) shall be elected by Board of Elders and PCC ordained pastors, and recommended to Elder-Deacon Board for confirmation, with three-Fourths majority vote, and announce to the congregation, to act as the Interim Senior Pastor until the Senior Pastor position is filled (note: In case the number of Elder Board is less than two in office, the fill of the vacancies shall follow IV (c) of Terms of Elders.)

 

II.      A  PCC Elder shall have the following qualifications:

a.       The PCC Elder has to be a current PCC member of good standing at least for five years and be elected and ordained by PCC (PCC ordained Elder); the transferred members who were Elders from other churches will not be automatically PCC Elders.

b.      The Elders shall possess the qualifications as specified in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-3. They are expected to manifest a mature and growing spiritual life.

c.       The Elder has held the office of Deacon Board at the PCC for at least one term within past 6 years.

d.      A PCC Elder and his family members must be PCC members or associate members and commit themselves to serve in PCC and attend her worship and activities as priority and willing to serve as a PCC Elder.

III.    Ordination of Elders:

a.       The elder board should be composed of the Senior Pastor and the PCC ordained active Elders. If recommended by the Senior Pastor it can include PCC ordained pastor(s) who is/are suggested by the Senior Pastor and confirmed by all Elder board members. The numbers of Pastoral staff in Elder board should be, at most, equivalent to or less than the numbers of ordained Elders in office.

b.      Initial Elder(s): The Elder member(s) of initial Elder Board will be nominated by the Senior Pastor and proceed to the Deacon Board for review and approval.   After the approval of the Deacon Board, the nominee(s) should be recommended to general assembly for confirmation.  Three Fourths of confirmation vote of presented congregation is required to finalize the election of the initial elders of PCC.

c.       After initial Elder Board is formed, the Elder nomination committee is to be composed of the Senior Pastor and Elders in office. A Candidate of Elder shall be nominated by the Elder nomination committee.  The Elder nomination committee shall be Senior Pastor and all active elders.

d.      Based on the need of ministry, the number of addition of new Elder(s) shall be initiated by the Senior Pastor and unanimously agreed by Board of Elders.  The Elder nomination committee will proceed to recommend new elder candidate(s) to Elder-Deacon Board for review and approval with three-Fourths majority vote. The approval process will be consistent with the III. (f).

e.      Should the results of the review and the interview of candidate(s)’ couple (s) be satisfactory and approved by Elder-Deacon board, the Elder-Deacon board shall jointly recommend the nominee(s) to the General Assembly for confirmation.

f.        The candidates shall be announced from the pulpit for at least two Sundays immediately preceding the date of confirmation.  A three-Fourths majority of presented members’ confirmation vote (including the confirmation votes of absentee ballots arranged before hand) shall be required before the ordination can be materialized. Voting shall be by ballot. The absent member can cast the confirmation vote through absent voting ballot.

IV.    The terms of Elder

a.       An ordained Elder shall serve as an Elder of PCC for a term of three years.  An Elder may be re-nominated for any number of times.  However, after serving two consecutive terms, the Elder shall not be eligible for re-election until after a lapse of one year as an inactive Elder.

b.      The number of active members in office of Elder board shall be plural.

c.       In the event of less than two members in Elder Board due to various reasons, the vacancies shall be filled by Deacon(s) or inactive elder(s) as interim Elder(s). The candidate(s) shall be nominated by the Senior Pastor and concurred by the Elders in office; and reviewed and approved by the Elder-Deacon Board with three-Fourths majority vote. The official ordination of interim Elder(s) to be Active Elder(s) refers to the section III (e) and (f) of Ordination of Elders.

 

V.      Generally, the decision making in Elder Board should be unanimous. The moderator of Elder Board will be served by Elder members in taking turn base with 2 years per term.

 

VI.    Dismissal of Elders:

a.       Should an Elder exhibit improper behavior, and/or fail to carry out the responsibilities entrusted to him, or engage in activities contrary to the Bible, two or more members may submit a signed petition to the Senior Pastor, who presides the Elder board, to request an investigation into the matter.

b.      An investigation committee comprising a PCC ordained Pastor and a representative from each of the Boards of Elders and Deacons and Trustees shall be formed. The committee shall notify the Elder in question in writing of such investigation. Results of the investigation shall be conveyed to both parties in writing.

c.       Should the matter found to be true and constitute grounds for dismissal of the Elder, the Boards of Elders, Deacons and Trustees shall jointly review the report of the investigation.  Upon agreement by a two-third majority of it, the joint Board shall request the resignation of the said Elder and it shall make valid termination of said office.  Should the matter turned out to be unfounded, the Elder shall remain as PCC Elder. And the investigation result shall be clearly communicated with the reporting members, and if there are intentional false accusations found it shall be handled in accordance with discipline of members as 1 Tim. 5:20.

