To be a deacon in the New Testament church is a special, biblical calling of God. There are two officers in the church that are set aside in ordination, “the laying of hands”. They are pastor and deacon. As lay persons, we are privileged to share in God’s work in our local church and work alongside our ordained pastoral staff. Happy is the church when there is love, harmony, and respect between the two.
In Acts 6:3-6 as the nascent church was growing, there was conflict between church members, and men were chosen to be peacemakers:
“Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them…they chose Stephen, a man full of faith & of the Holy Spirit also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.”
At the time of Paul’s Philippian letter in AD 61 Paul wrote, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons…” Phil. 1:1
Shortly after this, Paul wrote to Timothy, and included in his letter admonitions and requirements for deacons and elders (pastors, overseers).
“Deacons, likewise are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with clear conscience. They must first be tested and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be the husband of one wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 3:8-11
In addition to these requirements, we also hold that the general moral requirements for pastors and overseers are not only attainable but desirous for our deacon body. (1 Timothy 3:1-7, 1 Peter 5:1-4, Acts 20:28, & Titus 1:5-9).
We also have the privilege of fulfilling and modeling two of the most God-blessed disciplines of the Christian faith, tithing and witnessing.
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Deacons meet the Thursday after the second Sunday of every month at 6:00 p.m. in Lowrie Hall.
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Welcome to the new year of deacon service, starting in April of 2007. Whether you are continuing to serve as a holdover from 2006 or 2005, or rotating on after a year’s hiatus, let me welcome you to what I hope you will find to be a worthwhile and life changing year in the life of our church, and our deacon body.
As we all know the word deacon (diakonos. Gr.) refers to a servant or slave of the king, specifically one who served as a waiter. I think it is obvious that the New Testament writer meant to emphasize the servanthood of deacons. We often think of deacons as a “board”, like a governing board of a corporation, but this year we want to accent the servant leader characteristics of deacons. We want to do this because we want to follow the biblical model, which will inevitably lead to the type of church we are striving to be. I want to emphasize another Greek word to describe us this year, koinonea, the fellowship of deacons. I want us all to look forward to the fellowship of meeting, learning, witnessing, and encouraging each other, our staff, and our church body.
Beginning with the very first meeting in April, I want to introduce you to a ministry dedicated to discipling local church leaders called 9 Marks ministry(www.9Marks.org). Pastor Mark Dever of Capital Hill Baptist church has been given a wonderful ministry, based on 9 Marks of successful New Testament churches. During each of our 9 meetings this year I will focus briefly on one of these characteristics. My hope is that we will be intentional about applying these principles to our deacon body, and that our church sees that as leaders we are serious about our roles as deacons. Next February 1 & 2, 2008, Pastor Dever has graciously consented to present some of these principles of leadership for our deacon body over a Friday evening and Saturday morning retreat. With your permission I would like for us to invite our fellow deacons and elders from churches around the area to participate in this retreat. The quality of this teaching and the national scope of 9 Marks ministry is exciting, and I want to share it with as many churches as possible.
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