‘I took my eldering in good part, but it did shake me a bit.’

On good authority: Juliet Henderson on the eldering process

‘Why not be more transparent about the process?’ | Photo: by Joshua Ness on Unsplash.

What is ‘eldering’ in relation to spoken ministry? And how do you discover what it is before it happens to you? In my case, and I suspect the same is true of others, you don’t. So, it was only when an elder approached me after meeting to say in a gentle, light-hearted manner, that they needed to ‘elder’ me, that I found out. In a nutshell, I had got something wrong about my way of ministering. In this case, not speaking loudly and clearly enough. Since the message was imparted with sensitivity and there was no suggestion I had not spoken sincerely, I took my eldering in good part. I fully understood the need to make sure others could hear me. Furthermore, since on previous occasions I had ministered I had been thanked by others at the meeting who had found my words inspiring, I did not feel I was entirely on the wrong track.

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