The Elders

QUESTION: Who are the elders in James 5:14, "Is any sick among you? Let him send for the elders of the church," etc.

ANSWER: Gospel ministers ordained by the laying on of hands as in Acts 13:3, and especially 14:23, "And when they had ordained elders in every church," etc. A class of exegetes teach that the elders spoken of by James are elderly Christians, and not necessarily ecclesiastical officials. This is not the teaching of the best expositors.

— Steele's Answers p. 216.