‘Why not be more transparent about the process?’ Photo: by Joshua Ness on Unsplash.
‘I took my eldering in good part, but it did shake me a bit.’
On good authority: Juliet Henderson on the eldering process
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.
