SPEAKER_01 0:01

That's exactly what I love about the summit right there. You are you are embedded, surrounded, and fellowshipping with a couple hundred humble servants of God. That really is an experience. If you've never been to one of the summits, that I promise you will have an impact on you if you attend the summit.

David Nakhla 0:20

Welcome to the Reformed Deacon, a casual conversation with topics specifically designed to help local Reform Deacons. There are nearly a thousand deacons in the OPC alone. So let's take this opportunity to learn from and encourage one another. We're so glad you could join us. Let's jump into our next episode of the Reform Deacon.

SPEAKER_04 0:43

My name is Nathan Trice, and I am pastor of Resurrection Presbyterian Church in Matthews, North Carolina. And I'm also the president of the Committee on Diacono Ministries of the OPC. And I'll be sitting in today as your host. I am joined by three brothers that I'd like to introduce. The first is Chris Sudlow. You'll remember Chris from an earlier appearance on this podcast. Chris is a deacon at Bethel OPC in Wheaton, Illinois. Chris serves with me on the Committee on Diacon Ministries and particularly on the subcommittee that's put together the past three national diaconal summits. That same subcommittee is knee deep in planning the fourth of our national diaconal summits. So, Chris, thanks for joining me. Also joining me is Deacon Gino Altery. Gino is a deacon at Bayview OPC in Chula Vista, California. And he served there for 13 years. Gino, thank you for being part of this time.

SPEAKER_05 1:50

Good evening, Pastor Nathan. It's good to be here, sir.

SPEAKER_04 1:54

And last but not least is Mark Palmer. Mark is a deacon at Providence OPC in Huntsville, Alabama, and he's served there for about 15 years. Mark, thank you for being part of this podcast.

SPEAKER_06 2:07

It's good to see you, Nathan. So I feel I know you better than you probably know me. We've had regional deacon conferences in our presbytery in Tallahassee, and I've met you there. I've also met you, of course, at the last summit. It's good to see you again.

SPEAKER_04 2:23

Well, Chris, Mark, Gino, I thought it would be beneficial for the deacons of the OPC who are listening, particularly those who have heard about uh the national summit that is planned for this June, the second, the third, and the fourth at Wheaton, Illinois, but who haven't yet made up their mind about whether they're going to take the time and undergo the expense of uh traveling there to reminisce a bit as uh a group who have been part of past summits. Before we're finished today, we'll uh give a sneak peek at what's coming up for this summit, but we're gonna look back at some of the past national summits and uh just reflect a bit about uh the blessing that they have been in particular ways. So uh here's how I thought we would begin our discussion. I'll throw this question out. If you can recall, brothers, how you first thought about attending a national summit. You first heard of a previous summit advertised. If you can remember how you felt about that as you were in that decision-making mode, and then contrast that or round that out with how you felt after you attended a summit of the past.

SPEAKER_06 3:34

This might sound strange, but I kind of think of it as a going to a thrift shop or going to a garage sale. What? So if you go to a garage sale, you're not looking for a wagon or a pair of boots or a shirt or something like that. You're going to the garage sale and you're kind of looking to see what they have, and then you come home and you're all excited about what uh what you had found in there. And I think that's a lot there. If I'm looking for something specific, it may not happen at this summit. It might be the next summit or the one after that, or a regional summit, or something else. But if you come with an open mind and saying, Dave, people here have got something to say, and I want to listen and I want to learn, and then you get excited about it.

SPEAKER_05 4:15

Yeah, I when I heard about it, I was excited. I was only a deacon for about a year, so there was four of us, and they picked me to go. And I'm like, wow, that's that's great. I mean, I I heard about elders and pastors going to general assemblies and they have these meetings. So I thought, you know, the OPC really cares about educating your men to be good servants of God. And then, you know, I went to this thing and I was I was exuberant. I was like, I went up to, and then pretty sure I found Chris the first time too. And I'm like, man, this was great. I can't wait for the next one.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

So yeah, I remember that, Gino. I remember meeting you for the first time. I think we'd had some emails and you seemed very enthusiastic. And then we met face to face at the first summit, and it was it was terrific. I felt like I'd already kind of gotten to know you, but your exuberance and your enthusiasm is unmatched, brother.

SPEAKER_04 5:04

Uh we're talking about past summits. Um, I have to say my time on the committee in indoctrinal ministries includes the summit from 2012 and the summit from 2017. But Chris, uh, you're um able to go back to the one even prior to that. Am I right?

