The Elders Chosen; Some Reflections

As I look at the list now, I see how fallible human memory is. I didn't remember that there were 17 elders, I remembered 13. I was almost correct on the senior elders, except that I remembered Lehnis Lyons as being one of them. Actually, Lehnis was one of the first people generally recognized as an elder, but he had already left the church by the time this selection took place. I also didn't remember Tom Scott and Dolan Wolford. How could I forget? Of course I didn't forget them as people; it was just that as I remembered the list, I left them out.

The list of emerging elders is also interesting. The only one that "emerged" was Art Alari. Many of the others really did emerge into other leadership positions. Dan Stolebarger became one of the Heads of Household and later he and I became co-pastors of the church. Mike Shaw is an elder at the church currently. Certainly most of these men have continued to be leaders in the church (not necessarily FBCCV) right up until this time.

Looking at this whole process now, it seems mechanical and even a little trite. But at the time it was anything but mechanical and trite. It was an awesome time, particularly for those of us under consideration. I didn't know that I was the last man selected (see my last post). I was just happy to be a part of this group. The experience of being selected as an elder ranks close to the top of honors that I have received in my whole life. The eldership was far from perfect. Our mistakes grew as time went on. But this was a group that loved God and wanted to serve him with everything that they had. I am very proud to have been a part of the eldership of the First Baptist Church of Chula Vista in the 1970s.