Speaker 1: 0:00

A deacon holds a lot of bandwidth internally and he can only hold so much. And so if you're a solo deacon, encourage other people to serve, because you can't do it alone forever. It may be to do it for a while, but you can't do it forever. And then you need to let your people know so they can come alongside you because really, a deacon, you know you're a cheerleader for their ministry.

Speaker 2: 0:20

Welcome to the Reformed Deacon, a casual conversation with topics specifically designed to help local Reformed 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. Hi, my name is David Nockla and I serve as the administrator for the OPC Committee on Diakon Ministries. On today's episode of the Reformed Deacon, we're addressing a topic that many of our churches face. It's the unique challenge of serving as a solo deacon. We hope you'll find this episode to offer encouragement and practical insights for deacons who serve in such contexts.

Speaker 2: 1:01

Joining me today are three deacons who have all had experience serving as a lone deacon. John Stahl serves as a deacon at Emanuel OPC in Wilmington, delaware. He's a member of the Committee on Diagnostic Ministries and he is now serving with a fellow deacon, but has experienced being the only deacon for a time. Also, we have Jared Grigg. He serves as a deacon at Acacia Reformed OPC in Manassas, virginia. I think they recently particularized Is that right? Yeah, and he too has a fellow deacon now, but for a good while he was serving in that church plant alone. And then, finally, we have with us Dan Barnes. He is a solo deacon currently at Trinity Reformed OPC in Lanham, maryland, so we look forward to hearing from Dan as well. Welcome to each of you, brothers. Thanks for joining in this important conversation. Great to be here.

Speaker 3: 1:54

Thanks for having us Super.

Speaker 2: 1:56

It's too bad, but a number of OP congregations find themselves with diaconates of one, a solo deacon. Sometimes this is due to positive developments like church planting, of course, as is the case with Jared at Acacia. Other times it just may be lack of training or awareness or, probably most often, there's just not qualified men in the congregation, or some who are qualified but they're just not willing to consider serving in this important office. When we look back at Acts 6, when the office of deacon was instituted, the apostles instructed the church to do what? To appoint seven men. And when we look at that, we right off the bat see the importance of plurality, the principle of plurality. They said in Acts Therefore, brothers, pick out among you seven men of good repute, full of spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

Speaker 2: 2:58

There's good reason for this model for plurality. Plurality provides accountability. There is certainly wisdom shared through the counsel of many. It's also more hands to the pump, it's the division of labor, and then, even when we're sitting with folks, a second set of eyes and ears can be so helpful. And then, finally, there's just the built-in support and redundancy. All good reasons for plurality. If scripture models and commends plurality of deacons, then the question is how can we serve faithfully when that ideal is not yet realized? And we say yet realized because we do look forward to that time when our lone deacons have others coming alongside them to share the load. So today we hope to explore this question by listening to the experiences and challenges faced by these three men. So, brothers, maybe we can start with each of you telling us a bit about your church, describe the type of region you're in and about how many people would be in worship and average age, just to give us a sense of your congregations. And, dan, maybe we'll start with you, certainly.

Speaker 4: 4:10

We're a diverse church. We're located around 14 miles from the nation's capital and some 23 miles from Annapolis, Maryland, so we're kind of like sandwiched between the two nations' capital and the state capital, and we currently have about 21 members. The average age we're aging out about 63 years of age, so we range in age from members from around 21 through 76,. I want to say, On a given Sunday we have around 25 people attending the morning worship service. Unfortunately, in the evening it's a little less than that, but typically it's about 25 folks attending worship service.

Speaker 2: 4:46

Do you have a number of walk-in people coming in for help from off the streets?

Speaker 4: 4:52

We do have some people coming in. What we have is we have a thriving food pantry that we created and we have monthly food drives, and so we're able to invite people through that means, and sometimes they'll show up for worship service. We also have an English class, where we're also able to minister to people around the area and also invite them into service, and that's how we have people come to service as well.