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Yeah, the first one was 2010.

unknown 5:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Lendell Smith was president of the committee, and I was in his church, and so he wanted somebody to think about and explore logistics, a location. At that point, it was a kind of a project and planning process and exploration by the Committee on Diaconal Ministries to do that. So Lendell has a way of kind of coduling you into doing things and getting you excited about it. And to be honest, it's one of the great mentoring experiences for me to help him codify and launch the first summit and just be able to spend significant amounts of time with him uh not only in the work but just as friends. So uh that was quite an undertaking. We didn't know what we were doing, we didn't know how many people were gonna come. And uh we wound up getting uh just under 200 attendees, and it was just it's kind of a pivotal moment. We've never had a gathering of deacons denomination-wide until 2010 in the OPC.

SPEAKER_04 6:22

I think that in Presbyterianism in general, ministers and elders have this uh pattern, they're this element of church life where they're gathering with their fellow leaders, uh, at least at the presbytery level. And then, of course, in the case of many in the yearly general assemblies. Uh, but I think that's what these national diaconal summits have provided for. That third office of deacon in the church, they provided opportunity for gatherings. And the committee on diaconal ministries had a couple of goals for these gatherings, a couple of reasons for their existence. And one of them is the teaching opportunity they provide, and the other is the fellowship opportunity. Both of them together have been outcomes of past summits, and maybe we could reflect a little bit about on those two things. To go back to Mark's illustration, what are the kinds of treasures you didn't know you were shopping for, but you were able to pick up and take home in terms of learning? What kind of things have you learned uh in summits past?

SPEAKER_06 7:31

Every church's needs are different. Uh, there's some people who have people who come by looking for handouts, gas or money or food or whatever. Uh, some are uh perpetually there uh all the time. There's some people who have physical needs of the building, there's others, churches that have needs of congregational people. What I do when I meet these other deacons, I don't know any of them. So my question to them is uh what diaconal needs do you have at your church? Then I say, and how do you solve them? So one might be again, the person coming in looking for gasoline or going to a grocery store. So we've had uh those folks there, and I'll take them across the street to Publix. We walk through Publix, we get them a few things and then we walk out right away. But that's something I can share. So there's other churches that say uh we have to take care of our older folks. And you ask them how they are, and they will answer and say, uh, I'm fine. Well, is everything working all right at your house? Well, yeah, I've got this problem. How are you financially? Well, I've got this problem, so you've got to really dig at it and so forth. So that's the these are ideas that uh wouldn't actually come from the summit meetings, the conferences, but it's coming from the other deacons that you talk to. So talking to all of the deacons, I don't know 90%, I don't know, probably 99% of the deacons there. So we're all strangers, so I can easily get together and ask them all the same question, where are you from? But that's on your lanyard, so you don't need to know that. And it doesn't matter. I like traveling, so I have a connection of, you know, oh, you're from, you know, such and such a place. Oh, I've been there, I kind of know that, or something else, and uh so forth. But what what are the needs, uh diaconal needs that you have, which would be different at their church than at my church?

SPEAKER_04 9:08

One of the things the committee has uh gained an appreciation for over the years is just how much uh deacons in the OPC are hungry for ongoing practical training in their office. Chris, you've had interactions in particular with deacons, local deacons, uh, in some of your work on our behalf on the Committee on Jackal Ministries, that uh that's been loud and clear. Uh practical training, practical instruction. There's been no doubt training in the local church that uh was there at the beginning, uh, as deacons were considered and trained for office, but uh some kind of venue for ongoing vocational training in this uh calling of diaconates. So that that's one of the that's that's the the first of these reasons for the being of a national diaconal summit.

SPEAKER_05 9:59

You know, there was a couple things that I that I really pulled from it. Maybe if I could use two attributes, uh one is humility and another one was uh mercy. When I noticed about all the speakers, the guys that gave these talks was that they were helping us because of the the humility that they were just delivering the message from. And I picked that up big time. It was like something I was trying to absorb, and I thought, you know, this is the a common characteristic of all of them, and it just made me think of Jesus and like in John 13 when he's like he puts you know, he gets down on the ground, takes a towel around his waist, and he starts washing his disciples' feet. And I thought, that's that's how we need to think when we're around people, especially the you know, the household of faith. The other one, the uh mercy one, is I remember Chris gave a talk, and uh he was talking about the deacons and his church body who helped this lady for like a 10-year period. And even though at times it was hard to tell, you know, maybe what was true or wasn't in her stories, and and they weren't even 100% sure should we have been helping this lady for so long, they they operated on that principle of mercy, you know, that mercy principle. And there's one in uh Exodus 34, 6, and it says, the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, a God and merciful and gracious, slow to anger and aboundings in steadfast love and faithfulness. So, you know, those those two things, uh humility and mercy, those really stuck with me through the summit.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

