#277 - Eldership - How are we doing?

Lynn Green opens with a health update — the facial spasm surgery worked, though hearing loss remains — before returning to the 2002 "tripod message" that moved YWAM from executive hierarchy toward plural eldership. He revisits why God resisted giving Israel a king, why senior-leader succession is so risky, and shares real examples of leadership teams that navigated transitions well because of shared eldership — making the case, 12 years into implementation, for why plural leadership is still the goal.

Chapters:

• 00:00 – Health update: post-surgery recovery
• 05:49 – Reintroducing the topic: eldership, 2002 to now
• 06:22 – Lauren Cunningham's concern about losing apostolic edge
• 07:46 – How YWAM's 1990s hierarchy grew top-heavy
• 09:05 – The universal tendency toward bloated support staff
• 11:08 – The "tripod message" from China
• 12:59 – The priesthood of all believers
• 14:21 – Why single-leader structures aren't the biblical pattern
• 15:57 – The risk of "God told me" without accountability
• 16:41 – Paul's pattern: appointing elders, not one leader
• 18:26 – Israel's demand for a king, revisited
• 20:34 – The second tripod point: why we need elders
• 21:40 – Why even good senior leaders can drift toward tyranny
• 23:39 – A letter from Africa: circles of leadership in a leadership transition
• 25:47 – The CEO succession story that backfired
• 26:25 – A smooth succession example: rotating leaders onto the elder circle
• 27:19 – Why plural leadership brings a mix of gifts
• 29:40 – Do you still need someone to run the meeting?
• 30:03 – Why Lynn avoids the term "director"
• 30:53 – Acts 15 and James's chairmanship model
• 32:06 – Answering the "no accountability" myth again
• 33:11 – Closing: 12 years in, still working on it

  • •

  ** This is a personal podcast and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth with A Mission.**