Speaker 2: 5:12

Okay, great, great, great. Well, it'd be interesting to hear more from you, especially given that setting. John Stahl, why don't you give us a sense of the church where you serve? Yeah.

Speaker 3: 5:23

So we're in a suburban area in North Wilmington, delaware, so it's in the metropolitan Philadelphia area. We have about 140 members probably 120, I think on average coming to morning worship we have 55 children in the congregations. Our average age is probably in the low 40s, but we do have a strong population that are near retirement or retirement age also, so we have a decent distribution. I would say our weakest in numbers is probably middle age, 40s and 50s. Thank you.

Speaker 2: 6:04

John Jared, how about your church Acacia?

Speaker 1: 6:07

Yeah, so we just recently particularized we are located in Manassas, virginia, which is on the other side of Dan, on the Virginia side, and so there's a giant beltway. They call it the Capitol Beltway. It's 495. And so we're on the other side on 66 West, our average age. It's kind of interesting because I hear you guys have some older folks. We have probably 30s to 50s. That's kind of our prime range. We do have one guy that just became a member. He's 100 years old, which was really cool. God's been really merciful and that was cool to watch and be a part of. It's a pretty suburban area. I would say Manassas and be a part of. It's a pretty suburban area. I would say Manassas, virginia is pretty sprawled out. It's a little bit further west of DC, so we don't have a lot we rent. We were in a movie theater but now we're in a community college, so we don't have a building, which gives us some versatility in certain ways but not in others. So that's us in a nutshell.

Speaker 2: 7:02

So brothers, as you think back to those years when you were serving as the only deacon and Dan, that's current for you today what do you think were some of the biggest challenges that you faced as a lone deacon? You want to start, john.

Speaker 3: 7:19

Well, in the beginning was why is there only one of me? Well, in the beginning was why is there only one of me? Because I started with probably seven other men, however many years ago it was about 14, 16 years ago but, analyzing it, it was more just some moving away, retirement, passing away. There wasn't a solid reason why we had come down. The session had tried to encourage some men to train over the years and when the few that were willing to do that wound up deciding against being a regular deacon. So I would say the biggest thing was well, this is a lot different than what I had signed up for, lot different than what I had signed up for.

Speaker 3: 8:10

And I realized that how am I going to do everything that we've done before? And I came to realize, well, I can't do everything that I didn't before. So as a deacon, we can't do everything that we did before. And so how I deal with it? I lower my expectations a little bit. But one of the things I really think is important is for the deacons to at least have some one-to-one private conversation with each member. So we have a feel, we have a pulse of the congregation as individuals and I realize, well, there's no way that's going to happen, at least for the time being. So I pretty much concentrated more on trying to look for obvious opportunities of members that might have needs. Often it seemed to concentrate on a single man, but it wasn't always that there were, you know, some women with needs.

Speaker 2: 9:03

Thank you, dan. I guess in a sense I'm assuming that you've always been the old knee deacon, or was there a time when you had other deacons there?

Speaker 4: 9:11

In the history of the church. We're 25 years plus old. There's been two deacons. One was promoted, elevated to be an elder.

Speaker 2: 9:20

Oh, I like to say demoted, he was demoted, he was demoted, so he's demoted.

Speaker 4: 9:23

Amen, he's demoted, so he's demoted.

Speaker 4: 9:25

Amen Some 10 years ago he was elevated to be an elder and so for the past 10 plus years I've been the sole deacon. We have a small pool of people in our church so we can't really draw. He's got 100-something people so he's able to have a big pool of people that might be willing and fit the biblical model for being a deacon. Our congregation is not comprised that way, so it's really myself that's been there and looks like it's going to continue to be that way for some time. Pastor does try and encourage some of the men in the church to become deacons, but they don't feel that there's calling as it is right now. The one thing about being a smaller congregation affords me the opportunity to have more one-on-ones with people. I know everybody by name. I know their pet's names, all those types of intimate details, I know the financial status of some of them when they're in need, et cetera, et cetera. So that's made it a little bit easier for me and I'm also able to just draw from the elder that was elevated.