DG, no, that's exactly what I love about the summit right there. You are you are embedded, surrounded, and fellowshipping with a couple hundred humble servants of God. And um, that really is an experience. If you've never been to one of the summits, that I promise you will have an impact on you if you attend the summit. It's interesting because I do a lot of the coordinating with the college and work with their, you know, set up for the housing and the food and everything. And after the first summit, I went and met with them and kind of did a debrief. They were so impressed by the OPC diaconal summit and the men that attended their courtesy, their kindness, their thoughtfulness, their patience. And they said this is the best group that we've ever had on our campus for a summer conference.

SPEAKER_04 12:17

I didn't realize that, Tris. That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

But it comes from that, it's magnetic, it's electric, right? You it's almost it's inescapable in a way, and and profoundly encouraging. And so that's really my prayer. We try to figure out curriculum and training and what's best, and we think we know what's best. Do we know what's best? Do we think we know we know? You know, it's it's a heavy weight. And um, the Lord is gracious to us in in the gathering and the shared humility and love for the Lord together when we get together.

SPEAKER_04 12:46

Amen. Amen. You know, as we're trying to devise workshop topics for the summits over the years, uh, we've tried to be mindful of the questions that we uh hear being asked by our deacon brothers, try to make very practical, even I'd say, in some cases, how-to kinds of workshops, because there's a hunger for that. Uh, but it it strikes me that in all of that teaching, there's never going to be an exact correspondence between the illustrations or the um cases that are put before everybody in the summit and the specifics of a local situation. There's always variety, there's always the necessity of deacons there on the ground in the ministry opportunities they have exercising wisdom. That seems to me a worthy ambition for these kinds of gatherings in and through the practical instruction that's being given and received. There's really this uh cumulative effect by God's grace of just growing in wisdom. So it's not just how is X circumstance or Y circumstance to be handled, but hearing men uh relate. I remember Chris, what uh you did in one of your workshops walking us through a particular case. I think Gina was actually referring to that, and being able to say, well, if they handle that like that, that's helpful in giving those broad wisdom principles for my own local situation. And that's that's one of the things that I think, especially over time, opportunities like this just make for wiser and wiser officers in Christ Church, in this case, deacons. So gathering to be instructed, that's the first of the two ambitions that we have. Uh, we've already touched on the second, but I would characterize that as not only being instructed, but also being encouraged by the fellowship of the brothers that are there. Uh, I do think that diaconal ministry can be lonely. Diaconal ministry can be discouraging. Uh, and that's one of the things that I've been so pleased to see men's testimony about being present with their brothers in the in the summits being re-energizing, uh, just refreshing and sending them back to their churches with just more zeal for their work.

SPEAKER_06 15:15

We're from Huntsville, Alabama. We used to have three other OPC churches in Alabama, and we're the only one. So there's very little interaction between us and any other deacons. Uh, there's three deacons, and you know, we talk on Sunday morning, uh, count the money, and see if there's any needs and so forth. But that's the extent of it. So all of a sudden you go to a summit and there's 500 other deacons there, and it's like, wow, I'm not alone in Alabama all by myself. Look at all these people. It's big, and it's it's like, wow, and kind of get energized and go, go, go again.

SPEAKER_04 15:53

See, brothers meet people there. And uh, do you have you found ways to stay in touch with other deacon brothers from other parts of the country?

SPEAKER_06 16:02

So, some um I'm on a disaster. Well, I don't know. Uh I've been to a couple of disaster relief programs, and um uh for instance, Peter Oning is up in the Chicago area. We get along well. We've been to two different ones together, and I say anytime you're going to a disaster relief, give me a call. And if I'm in town, I'd be glad to go. So I look forward to him. I see a couple of other uh ones from our presbytery that we used to um know when we would have presbytery uh uh deep uh diaconal meetings. It's been a while since we've had one, but I think it's not so much going back and seeing folks that you know. Uh so uh on the very first day we have a barbecue together, I want to see uh some of the people I know. But after that, then it's going up to, like I mentioned before, any deacon.

