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The mission of Church & Family Life is to proclaim the sufficiency of Scripture for both church and family life.
How Church Leaders Can Promote a Culture of Transparency and Accountability
Nov. 8, 2017
00:00
-01:46
Transcription

I think one primary way is to not be distant leaders themselves While certainly being respected and viewed as examples in the faith as leaders are told to be, it doesn't deflate your ability to be an example as a leader, to be real and to express to people that you also are a fellow brother in the faith and one who yourself struggles with sin, to share those things in the course of your own preaching, to make sure that that comes through so that as you are talking even about putting to death sin in sermons to give examples of how you've done that yourself. And this concept that pastors can't have close friends within the congregation I think we need to put that away in a permanent fashion and recognize that pastors do need to have close friends to whom they are accountable. This is one reason that churches with multiple elders are very important, that the one pastor system has really created something very popish and unrealistic that prevents that pastor from having relationships with the flock and with other godly men to whom he could be accountable. So having a plurality of elders is an immensely valuable thing for accountability to be seen and transparency to be part of that church's life from the top down, if you

How should church leaders promote a culture of transparency and accountability?

Dennis Gunderson explains in this video that leaders in the church should be real and let others know that they are fellow brothers in the faith. They shouldn’t be distant from their congregation. 

It is important to share that they as pastors are not invulnerable from sin and that they need close friends who will hold them accountable. That is why multiple elders is important. Having only one pastor sometimes prevents him from having relationships with others with whom he can receive accountability. 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NKJV) – “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Speaker
Dennis Gundersen is President and owner of Grace and Truth Books, a Christian publisher of more than 60 books, with a primary focus on reprinting 19thcentury children's stories with a character building emphasis. Dennis has served as Senior Pastor at three Tulsa churches since 1984 and is currently devoting his time to writing, publishing, conference speaking and a role as a visiting professor at Tlapaneco Bible Institute in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. He is author of two books: "Your Child's Profession of Faith" and “Courtship or Dating: So What’s the Difference”, and he is a frequent speaker at church conferences, men's retreats and home education conventions. He and his wife Naomi have been married since 1976, and have four adult sons who were all homeschooled. For relaxation, he is an avid mountain climber, cyclist, and photographer.
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