Speaker 2: 10:24

He serves as an informal deacon and the two of us have regular recurring meetings on matters pertaining to the church. So you've, in a sense, the way you've compensated is with this elder serving, in a sense, a second deacon.

Speaker 4: 10:31

Yeah, and then we also have committees like the building maintenance committee. As the deacon, I'm the head of that. That. I have a lot of men that are part of that actually utilize their talents to help get things done around the church. And then we have my wife, who's like a I guess we call it a soul deaconess or whatever you want to call her. She's a big helpmate when it comes to things like making sure that people who have food needs, et cetera, et cetera, have those needs met?

Speaker 2: 10:57

Wonderful Thank you, jared. So I think you started as a solo deacon, or did you start a different church? Why don't you give us your personal history as the deacon?

Speaker 1: 11:05

Yeah, so I started as a deacon at Sterling OPC 12 years ago I think I lose track of time but I actually had a very, very good diaconal training with the local session there and then the deacons there. I really got the privilege to serve under some older men that had their wits about them, and so for me my experience as a deacon was built off the back of that. I know not everybody gets to experience that, but I'm so grateful because when I got to Acacia I got to work off the backs of those men and that was a blessing for me, because when I came in we had another deacon who became an elder, and so then I became the solo deacon for I think I want to say two years or so, and so I kind of had a model of okay, this is what deaconing looks like. I got to see that from older men through their whole lives. You know one of the deacons that I served with that trained me, one of my mentors, you know he passed a couple years ago and so and he was a deacon up until the day he died, and so it was cool.

Speaker 1: 12:11

I think one of the challenges for me early on in a mission work before particularization was this feeling of kind of overwhelmed and then the temptation to be guilt-driven in a way. Right, and that's not what mercy ministry is. And so that was difficult for me in the beginning, feeling like, oh, I'm not doing enough, I'm not doing enough, I don't have enough bandwidth to get this done. I'm not seeing these people, yada, yada, yada, and realizing those conversations we have in our heads and they're not actually what's reality. You know, God calls us to serve in the capacity, in the intentionality that we can, but we can't do everything. And so getting people to come alongside, I think that's one of the things you know.

Speaker 1: 12:48

Kind of honing in on the first question, you know what is the congregation might not think of. It's the reality that a deacon holds a lot of bandwidth internally and he can only hold so much. And so if you're a solo deacon, encourage other people to serve, because you can't do it alone forever. You may be able to do it for a while, but you can't do it forever. And then you need to let your people know so they can come alongside you because really a deacon and you know you're a cheerleader for their ministry. And so if you're trying to change the light bulbs and you're trying to, you know, unplug the switches and try to put out fire here and there, like you're just going to run yourself into the ground. And I've done that and I learned my lesson I need God's people around me.

Speaker 3: 13:35

That's really great. I have to say that in our church what makes the deacon's job a little bit more mild is that we have trustees that are overseeing the caretaking of the church property itself, so at least that burden is off.

Speaker 4: 13:46

You have trustees. Wow, I'm a trustee too. I don't know that, the trustee yeah.

Speaker 3: 13:50

Well, I'm a trustee also, but I'm not the head trustee. When you're the only deacon, you're the head deacons.

Speaker 2: 13:56

Yeah, A board of trustees, which is in our book of church order right, is a great way of utilizing the gifts of those who may never be qualified to serve as deacons but can carry out a lot of the work, whether they're skilled at construction or maintenance or finances or what have you. A lot of our churches have utilized that. So, brothers, in what situations do you feel that it's essential to have a second set of eyes or ears?

