Board of Deacons
Diaconate, deacon and deaconess are terms that come from the ancient Greek word diakonos which has been variously translated as servant, minister, or sometimes messenger. Another common translation, “through the dust”, is thought to refer to the dust raised by the busy deacons in service and ministry to the church. That is definitely us! Here at Lake Edge, the purpose of the Diaconate (Board of Deacons) is to provide leadership and support to the spiritual ministry of the church, both to the church as a whole and to individuals.
The Diaconate meets on the fourth Thursday of every month at 6:30 in room 119. The meeting is open to everyone who is interested in spiritual ministry at Lake Edge United Church of Christ.
A brief outline of our responsibilities includes:Worship
Adult spiritual growth and development
Fellowship opportunities related to worship
Worship doesn’t just happen. The Diaconate takes very seriously the work of examining our worship patterns and practices, and exploring new possibilities. Deacons have studied the book Beyond the Worship Wars in preparation for their work on worship. We invite people who come to Lake Edge to experience the presence of God, still-speaking to all of us. When our worship is effective, we want to spend more time together in fellowship, we are drawn to deeper spiritual growth, and we are led into paths of service. As we gather, work, grow and serve together, we yearn even more for corporate worship. The tasks of the Diaconate – worship, spiritual development and fellowship – continue to feed each other.
That’s what we do. But we can’t do it alone. The few of us on the Diaconate cannot possibly do all the tasks involved. We provide direction and oversight, but it takes the whole church to be the church. Join us, join a team, BE the church. We are all part of the Body of Christ, we all have a role and it starts in worship and moves us from there.
Chair: Chris Hunter (term expires in 2012)
Jessie Gwynne (2011)
Cindy Rosch (2011)
Amanda Helm (2011)
Christine Murray (2011)
Dave Wilson (2011)
Dean Roberts (2012)*
Ann Moyer (2012)
Fred Kane (2012)
*-serving second term
The Diaconate meets on the fourth Thursday of every month at 6:30 in room 119. The meeting is open to everyone who is interested in spiritual ministry at Lake Edge United Church of Christ.
A brief outline of our responsibilities includes:
- Supporting the pastors in planning weekly and special worship services through worship planning, music, ushering, and liturgical arts teams which are subcommittees of the diaconate
- Preparing and serving communion, including home communion
- Coordination with the ushers team, another subcommittee of the diaconate
- Planning new member classes
- Providing coordination and support for spiritual development opportunities such as the Pastor’s class, book clubs, Bible study, spiritual growth groups, other adult discussion groups and classes, etc. (The Board of Christian Education supervises the programs for children's spiritual growth.)
- Providing for hospitality to the stranger – helping to see that Lake Edge is a welcoming place for members, guests and visitors alike, seeing to nametags and providing helpful information
- Working with the fellowship team as a subcommittee to coordinate fellowship opportunities surrounding worship (coffee hour, Easter brunch, Lenten soup supper, etc)
Worship doesn’t just happen. The Diaconate takes very seriously the work of examining our worship patterns and practices, and exploring new possibilities. Deacons have studied the book Beyond the Worship Wars in preparation for their work on worship. We invite people who come to Lake Edge to experience the presence of God, still-speaking to all of us. When our worship is effective, we want to spend more time together in fellowship, we are drawn to deeper spiritual growth, and we are led into paths of service. As we gather, work, grow and serve together, we yearn even more for corporate worship. The tasks of the Diaconate – worship, spiritual development and fellowship – continue to feed each other.
That’s what we do. But we can’t do it alone. The few of us on the Diaconate cannot possibly do all the tasks involved. We provide direction and oversight, but it takes the whole church to be the church. Join us, join a team, BE the church. We are all part of the Body of Christ, we all have a role and it starts in worship and moves us from there.
Chair: Chris Hunter (term expires in 2012)
Jessie Gwynne (2011)
Cindy Rosch (2011)
Amanda Helm (2011)
Christine Murray (2011)
Dave Wilson (2011)
Dean Roberts (2012)*
Ann Moyer (2012)
Fred Kane (2012)
*-serving second term