Biblically, the focal point of all church leadership is the elder.  An elder is one of a plurality of biblically qualified men who jointly shepherd and oversee a local body of believers.  The word translated "elder" is used nearly twenty times in Acts and the epistles in reference to this unique group of leaders who have responsibility for overseeing the people of God.  In December 2005, Springhill Baptist Church installed their first elder leadership team:  Bill Sullenger, Jackie Hayes, John Ketchem and Jake Mottayaw.  In 2007, Galen Dunton was added to the team.

The qualifications for elders are found in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-8.  According to these passages, an elder must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money, not fond of sordid gain, a good manager of his household, one who has his children under control with dignity, not a new convert, one who has a good reputation outside the church, self-controlled, sensible, able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict, above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, loving what is good, just and devout.