Speaker 4: 14:24

Particularly when it comes to spiritual matter. A lot of times we're counseling folks on financial matters and they'll be thinking more along their own financial lines than God and giving to God. So that becomes more of a spiritual matter and I usually call the elder and pastor and address those when people are refusing to submit to some of the guidance that we provided them for getting their financial house in order. So, particularly when it comes to spiritual matter, I think that's when you definitely have to call in heavy hitters.

Speaker 2: 14:51

Thank you Dan.

Speaker 3: 14:52

I think it's actually easier, in a way, to deal with outsiders because you don't know them. When you're dealing with members, you're typically, and the more you work with them and I shouldn't say work, because we're relating to them as members They've become friends of yours and so realizing, you know, with friendship there's emotions involved, and so the decision making could very easily be less subjective, and so you really need, even for financial decisions, do I want to give this person these funds? Is it too much that I'm trying to give them? I'm trying to relieve them. You know, as a friend, it might not be the best, so it's really helpful to have at least one other person to bounce that off of.

Speaker 2: 15:42

It's really good, john, I had not actually thought about that situation that, yeah, I had not actually thought about that situation that, yeah, when it's just you meeting with them, it's you deciding as opposed to the diaconate deciding something, and when you're by yourself, it's hard for them and you to distinguish between the diaconate and you personally, right, yeah?

Speaker 3: 16:01

That's good, the more I've thought about it. Well, that's why I'm a deacon, because I kind of feel like everybody I minister to is a friend, because that's part of being a deacon is building friendships and relationships.

Speaker 2: 16:16

Jared, what's been your experience where you feel that that second set of eyes or ears is so essential?

Speaker 1: 16:22

Well, I think these brothers have probably kind of hit a lot of the big nails on the head. But I think another thing too is when you're dealing with women, I think it's critical and this comes from you, david, but you know, a lot of times the deacon qualification has to deal with the wife as well, because there's going to be a lot of situations where you need your wife and you need to lean on her, and so sometimes there's confidential things, and so there's been many a times where we've had a situation and it's like, okay, you know, we need a woman to kind of look at this, and so I'll call my wife and she's just been such a good gauge of relating to her and kind of little deaconing her. So any sort of situation that requires a little bit more vulnerability with the opposite sex, I think it's a requirement really that your wife be engaged, or another deacon's wife be engaged, or an elder's wife, you know somebody. Well, I think you get the point.

Speaker 2: 17:11

Yeah, good, that's good. How have you, other brothers, dealt with situations where, yeah, you're ministering to a single woman or that has needs and you're a solo deacon? How have you addressed that?

Speaker 4: 17:24

Same matter what he just articulated. Leverage your wife, leverage the elder's wives, the pastor's wife, and that would be critical.

Speaker 2: 17:33

Good. Are there other situations that come to mind where any of you feel that it's essential to have that second set of eyes or ears?

Speaker 1: 17:41

You know one thing Christian men ought to have their wits about them. And so sometimes there's maybe a spidey sense, right, like something comes through, like maybe it's a weird email or maybe it's something with inside your church with one of the members, and it just doesn't sit right with your subconscious or something like that. Right, I know everybody's had that and you're like, wait a minute, subconsciously like this sounds maybe right, maybe some, maybe not. And I think that's too where I think that's your conscience saying like, hey, man, you need to discuss this because with the multitude of counselors, there's wisdom, right, and so you need to rely on the men around you, and if you don't have other deacons, then it's got to be your elders. That was a real blessing for me through this transitionary period while I was the solo deacon. It's really just. I mean, the relationships that I developed with my elders was awesome. I got to work way more closely with them.

Speaker 2: 18:37

You guys talked about the burden of the workload as being a single deacon. What did you learn as some workarounds to addressing that? You mentioned the trustees. That's one avenue, but were there other avenues of workarounds just to spread the load a little bit?

Speaker 4: 18:55

Yes, we have the committees that I mentioned. We have committees that we've stood up. I just leveraged the talents from the various committees to get things done. I have a building and maintenance committee. We have mercy ministry committees. I rely heavily upon those committees and the people that comprise those committees to get things done. That's a workaround for me.

