More on Presbyterian vows

Anonymous, the most frequent commentator to this blog, asked in response to The Obligations of Presbyterian Membership Vows, "Do you believe that this application would hold true for deacons and elders as well? Or do you feel that they might have a different standard to meet?"

Church officers (and here I include pastors along with elders and deacons) do not have so much a different standard as a different set of obligations. One could enumerate these in any number of ways, but I'm going to cover them under two points.

1) Church officers must remember they are stewards of Spiritual gifts, and have been called by the Spirit to exercise them within a particular congregation. They should ask themselves whether their congregation would be harmed by deprivation of their Spiritual gifts should they go elsewhere, and, at the same time, whether the new congregation would benefit from those gifts. At the same time, no man should think himself so indispensable that the Holy Spirit cannot raise up another to "fill his slot" within a particular congregation. (Pastors, I've observed, are particularly prone to this delusion!)

2) Church officers must remember they are models of Christian conduct and, very often, are fondly regarded as fathers in the faith. Any move out of the congregation in which they serve ought be done so as to preserve relationships on good terms and to show others how they ought to behave.