SPEAKER_05 16:47

You know, every time I think about the conferences, I I've been I've been to all of them, and uh, and I see a lot of the same guys, I see some new guys, and I'm thinking, these guys really care. I mean, these guys really want to get educated and find out. Um, because I know one of the one of the workshops and all that was about us being able to work things out and get together afterwards, you know, the even little mapsters of presbyteries. Um, that that's something that I need to work on. So I've I've largely done all my fellowshipping at the meals, et cetera, et cetera, just a lot like Mark. I find I'm I'm always surprised by if I was gonna ask a question like March, as to how the needs can be so vastly different church to church.

SPEAKER_04 17:30

You know, it what you just referenced reminds me that we've had the testimony of some deacons coming to Wheaton, Illinois, uh, for example, uh and meeting other deacons from around the corner of their own local church. Uh, in other words, other deacons from their presbyteries. Now, some presbyteries have uh taken the initiative, we're so pleased to see, of regional diaconal summits. And so some presbyteries are pulling together their deacons in that particular presbytery, but many are not yet. And uh coming to the Chicago area is where they meet uh deacons from their brother-sister churches right in that area. That's that's been fun to see and very, very profitable, I think. This may be hard to quantify or put in words, uh, but if you've not been in a room full of uh zealous servants of Christ singing. Isn't that fabulous? Uh, especially so when you're sitting in the room. I'm not sure that clip did it justice. So I remember uh Philip Riken's sermon that uh was so stirring to me. Those are experiences that are uh changing, transforming uh to us, and can be turning points for us personally and experientially. Uh, listening to the word preached specifically to you.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Mercy begins with a recognition of human need, and then mercy is offered out of gratitude to God for the grace he has given in Jesus Christ with a genuine desire to imitate his love. And mercy ministry usually starts in the hearts of people who do not have very much experience meeting other people's needs, and in fact, may find it hard to love other people, and yet they see the suffering around them. They are open to serving however God wants them to serve. In other words, ministries of mercy usually begin with people like us, ordinary sinners, saved by grace, but willing to be useful for the kingdom of God by caring for someone in need.

SPEAKER_04 20:25

Those are powerful words. That was Phil Riken speaking at the 2012 National Diaconal Summit. So I love going to meetings where brothers are able not only to sit and the harness and learn together, but then also stand around with coffee and just talk and laugh. That's inevitably part of uh these gatherings. One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes that I thought of in this connection, it's one of those offhand comments he makes about one of his favorite things. And it goes something like this there's no sound I like better than adult male laughter. Uh I resonate with that because that's one of my favorite things. Oh, I've never heard that before.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

That's terrific.

SPEAKER_04 21:13

There's therapy brothers in laughter, as you well know. So we've been talking about growing in our understanding and our wisdom. That's one of the ambitions uh the CDM has for uh these summits. We've also been talking about growing in our encouragement and uh zeal for our office through the fellowship that we enjoy. Uh, those are other that's a that's a second kind of objective.

SPEAKER_05 21:41

What I've learned from you guys and being part of the Diacanate, a lady says to me the other day, she says, uh, you know, there's not too many types of men like you, Gino. I think they they kind of broke the mold on that in society.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

They did break the mold, Gino.

SPEAKER_05 21:58

Well, you know, I I Um, I attribute that to what I've learned of being part of the OPC diaconate that I'm trying to serve even when I'm not in the church body and and draw people to Christ, but uh we can't do it without the Lord Jesus and you guys just exude that to us, and that's it's been a wonderful experience for me.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Well, it's been a wonderful experience for me too, Tino, to serve in that way. I think if there's one thing the CDM is a mind of, it is that that we are servants. I like to say frequently that I am Lendell's lackey. I am his humble servant that is tasked with humble tasks. And um, for me, that was that's been one of my great joys to serve. When you're serving an individual like that of the same heart and mind, it's just a wonderful blessing that's given to us in Christ.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

Yeah, brothers, I'm thinking back to the part that David Apple from 10th Prez in Philadelphia had in our 2017 uh national summit.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

My brother and I were playing ball, and he threw the ball, and I missed it, and I dashed out into the road right in front of an oncoming car, and I laid there. The doctors said my parents were not sure if he was going to make it. He'll never bought him a vegetable. I was in a coma for about a month, and then there's no more that the doctors could do in the hospital, and I was home. Immediately, my parents organized the neighbors to visit, and they were returned. And within here, I had movement on my left side. Later I had enough strength to stand, and still later, my wheelchair was taken away, and I struggled to take my first steps. But then God sent Jimmy to work with me in my father's shop. Every day, talk about Jesus. Well, that's where it started for me. These people came alongside of me, visited me in my despair, began to unravel, unwrap the grave cost that I was bound in until finally, after peeling with layers and layers and layers of paint, I pretty much surrendered it.