Speaker 2: 19:14

Yeah, can you describe a little bit more about this mercy ministry committee that you have? What is the nature of what they do and who would be on that committee? Does it involve men and women?

Speaker 4: 19:26

It involves men and women. We have the food pantry that we, as I indicate, we, minister to the community on a monthly basis. The committee it's an informal committee, but it's a committee nonetheless. It's comprised of men and women of the church and they actually meet on a monthly basis and provide food, the physical food, but then, more importantly, as our pastor indicates more so, the spiritual food. And then we have the building maintenance committee, which is responsible for keeping the property in good order and appearance. Then we also have an English class as well. So that's my workaround. My workaround has really been just to have these subcommittees. I don't have, as I said, I don't have another deacon I can rely on, but thankfully it's small, but the people are willing to participate in the life of the church through these various committees.

Speaker 2: 20:12

Good, good, john, you went from seven deacons to one deacon.

Speaker 3: 20:16

You know it was gradual. Maybe it would have crossed seven years or whatever.

Speaker 2: 20:21

But I mean, but talk about like when you were feeling overloaded and you felt like I can't do it all and you had to reduce. What you could do that was one workaround was to reduce, but were there other things that you implemented?

Speaker 3: 20:33

Yeah, I would say there's, and still it's true today. But we do have a committee which I'll talk about. It's called Be Kind One to Another. It was started many, many years ago at her church and is still is active today, but before it. So, don't forget, I think that committee has worked out.

Speaker 3: 20:55

You know, it depends on who's on the committee, it depends what year it is, what they're actually doing, but it seems like we often and part of that's the deacons, part of that's the session two at times it seems like we form teams of people to meet individuals' needs, like we used to have a blind woman who was a member and we realized you know, my wife and I worked with her on some things.

Speaker 3: 21:22

There is an elder who was a deacon in the past and he spent time with her, his wife, there was a bunch of different people that helped in different ways, and so, as a deacon and this was the time where I was the only deacon, I think twice I pulled together all the people I knew that were helping, at least the main people that were helping, so that we could just get together and be on the same page as how we're trying to help her. What needs to be done. There was another case where we were concerned about some guys in the church who just the financial situation, and so the session appointed two of them Sal, along with me as the deacon to discuss that together and work with the men. So, yeah, there's work together with other ordained leaders, but also this committee, the be kind to one another, is not ordained officers, although it is under the auspices of the deacons and it's been comprised mainly of wives of deacons and wives of elders, but it's not limited to that. It can be men and women.

Speaker 3: 22:35

Typically, the women are drawn to what they are doing, obviously, we'll have a deacon sit on the meetings occasionally, since it's under our office. It is to meet the physical needs of the membership but also social needs and all Some of the things that they do and, as I said, it kind of varies depending on what year it is and who's involved, what their own interests are, but they've sent out cards to people, significant birthdays or thank yous for a ministry that a person is doing in the church, making phone calls and visits to the shut-ins. Every year they honor high school and college graduates with a gift and just a public announcement of what their plans are, and we have cake together during fellowship time. A lot of this really are things that a deacon wouldn't necessarily have time to do, but it helps to make the meals for their family or births, that, whatever reasons. In a sense the deacons are able to offload that to the women and it's better for them to do that anyway, because it's usually the women that are preparing and cooking the meals. But not necessarily Some people that sign up could be single men who can purchase a meal or whatever.

Speaker 3: 24:09

In the past they had somebody that has been responsible for transportation. Maybe an older person needs transportation to doctor's appointment or whatever. And then these are more special things that they've done is they had a meal or gathering for some of the elderly in our church and had the teens do some entertainment or presentations for them. And again it's another thing that is building unity within the church. We've also had some women in the past that have been interested in organizing special volunteer days at the mission in downtown Wilmington. This committee has had a wide variety of ministries that they've chosen to do and often they choose to kind of fund their own thing. But they know that and we often we will try to make sure that they're given some petty funds, some cash from the deacon's fund, so they can carry out their work uninhibited.

