LEADERSHIP
Christ’s church exists to worship God corporately, to nurture fellow believers in the obedience of faith and to proclaim the Gospel of God’s grace to the world. These three purposes are accomplished under the oversight of a plurality of local Elders and Deacons. Church leaders are not intended to do the works of ministry on behalf of the people of God, but rather equip people to do the work of God through their everyday lives.
Ephesians 4:11-14
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
A Plurality of Local Elders
Simply put: Elders are called to “be examples to the flock...” (1 Peter 5:3) The most important ministry of Elders is to be examples of sound doctrine in action. This is why the qualifications for church Elders (1 Tim. 3:1-15) are based on a man’s ability to manage his own household well. In the context of that life example, through ministry hospitality, each Elder is best able to teach sound Bible doctrine.  The elders at James Island Christian Church are made up of  5-7 men who represent both paid and unpaid leaders.  Our Senior Pastor serves as the leader of the office staff and the “first among equals” amongst the eldership.

Current Elders
Russ Miller  (Senior Pastor)  
Mike Gooch (Associate Pastor)  
Tim Gochnauer
Dolph Farmer

Milton Costa
mcosta57@hotmail.com

For a more detailed understanding of the role of the elders, see this article:


The Role of Deacons
Deacons are ministers of mercy. They have been commissioned, under the oversight of our Elders, to respond to needs on behalf of our church.  The basic meaning of Greek word group behind the English translation "deacon" suggests the notion of service and servanthood (John 2:5; Romans 15:8; Matthew 20:26; Luke 10:40; Acts 11:29; 12:25), especially in regard to providing practical help with respect to the basic necessities of life (Matthew 4:11; 8:15; 27:55; Luke 10:40; Romans 15;25). The basic task of deacons, then, seems to be helping those in need of food, water, and clothing, as well as ministering through hospitality and welcoming.  The qualifications for a deacon are found in 1 Timothy 3:8-13

Current Deacons
Louie Costa, louiecosta@hotmail.com
Richard Caldwell
Bubber Costa
Daniel Duggan, danduggan@knology.net
James Duggan, jduggan@nexsenpruet.com
Warren Herndon, warrenherndon77@aol.com
Brad Bolchoz, hihatmusic@comcast.net
Charles Weeks, irene-weeks@att.net
Adam Gochnauer, ynnejnna@hotmail.com
Matt Gochnauer, matt@leebuildersinc.net
Scott Horton, shorton@berenyi.com
Rick Johnson, rjohnson@jics.org
Steve Miller, sm1heart@msn.com
Bruce Moore, bruce@jicc.us