Mercy Hill Church maintains a philosophy of elder leadership that we feel is consistent with biblical instruction and protestant church history. This philosophy of church leadership maintains two important principles; pastoral and shared leadership. Pastoral leadership, simply stated, is that the role of elder and the role of pastor are one and the same. Therefore, all elders are pastors and all pastors are elders. Shared leadership is the biblical and historical practice of leadership through the plurality and equality of elders.
The New Testament books of 1 Timothy and Titus describe the qualifications for Elders/Pastors. Those qualifications involve behavior, character, knowledge, spirituality, and abilities-both innate and learned. (Read 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 for a better understanding of these qualifications.)
If you would like more details on Mercy Hill's understanding of church leadership and government, please review this copy of Biblical Eldership by Alexander Strauch.
ELDERS
Phillip Martinez
Counseling & Recovery
phil@mercyhill.org
Jesse Mathews
Senior Associate Pastor
jesse@mercyhill.org
Kevin Oelke
Lake Country Teaching Pastor
kevin@mercyhill.org
Tommy Orlando
Lead & Bay View Teaching Pastor
tommy@mercyhill.org
Ernie Evangelista
Bay View
ernie@mercyhill.org
Larry Moore
Lake Country
larry@mercyhill.org
DEACONS
In addition to elder/pastors, Mercy Hill sees the role of Deacon as being crucial to the ministry of the church both in operations and outreach. The New Testament book of 1 Timothy explains the qualifications for a deacon. We are excited to see qualified men and women demonstrate their abilities to serve the body of Christ.