Speaker 2: 25:10

Yeah, it does seem that these unordained committees can be an effective way of sharing the load. And wow, I mean the volume of work that the women do in all our congregations is oftentimes very diaconal in nature and yet seldom do we acknowledge it as diaconal and yet very thankful for the work that they do. That is true. Do you guys think that the rest of the congregation senses the need for more deacons when we have these situations of lone deacons? I mean, is that a burn for them? And if not, what are ways that we could help the congregation grow in its desire to raise up more deacons?

Speaker 3: 25:48

I can't say for sure that they're aware. There are some, you know. Those that I've communicated with you know that, yeah, I could use a few more deacons here and spread the load. So they are aware and they're praying for more. And we do have two more deacons in training that have been approved. We just we need them elected in a couple weeks.

Speaker 3: 26:09

But I think, as you mentioned in the beginning, it needs to be emphasized more, perhaps from the pulpit or on diaconal announcements, just reminding the church of the biblical mandate to have a multiplicity of deacons. And I've never done this, but especially since I already confessed that. You know, when I was a single deacon I just gave up the whole idea of trying to meet with every person. I am hoping, when we have four deacons that we'll be able to assign the membership and hopefully be able to on a regular basis make contact with each member.

Speaker 3: 26:48

But I think just asking the congregation if they've talked with a deacon one-on-one over the last year, if they haven't, then we're probably not doing the work that we should be doing. And I know in our church I probably I might be surprised, but I would venture that at least half would say no, I guess they haven't.

Speaker 1: 27:12

Yeah, I'll take a swing at that. Is the congregation going to be aware all the time of a particular need? Maybe, maybe not. I think some of that depends on, you know, if it's their need, obviously they're going to know if they're in that circle.

Speaker 1: 27:26

One of the things that I love about Acacia is that there's a real sense of community together, and I think some of that probably stemmed from Sterling and it probably stemmed from the pastor from Sterling who was a missionary in Uganda, and so he brought a lot of love and a lot of transparency and a lot of vulnerability and that kind of coursed in and that continuity carried over to Acacia. And so one of the things that I love about particularly the men is when we come to church we hug each other and we tell each other that we love each other because we're family, and I think that's critical, because what that does is that becomes, you know, like, oh, we don't just go to church together on Sunday. It becomes like OK, well, we're having dinner on Tuesday night. Like we open our doors right, like come on in, man, we're not over here, at least these clean, nice people on Sunday morning, and then our doors are shut during the week, like we're in each other's homes, we're having dinner, and so what that does is that creates more and more situational awareness, right For everybody. And that doesn't mean like I don't have dinner with everybody, everybody doesn't have dinner with me, but it creates more of that Like, okay, we're more comfortable around each other, and the more comfortable are you around with people, the better you get to know them, the easier it becomes, the more they're going to tell you about their life, right, like in a large way, like, if you think about I've been married going on 11 years, right, and it's like I know way more about my wife now than I did 10 years ago.

Speaker 1: 28:50

But that took time. And so I think, as a deacon, investing and kind of putting yourself in a vulnerable situation, sometimes you've got to do that and you've got to take that risk because, at the end of the day, god hasn't given you a spirit of fear, but it's power and of love and of self-control. And so part of mercy ministry is this vulnerability, to say like I need Christ, I need the gospel, and God's grace is not just spiritual but it's tangible. We get to live that out in our communities together, right? So for us the situational awareness becomes really relevant, because it's not a task anymore. It's hey, we're just doing this, and then, neuropathically, our brain starts to change that way as well, like we're just geared to do it, you know.

Speaker 3: 29:31

That's one thing that I appreciate, and certainly it's made my job easier, my ministry easier, when I was the only deacon is the relationship with people at church. Well, I find out later. Oh yeah, this needs being met, and well, by a friend, because of friends.

