Grace Uncovered - Elder of Discipleship

The title "Grace" has a double meaning. First, it's the grace that Christ offers us for the salvation of our sins, "For by grace you have been saved and that not of yourselves, but it is a gift from God . . ." (Eph 2:8). The second meaning is my church Grace EV Free La Mirada (and Fullerton). I've been so blessed by my church and I believe the Lord has placed me there for a reason. No, the church is not perfect. It's filled with bitter, immature, dysfunctional people in dysfunctional families. However, despite that, I've met some of the most remarkable people, people whose faith in the Lord dwarf my own. My understanding of the purpose and function of Christ's bride, the church, has increased greatly by the example of these people. I thought to myself "Why wait for an outstanding man like Geoff Dykstra to die of cancer in order to pay respect to them." That's why I titled this series "Grace Uncovered" in order to uncover some of the most faithful and remarkable people I've met and share a bit of their story. I hope this series is well received.

In the future I hope to share with you more of my experiences being a part of this wonderfully imperfect church.

Jerrel Haugen has been an elder of our church for several years now. I even had the privilege of taking a class with him at Talbot. Jerrel works as the central plant operator at Biola University while doing ministry at our church. I love that most of our elders have “tent making” jobs. It really enhances their ability to minister to people because they haven’t forgotten the challenges of the “real world.” Jerrel has now officially been hired to be the Elder of Discipleship. That is a fitting title for a man who has been doing discipleship for years. I just wanted to highlight a few personal experiences I’ve had with Jerrel.

ELDER FOR GRACE GROUP SHEPHERDS

We have Grace Groups at our church. Other churches may call them Life Groups, Home Bible Studies, etc. It’s basically a small group of people from our church with co-leaders facilitating sermon discussion, fostering relationships, and making sure we meet the needs of individuals in the group. But there are times when the Grace Group leaders have questions and need help in knowing how to do those things I just mentioned well. That’s when Jerrel comes in. He meets with us, checks in on how we’re doing, and comes along side us through difficult situations we may run into. Jerrel makes you feel supported and cared for, and I’ve been a benefactor of his care many times.

ELDER PANEL

Before attending Grace EV Free La Mirada, I had always been at churches that heavily emphasized the senior pastor model where one dude basically calls all the shots. For a long time, I thought that’s how churches were supposed to function. Apparently there are other ways to structure church government. Who knew! An alternative structure from the senior pastor model is the plurality of elder(s) model (which Grace holds to).

One Sunday service, our elders had a panel where they answered questions from the congregation. During the session, Jerrel gave one of the many reasons for adopting this model, namely, to avoid the “personality cult” and “to protect the congregation from ourselves.” I’ll never forget that answer. What Jerrel meant was when there is only one person leading, the church tends to take on the personality of said person. What’s important to that one person becomes what’s important to the entire church. You tend to only get his hobbyhorses. So when he wears Hawaiian shirts, EV-ERY-ONE wears Hawaiian shirts. Hebrews 13:7 says, "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith" (emphasis added). It says to "imitate their faith" not their style.

Upon further reflection, it’s absolutely liberating that I don’t have to be like the senior pastor in order to connect with people at church. I can just be myself. Jerrel empowers me to do just that. There isn’t any one person’s personality for the church to attach herself to. Since there isn’t any one person to attach yourself to, you can be yourself. What a novel idea! Where do I sign?

ONE-ON-ONE(S)

We’ve had coffee a couple of times and I’ve felt extremely blessed from his wisdom and encouragement. Where does he find the time? He has a job and family like all of us. I don't take the time spent with older and wiser men lightly.

In short, I’m extremely glad that the church has hired him and has given him more freedom to do what he’s been already been doing, namely pointing us to Christ as uses the gifts God has given him to minister to us.