Deacons

Calvary is blessed to have several interns this summer through Truett and CBF. As part of that training, I've had Kari Tingle, Michael Gelly and Blake Herridge attend as many lay teams as possible.

They attended the Deacons meeting on Sunday and Kari offered the following reflections on that:

I enjoyed being a part of the Deacon meeting. I honestly kind of expected it to be boring and was pleasantly surprised when it was so relaxed and enjoyable. I didn't realize that different members were responsible for different areas of ministry within the church. I know that deacon means servant, but I guess I had always imagined that the deacons were authority holders - servant being less of the idea behind the deacon. The area updates showed me that I really had the wrong impression about what the deacons do. And, I know Calvary doesn't have a problem with women in ministry, and after attending that meeting I was left wondering why any church would insist that women could not serve in that capacity. It baffles me. (Maybe women in ministry is something we could discuss in our meetings? I've still got some questions.)

I also found myself getting really nervous when you brought up the situation with [a member in distress]. We had discussed it in our meeting and were on the same page about how to respond, but I wasn't sure how the deacons would react. I was almost in tears when Kevin Tankersley, Todd Becker, and others were so adamant about providing her with financial assistance. And was overjoyed when I saw that their support didn't stop at saying yes: Kevin Tippen offered to help work out financial things and others provided ideas for how we could realistically come together to help her. For me, it was a moment where I appreciated even more being a member of a church who takes seriously the call to be the kingdom, even when it looks difficult.

The deacon meeting didn't fit what I had assumed, but I was encouraged by what I saw. I'm not sure why, but I'd always imagined them as tense meetings where people leave frustrated or unhappy. This was not one of those times. I'm sure that the deacon meetings don't always go smoothly, but I think this was a great first exposure, and it made me realize that there's a lot of ministry that happens at Calvary that I'm not really aware of. And, though I think it's important to encourage those serving, it's also important that things are done behind the scenes - ministry doesn't always have to be in front of others. (I'd do well to remember that myself.)

High praise for our Deacons!