The idea of elders doing sermon preparation and delivery as their main functions while almost ignoring the shepherding aspect is foreign to the New Testament. Elders are to love people and must be actively involved in people's lives. Elders, then, do not take on all the work of ministry for themselves. Rather, biblical elders function as player-coaches to develop and direct believers into active ministry. The elders are responsible for facilitating this mutual ministry concept.
All elders have equal authority and share equal responsibility for leadership in the local assembly.
The concept of elder equality does not indicate that all elders perform the exact same functions. All elders are equal because they occupy the same office. The true test of plural eldership is the submission of elders to one another in the decision making process. That is, all elders of a local church have the final say on matters pertaining to the faith and practice of that local assembly. Of course, the elders are all subject to the final authority of God's Word.