August 1, 2024
Beloved,
As last month we wrote in appreciation and celebration of the church elders, this month we do so in honor of another group of volunteers who are essential to the fulfillment of the mission of our church.
They are the deacons, church members who make a special effort to embody the love of Jesus to others, particularly those in special need. They take as seriously as anyone the call to imitate Jesus when He said that He came “not to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28).
In the Bible, deacons are introduced in Acts 6. At that time, the church was growing rapidly and incorporating all kinds of people into its fellowship of shared love.
Many of the new members were poor and in need of extra help just to make it in life. It took a lot of work to take care of them all, and those who labored in this work had to be sensitive and vigilant in making sure that every segment of the church got an equitable share of the church’s charity.
The apostles valued this mission of compassion, and were at first very involved in it. But this mission of compassion had grown so big and complicated that their involvement in it was pulling them away from their God-given priorities.
So the apostles “called together the whole community of the disciples” and declared that “it is not right” that, even for so valuable a ministry, they should neglect their prime ministries of “prayer and serving the word”. So they instructed the congregation to select a number of people to head the ministry and thereby free up the apostles to do full justice to their primary calling.
Those selected by the people and appointed by the apostles to the work of mercy would later be commonly referred to as diakanoi, which literally means “servants”.
Servanthood should be a core quality of every member of a church of Christ and of each church as a whole. For example, the Apostle Paul called himself a “diakonos” (that is, “servant”) of the gospel of Jesus. But as the meaning of the term evolved over time, it came to refer to those with a specific calling to bring compassionate care to the needy.
In the Presbyterian tradition, deacons are those who embody Christ’s love “for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the loss, the friendless, the oppressed, those burdened by unjust policies or structures, or anyone in distress”. (Book of Order, G-20201)
We often see Covenant’s beloved deacons as those who jump into the troubled waters of others to be lifelines to the church and to rescue them from dark seas of difficulties.
So please join us in giving thanks for our Covenant deacons and pray for them as they represent the mercy of Christ widely for us all. Our deacons are Narin Antoniades, Mei Cameron, Margaret Hullett, Diana Law, Ray Law, Lea Lindley, Ruben Lindley, Cynthia Olson, Greg Perkins, Sandy Smeby and Felecia Taylor.
This August, as was the case August last year, the church is catching its breath. Its only “big” activities will be those that take place on Sunday (with the exception of Back to School Day on Monday, August 26th).
This August please slow down, linger prayerfully with the Lord, grow still and attentive to the deepest parts of your existence, and reflect on this scripture from Isaiah 30:15b, wherein God says, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
In the grip of God’s grace,
Pastor Adele and Pastor Rob