SPEAKER_04 24:18

Just story after story of ministry, diaconal ministry that he told. And uh, I can't say that I remember all the specifics of his talks, but I do remember so very distinctly the impact that it had over his uh two or three talks with us, which was to open my mind and heart to the possibilities that are present every time we minister to someone in need. Just his testimony about how the Lord had done surprising things uh in diaconal ministry. And I it made me realize that all ministry, pastoral ministry, diaconal ministry, one of our great enemies is just uh cynicism. We can become cynical about people, we can become uh fairly uh skeptical about uh the fruitfulness of ministry. That can be an element we have to fight uh in all kinds of ministry. And that was one of the things that I remember being so refreshed by. If I could put it this way, you never know what the Lord's gonna do when you act uh faithfully uh and in love and imitation of Christ. And that was that was just a wonderfully encouraging piece of that particular summit for me.

SPEAKER_05 25:32

Hey, Pastor Nathan, that uh, you know, you're reminding me, I'm kind of a hindsight thinker. Yeah. And so when, like you're saying, all of a sudden, that just clicked the memory about uh, I believe he was one of them he was talking about actually ministering to a prostitute. And I thought, you know, that can even be a scary thing going out into that culture. You know, I think he said he had invited them to the church and they had like a study and they were there, and you know, it just reminds me of one of the main things that I learned, you know, not only just going back to humility and the mercy, just putting yourself out there as a servant, because I I could even put that with my marriage. You know what, Gino, you are a servant, yours to serve her, you're to serve the people around, you're to serve the body of Christ. Get get on your knees like Jesus did with his towel right now in your mind and your heart, and then things will work out the way they should.

SPEAKER_04 26:20

Well said. So, brothers, uh, in light of the things that you've experienced in past national summits, uh, and thinking ahead to this year's, uh just uh point out that those who are part of the summit in June will need to give up some time on a Thursday. We arrive by that Thursday afternoon, evening. Things begin that uh late in the day on Thursday, and then we have a whole day Friday and a portion of Saturday. Gentlemen, that's a that's a significant investment of time. Uh, there'll be travel uh time to add to that. So let me just put it to you. Uh, what do you say to a brother who says, I'm just not sure it's worth that kind of investment to make my way in June to Wheaton, Illinois.

SPEAKER_06 27:08

What would you say? You can't spend all your time working.

unknown 27:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:13

These opportunities come around what, once every four years or something. Uh yeah, you can watch the video later on, but it's a little different watching a video of the speakers. You don't know what you're gonna learn when you come to one of these seminars. There's so many different classes now. You've got to sign up for the different classes. Like, wow, do I want to hear this speaker and learn about this or about this? There's so much to learn in there, and there's more to life than one more day at work.

SPEAKER_05 27:38

See, I'd say, you know, uh fellowship's a big deal. You know, uh past sometimes our pastor used to joke about fellowship isn't just having coffee and a donut and all that. It's really getting to know each other's lives and how we can serve each other. And and uh, you know, here we are, all these guys with the same, I mean, we have the same ministry. Yeah, like Mark was saying a little bit earlier, what is your diaconal needs over there? So it's very different environment than you can get anywhere else.

SPEAKER_04 28:03

Well, looking ahead then, looking at what's planned for June 2 to June 4 of this year, Chris, why don't you tell us a little bit about what we can expect? Uh, what are you particularly excited about as you've had a key part in planning this upcoming summit?

