Amen, Pilgrim! The bible makes no distinction between "teaching elders" and "ruling elders." All elders rule and are supposed to be "apt to teach," according to the scripture. While I recognize a "first among equals" example in the bible, I don't recognize a distinction between "clergy elders and lay elders."

I too am in a PCA church. The previous PCA church I went to had no term limits for church officers (term limits for church officers aren't in the bible), but ended up being ruled effectively by a single family. For life.

My present PCA church has "term limits." Not really an expiration of an officer's authority, but a requirement that he be re-affirmed every so often by a vote of the congregation. No single family "runs the church for life" as was the case at the other church. My present church has raised up and equipped at least two missionaries and one pastor.

I think the biblical model is for elders to mentor, disciple, equip, and train gifted men for the church offices. Sending our kids away to be trained by strangers in some faraway place seems quite foreign to the biblical examples.