09/28/2008 - Deacon Ordination

Notes for Deacon Ordination 9-28-08

Outline:
I. Why deacon ministry?
II. What deacons do
III. What deacon ministry will look like at TRCC

I. Why deacon ministry?

• Much like happened in Acts 6, several months ago your pastors saw that there were needs in the body that were sometimes unmet. We began to ask God to give us deacons who could serve the body and help meet these needs so that the church is strengthened and God is glorified.
• We researched deacon ministry from the Scriptures to help us understand and define what deacon ministry is all about. We tried to lose all our preconceived notions about who and what deacons are and simply let Scripture speak to us.
• Mitch preached about deacons for four weeks as we looked at Ecclesiology in our Systematic Theology. We encouraged each of you to pray about who our deacons should be and to nominate those that you felt met the qualifications for deacons laid out in Scripture. We asked you to speak with whoever you were nominating prior to giving us their name to ensure they knew about the process and would be ok with being nominated.

II. What deacons do

Here is a brief reminder about what deacons are and are not:

3 Common distortions of the New Testament diaconate:

1. Ruling Executives- Many churches have made the diaconate the ruling board of the church. In many churches, deacons act more like corporation executives than ministering servants. Even more troublesome is the fact that deacons are often placed into a competitive role with the shepherds of the local church.
2. Building and Property Managers- Other churches mistakenly reduce deacons to building managers, glorified church janitors, or sanctified groundskeepers. This view (and a similar view that turns deacons into church financial officers) seriously demeans the office of deacon and denies the local church the necessary ministry God designed the diaconate to provide for His people.
3. The Church Swiss Army Knife- Some churches (especially Southern Baptist) make the deacon operate in nearly every area of church life (teaching, preaching, visiting, social action, counseling, stewardship, organizing, administration, Lord’s Supper, meeting needs of the pastor). Such unlimited spheres of service completely blur the distinctive purpose and duties of the New Testament diaconate and can only frustrate deacons.
   
   Deacons are Ministers of Mercy
   Deacons are to be involved in a compassionate ministry of caring for the poor and needy.
   
   Deacons are to emulate our Lord’s example of humble, loving service to needy people. Deacons’ work is essential to the life and witness of God’s church. Church shepherds desperately need the deacons to relieve them from the many practical care needs essential to shepherding a flock so that the shepherds can attend more fully to teaching, guarding, and leading the whole flock.
   
   The Shepherds’ Priorities: Word and Prayer Acts 6:1-4
   
   A Two-Office Church: Overseers and Deacons
   
   Deacons (Diakonos)
   Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of (Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:
   
   English Greek Latin
   servant, minister, or deacon = diakonos minister
   serve, minister (verb) = diakoneo ministro
   service, ministry = diakonia
   slave = doulos servus

III. What deacon ministry will look like at TRCC

• Your pastors met with each of the nominated candidates individually to make sure they understood what would be required, to ask them about their willingness to serve, and to understand the passions and giftings they would bring to deacon ministry. We also wanted to make sure that they would meet the character and life qualifications set out in Scripture to be a deacon.
• After each of the candidates agreed that they wanted to pursue deacon ministry, I began meeting with all of them as a group to put together a plan for what deacon ministry will look like at TRCC. We looked together at Scripture and also how the office of deacon has been applied and sometimes misapplied in churches. We met for a month to work toward an understanding of what their role will be, although some of that is still to be defined based on the needs in the church.
• At the end of this period, we assigned each deacon 10-12 TRCC member family units to be part of their deacon care group. Each deacon will be meeting with their deacon care group in the next couple of weeks to get to know you and explain how our deacon ministry will work.
• We assigned these care groups based on those who have joined as members of TRCC. This was done because we felt any other means would be arbitrary and potentially unfair. We also believe that membership is important- that commitment to a church should be a two-way street. This does not mean that if you are not a member that we will not seek to minister to you. It does mean that you won’t have a deacon assigned to you with their care group.
• Deacons are responsible for making sure personal needs are met in the church- but not necessarily doing all the ministry themselves.
• 10-12 family units are too many for a deacon to be able to personally meet all the needs, so we have organized you into deacon care groups to minster to each other under your deacon’s responsibility. This is also part of our understanding of authentic community in the church- we all have something to give and something to take in ministry.
• Deacon care groups are to take the lead in ministering to people in their group, however, the entire church may be involved in some ministry within the group.
• Deacons will have other ministry responsibilities that are determined by their gifts and passion and the needs of the church. We have encouraged them to find that spot where their gifts intersect the needs of the church and plug in there.
• We believe that God will raise up other deacons in our church this year, and we are going to actively look for those of you who will be the next class of deacons within the next 12 month.