After much thought and prayer, the pastors and deacons of our church feel it is time to select men from our body to serve in the office of deacons. Nominations will begin after we revisit the role and biblical qualifications for deacons in the November 2 sermon.
Over the next five years, our goal is to ordain approximately 20 deacons. This is based on the current needs of our church and future spots that will need to be filled in our deacon body. Members of our church are able to submit up to five names of men they believe meet the requirements of a deacon. A team from our deacon body and pastoral staff will pray through the names and develop a list of candidates that fit the criteria. There will be a multi-step interview process that will result in submitting names back to the body for prayer and affirmation. If there are no objections from the body that would prohibit any of the candidates from serving as a deacon, they will begin to meet with the deacon body for a period of approximately one year in a probationary period. After this time of testing, those who prove faithful and feel called to continue will be set aside for ordination.
This is an exciting and important time for our body. We must enter it with much prayer and seeking after the heart of the Lord. Commit to praying for wisdom and for the Spirit to move in the men who will be asked to serve in this important role. We believe God will lead us in the right direction and are excited about how this process will help us serve the body of Christ.