長老設立章程

1. PCC(普林斯頓華人基督教會)長老將是以下範圍內牧師的協助者及顧問：
    a. 屬靈的教導
    b. 教會各事工的督導
    c. 教會條例及聖禮的管理及執行
    d. 教會的紀律
    e. 由主任牧師指派，主領聖餐及浸禮。
    f. 牧師不在時，長老將執行所有牧者的功能。
    g. 假如主任牧師的職位空缺,將由長老團及由PCC按立的牧師，推選出所有長老中的一位(現任及卸任)並推薦給長執會去印證，得到四分之三多數的同意後，向會眾宣佈成為代理主任牧師，直到主任牧師的的職位填補為止。 (注意：假如現任長老團少於兩個，其空缺的填補，請參照第四條長老任期C項)。

2. PCC長老須符合下列條件：
    a. PCC長老必須是PCC現在的會員，其为会员至少五年以上，有好名聲，依程序推選出來並被PCC按立而成为的 (PCC按立的長老)。從別的教會轉過來的會員，虽曾任以前该教会長老、並不會自動地就成為PCC長老。
    b. 長老必須具備提摩太前書3:1-7、 提多書1:5-9及彼得前書5:1-3所列舉的條件，他們應彰顯成熟及成長的靈命。
    c. 長老必須在過去六年內，在PCC執事會內至少完成担任過一任執事。
    d. PCC的長老及他的家人必須是PCC的會員或附屬會員，委身在PCC服事，並以參加PCC教會的崇拜及各項活動為優先，並且願意服事成為PCC長老。

3. 長老的按立：
    a. 長老團將由主任牧師及PCC按立過的現任長老團組成。如果由主任牧師推薦，可以包括由PCC按立過的牧師 （其程序为经由主任牧師所建議，並由長老團所有成員 一致通過.）牧者在長老團的人數至多等於或少於現任按立過長老的人數。
    b. 最初任的長老：最初長老團的成員，將由主任牧師提名並提到執事會審核通過。在經過執事會通過後，被提名者將被推薦給會眾印證，必須由出席的會眾四分之三多數印證通過，PCC最初長老的設立才算定案。
    c. 最初的長老團組成後，長老提名委員會將由主任牧師及現任長老組成，長老候選人將由長老提名委員會提名。長老提名委員會成員將是主任牧師及所有現任長老。
    d. 根據事工的需要，增加新的長老人數，將由主任牧師發起，並經長老團一致通過，長老提名委員會將推薦新的長老候選人給長執會審核，並經四分之三多數的投票同意才算通過，通過程序過程應與第三條f項一致。
    e. 如果審核及面談候選人夫婦的結果，獲得長執會滿意並通過，長執會將一起推薦被提名人給會眾印證。
    f. 會眾印證：將在講台上宣佈候選人至少兩個主日，然後即刻進行印證，必須由出席的會員四分之三多數印證通過後(包括事先安排好缺席會員的印證票) ，才能接续进行完成長老的按立。印證須以選票進行，缺席的會員可以經由事先签选“缺席會員選票”参与投票印證。

4. 長老任期：
    a. 经由程序按立的長老將成為PCC長老，服事一任為期三年，長老再被提名的次數沒有限制，但是，連續兩任後，必須卸任經過一年後，才具資格再被提名。
    b. 長老團現任成員必須是複數的。
    c. 假如因各種原因，長老團少於兩個成員，其空缺將由執事或卸任長老填補為臨時的長老，候選人由主任牧師提名，現任長老同意，並由長執會審核，投票取得四分之三多數，即算通過，臨時長老正式按立為現任長老，請參照第三條長老的按立e項及f項。

5. 長老團的決定通常採一致通過，長老團主席由長老團成員輪流担任，每任任期兩年。

6. 長老的解除：
    a. 假如長老有不當行為的表現，及/或沒有執行所交託給他的責任，或從事於違反聖經的活動，可以经由兩個或兩個以上的會員向主任牧師提出簽名的請願書(提前5：19)，主任牧師將召集長團會議，要求調查此事。
    b. 調查委員會將由PCC按立的牧師及從長老團、執事會、財產信託管理委員會各一位代表所組成，此調查委員會須以書面通知受質疑的長老有關此事的調查、調查的結果，須以書面傳達給雙方。
    c. 假如所調查之事屬實，並有解除其長老的職份的事实根據，则長老團、執事會及財產信託管理委員會須一起審查此調查報告，經過三分之二多數的同意後，共同要求該長老辭職，停止其长老職份、且立即生效。假如此事調查結果是沒有根據的，該長老將繼續擔任PCC長老，而且調查的結果將與通報的會員清楚地溝通，如果發現有故意而不實的指控，將按照提摩太前書5章20節有關會員的紀律處理。