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Well, one thing that's going to be different is that instead of one primary speaker for our general sessions where we all gather together as one body, we'll have three different plenary speakers, and they are all excellent. So that is different, but I think we'll be quite powerful, really. The men that we have coming to do that. One of those is Ron Pierce, a former long-term member of the committee. He alone would be worth showing up to listen. In addition to that, in the interest of trying to offer as much as we can, we now have nine workshop opportunities instead of three. We would traditionally, at the in the past three summits, we've taken all the deacons and systematically rotated them through three workshops that were given three separate times. So everybody heard that same material. We now have nine opportunities. So there's quite a menu. I think that's an exciting development. It'll be very interesting to see who's interested in what and uh give us information going forward. All of those workshops, obviously, you're not going to be able to attend each one, but every single one of those will be video and audio recorded and part of our library, or men that can attend the summit, or simply men that did attend the summit, but wanted to hear more of the workshops. So we're excited about those developments. We have not done that in the past, and I think that'll be fruitful going forward.

SPEAKER_04 29:40

We've had in summits in the past particular themes, and that has served us well. We've uh had speakers, as Chris was saying, that have taken more of the plenary sessions and they've developed a certain theme. Uh, this summit coming up uh really represents an attempt to cover as much of the waterfront, at least in a representative way as possible, so that by the end of this summit, both in what's been experienced in person and what's uh available to listen to again afterwards, there will be something approaching uh a little training session or course on diaconal ministry. And we are hoping that the afterlife of this conference will continue to be very fruitful as people are able to access the material online.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

We've got Craig Troxel, who was I was fortunate enough to serve under when he was a pastor at Wheaton, and a number of others that will be excellent. There's just a number, I think they'll be good, with maybe the exception of me, but uh you never know.

SPEAKER_04 30:44

Uh it's a variety. Uh, there are there are ministers, elders, and deacons all represented in the workshops and sessions that are planned. So I think it will be uh a real representation of uh the wisdom the Lord has given to the Orthodox Christian Church, uh at least in a representative way, as these different leaders from the OPC gather there. So Gino and Mark have both uh registered and chosen the workshops in advance. So uh why don't you tell us, brothers, what went into your thinking as you chose those specific workshops?

SPEAKER_06 31:20

One of mine that I chose was the disaster response. I've said this before, we live in Alabama, which is in the Presbytery of the South, which includes Florida. So we have our share of hurricanes that come through and uh particular needs through theirs. So being on uh probably have been on four different disaster uh uh teams uh overseas and locally can always learn something else. So that's that's the one I chose.

SPEAKER_05 31:45

It's been a little bit since I filled it out, but I'm just looking at these here and I see ministry mercy in a social justice world. I've heard that bantered around so much. I really want to get that right when ministering to people. We have another deacon, he's much mature in age in our group of deacons at my church, and sometimes I'm kind of ready to give away the store, so to speak, and it'll be like, hey, Gino, let's think about it this way a little bit. And and so, yeah, that's that's what interests me, especially in that one in particular.

SPEAKER_04 32:14

Chris, maybe you can uh speak to what your plans are with the workshop that you've been slated to head up. Uh, doing business as deacons is the title of that one.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Uh, just briefly, I think that one of the things that has been helpful to me and hopefully helpful to the deacons I've worked with these many years is understanding how we function as a group and how we're not independent workers. And I say that thinking of not only Mark, but several other deacons that have attended, and they are the only deacon at their church, and have been the only deacon at their church for a very long time. So, you know, in that case, they're usually not just acting independently. They have a pastor or an elder or two or or others, but that idea that we go out in twos, we meet with our cases in twos. We don't want to be meeting alone, we don't want to be making decisions about how to help someone that the other deacons haven't had a chance to consider or haven't had a chance to give an advice or a emotion towards direction. So it can be a dynamic that can take a little time to build, I think. But it it gives to me, my encouragement would be that it gives me relief from having to make the decisions by myself. I have the collective wisdom of the other deacons at my church to lean on and to trust in, even if I disagree with them. Sometimes strongly. I have, like I think all deacons have had times when you really do not 100% know if you're doing the right thing or not. And that's a very uncomfortable place to be, especially if you're by yourself. I just want to encourage them that it's not that we're setting guidance for how deacons should operate, but encouraging them in ways that have been that have been helpful to others and to me.

SPEAKER_04 34:13

So, Gino, as you made your plans for the summit this coming June, you signed up for the for the workshop ministry too and with people with disabilities. And I wondered if you comment on why that was of a particular interest to you.

