Deacons/Elders - Part 2 By Pastor Joe

Deacons/Elders - Part 2 By Pastor Joe

It’s important you read this entire article before coming to a conclusion about what is written. Let me start off by sharing “my observations” of what the Word of God declares concerning leaders in the church. First of all, the best biblical model is to have both elders and deacons. Elders, throughout the scripture, were those involved with the spiritual oversight of a local body of believers, and they also were involved in decisions regarding the health and direction of the church. Deacons, as we discussed last week, are those who are chosen from within the congregation to serve the fellowship and their daily needs. Those daily needs could be anything from taking care of the orphans and widows, to maintaining the facility. Please read 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Acts 6:1-15. Currently our fellowship has a leadership board comprised of deacons only. It has worked effectively, but as we grow, a day will come when we need to have both an elder board and a deacon board. This is not the first time I have written an article concerning this matter. Hopefully in the next few years we will add an Elder board and during 2022 there will be sermons shared expressing the truth and the need for this spiritual leadership component.

We are approaching our annual business meeting (scheduled for the last Sunday in April), and once again I’m going to share my “personal belief” (with humble regards to my interpretation of the Word of God) that deacons should primarily be men. Notice the word “primarily” should be men. The biblical mandate is for men to be in leadership, and when godly men do not step up, or are not available, to fill the role of leaders, we will do just as God did throughout the Old and New Testament, and appoint women. What this means to this congregation is: my desire would be to have a board that is primarily men, but also includes qualified godly women who will serve this fellowship. We need to fill two open deacon positions at our April 24th Annual Business Meeting. Certainly, there are individuals within the congregation who have personal convictions about certain circumstances which would disqualify an individual from serving. I think it’s more important to look at the individuals who are part of our congregation, and to choose out from amongst those who have faithfully attended, faithfully supported, and faithfully served, and live their lives in accordance with the Word of God. Let it never be said of our local fellowship that someone who qualifies to serve as a deacon cannot serve because of their age, because of their gender, or because of past behavior that has been forgiven. We all have had our sins forgiven from the past. One of the requirements in question for serving our congregation, according to our bylaws, relates to divorce and remarriage. Ironically, a person like the Apostle Paul, who was murdering Christians, ended up serving the same people he was persecuting. There are godly individuals within our congregation who have experienced divorce, and recently we changed our bylaws to allow certain individuals to serve if they meet with the approval of a majority of the voting membership. As a local body of believers, we should find a place for all who want to serve, to be able to serve, no different from the Apostle Paul. Please be praying for clarity for the voting membership regarding who should serve as a Deacon for the next three years. Never forget, “Together is Better.”