The elders provide pastoral or shepherding care over the church. Their role is not to do all the work of ministry, but to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Ephesians 4:11-12 Elders are not selected per se (as in an election), but are recognized by the local body as men who are doing the work and who meet the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. A seminary education is valuable, but not required for a man to be a pastor. What is required is the maturity and observed Christian character described in Timothy and Titus.