The Role of the Deacon Ministry
At Nall Avenue Baptist Church, we elect deacons to minister to the families of our church. Deacons work closely with the staff to fulfill the ministry needs of our congregation. We engage in unified fellowship by creating a strong positive relationship between the pastor, staff, deacons and the congregation. The church membership is divided into groups of 10 to 15 families. Each group is assigned a deacon, who accepts the responsibility for personal ministry to the families in his group. Deacons are committed to serve our Nall Avenue Baptist Church family.
The Reason for Deacons
As the early church grew, the task of ministering to basic needs became greater than the apostles could manage. The first century church in
Jerusalem
elected godly men to take on the responsibility of making sure members of the church, especially widows, were being treated equally and fairly. The Apostles asked the congregation to elect these seven godly men. They were selected by the church for their spiritual qualifications. For example, Stephen was described as a man full of faith and power who did great wonders and signs among the people. Philip was not only a deacon, but also was gifted in evangelism.
ACTS 6:1-6 1In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Brothers, 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 4and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
5This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from
Antioch
, a convert to Judaism. 6They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
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