SPEAKER_05 34:27

You know, it's interesting how you end up where you are in life when it's whether it's been my jobs or anything else. Um, since I've been at the church, I've kind of been drawn to people who seem like they're whether they might have autism or something of that effect. And I thought, let me help help this person feel welcome in the church. You know, there might be RD charter of the church body, and you know, it's a little bit more of a challenge. I like that challenge. Then I've had other people, elders and elders' wife, say, Hey Gino, can you start giving this guy a ride home? Can you make sure that he gets to his doctor's appointments and all? And they've all been some type of disability and all. And I thought, you know, for some reason God has me doing that with these people in disabilities. I feel drawn to do it. So I I know that I'm inviting to learn more about that and hear about experiences with that.

SPEAKER_04 35:19

Very good. Chris, why don't you tell us about what our accommodations will be like uh there at the summit, there at uh Wheaton College.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

Well, they're not the accommodations, aren't exactly the uh the four seasons hotel. It's a residence hall at the school. Some very basic linens are provided. So bring additional if if you have need of that. We have the ability to accommodate singles as well as suites and housemen together that are traveling together, and we'll make those accommodations to everyone as best we can. The food is provided by the on-site service at Wheaton College. We also have snacks between. We have an opening barbecue when we arrive for registration Thursday afternoon. So food will be available from three till six just because of the different times where people arrive to the summit and register. We have snacks, and one of the comments from a recent summit was you know, there's there's too much food.

SPEAKER_07 36:16

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

It's hard on dieters, right? Uh it's hard on dieters, but it's a gesture of hospitality that I have deep regard for. Even in the residence hall, we'll set up a overnight, both nights throughout the night, if someone would like a coffee, a water, a snack, a cookie, a chip. Uh for those that rise very early. There will be coffee there throughout the night and into the early morning. We try to make it as user-friendly in terms of not just being left to a uh perhaps a cold room or a or a lonely environment.

SPEAKER_06 36:50

I think it was well organized. You start driving in when you get close to Wheaton College. There are signs for where the diaconal folks are going to meet, where you park. You cannot get lost unless you don't follow the signs, and they tell you exactly where to park. You spend very little time in the dorm room. You go there to sleep. Otherwise, you're up uh gathering and meeting and uh meeting other folks. So you're spending time there. You're not spending time in the buffet line. You can go and you can get your food, and you can spend time again, uh talking with a uh a deacon you've never met before and not spending your time waiting for the next guy to choose whether he wants pineapple or peaches.

SPEAKER_04 37:28

All right. That's some good added perks of being together at the national summit. As Mark, you'd say, you can't you can't work every day. You can't diet every day either, right? Any other final words?

SPEAKER_01 37:39

I would just mention that transportation will be arranged for those flying to the summit. We will have six or seven 14 or 16 passenger vans that will shuttle the men from the airports to the school and then back to the airports after the summit. And we bear the cost of that. And then for those driving, there's places for them as well.

SPEAKER_05 38:02

I was enthralled by how much effort you guys put out to make it easy for us to be at that conference. And you know, for anybody who's deciding, well, well, is it is it really worth my time to take a whole weekend away? You're missing out on a lot if you don't come. You know, you you just you're missing out on filet mignon and all that. And you know, you're good with if you're good with hamburger helper, that's fine, but uh filet mignon tastes much better.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

Gino, I agree, brother.

SPEAKER_04 38:30

Well, this uh certainly piqued my appetite for what we have planned for June. We will continue to ask the Lord to bless these preparations and gather a goodly number of Deacon brothers uh there at the summit. I just remind all of our listeners uh that we have a page of uh frequently asked questions along with other important information that you can review. Also, opportunity there online to register, and it's at opccdm.org. Uh visit that site and even register right where you are uh on your phone. Uh keep in mind uh we intend to have a summit every four or five years. So it's an opportunity that is important to seize uh when it comes along. It is a free summit for deacons of the OPC if you register before April 1st. And we've testified in a variety of ways this afternoon how worthy the time really is for those who are able to be part of it. Chris and Mark and Gino, thank you for sharing your thoughts about the summit that we've planned. Good to see you again.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

Great to be with you, brothers. Just encouragement to everyone listening. Register early, let us know your plans, and we will accommodate as best we can.

SPEAKER_05 39:46

Thanks, brothers. It's been a privilege to be uh with you guys this morning and look forward to seeing you in June.

SPEAKER_01 39:51

Same here, Gino. We'll have to catch up.

David Nakhla 39:55

Thanks for joining us. Go to our website, thereformdeacon.org. There you will find all our episodes, program notes, and other helpful resources. And please make plans to join us again next month for another episode of the Reform Deacon podcast.