Speaker 1: 29:49

And that's awesome, right. Then you don't feel like the burden is like completely on you all the time. You're like, oh, this didn't happen, I'm a failure or whatever. You don't have to believe those kind of lies anymore, because you know people start doing what they're in. You know courage is contagious.

Speaker 3: 30:05

But it is easy to fall into. That was one of the things I was considering.

Speaker 3: 30:09

Sharing when I'm being a solo deacon is doubting yourself you know and it's easy to fall into, and yet it's something we have to give over to the Lord and say, no, I can do this, and God's called me to this diaconate, to this church, these people. This time, he is a reason for it, this is my calling, and you just have to trust that all that you're doing, the person that you are, is what's necessary for the moment. Obviously, you're relying on other people as well, but I'm just saying that it's a careful walk with the Lord.

Speaker 2: 30:46

Yeah, yeah, certainly the Lord is the one who will raise up the workers and the officers in his church. And yet it's also good for us to encourage. The Bible talks about aspiring to office a biblical thing. It's a good thing to desire to serve the body and I'm guessing, daniel, in your church is a congregation that is a smaller congregation and an aging congregation, but you've been serving as a solo deacon for a decade and I'm guessing that there were those who you might have had a sense that could have been good deacons, but they just maybe just felt like they couldn't fit in their lives or maybe had a lower view of themselves, maybe thought you were doing a great job.

Speaker 4: 31:26

All of the above.

Speaker 2: 31:27

All of the above Okay.

Speaker 4: 31:29

Yeah, yeah. Not many have actually wanted to be deacons. No one's ever raised their hand and said I want to be. I like what you guys are doing. I want to be a deacon, or I looked at what the Bible says about being a deacon. I think I fit that description and I want to serve in that capacity.

Speaker 4: 31:42

Just doesn't happen. I don't get the sense that our congregation feels a need for more deacons because they see things that are getting done and that's by God's grace and he deserves all the glory for that. They see things getting done, spiritual matters being addressed, building matters being addressed. Then they feel that, oh, it's a well-oiled machine. So we don't sense a need for more. In theory, as you said, the Bible says we should have more, just for that mere fact alone. But unfortunately we have not had that happen. But we have. I said we have a solution for that, which would be the committees and the board of trustees that we have as well. So unless things start going in opposite direction, then they might sense a need for it. But as long as all these matters are being addressed, then they're never going to sense really the need for it.

Speaker 2: 32:28

So, brothers, as we kind of bring this conversation a little bit to a close, is there specific advice that you would give to a solo deacon? Maybe you know one or two things that you'd say, maybe when not to go alone, you know caution them or encourage them with how to avoid burnout, that type of thing.

Speaker 4: 32:42

Biblical model says basically there's been many counselors. You can find them right within your own congregation and leverage them, take full advantage of them. Spiritual matters, any matter, but you don't have to feel the need to go along. You have a lot of people there with spiritual maturity and wisdom to help you to perform your duties as a deacon to the glory of God.

Speaker 2: 33:01

That's a good word. Thank you, Dan.

Speaker 1: 33:03

Jared thoughts. Well, I think there's seasons of life where you may feel burnout being a solo deacon, and you have to realize that you're not alone, even if that's the way you feel in a particular moment. When to not go alone, Well, I think you know the example that we gave before probably fit there, but yeah, I'm not sure. I guess the answer for me would be never. We're Presbyterians and we're Christians first, and we're marked by accountability and submission to one another, and so I think there's a lot of peace when we submit to one another in love. And one of the things that was kind of on my heart was Philippians 3, 13 through 15.

Speaker 1: 33:40

It says Brothers. I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and straying forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal, the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that to you also. There's times where it's strainingful to be a deacon, spiritually and physically in some cases and emotionally in some cases. But the reality is that our identity is in Christ and that's where we start, and so we have good days and we have bad days, right, but we always have to remember who we belong to and who gave us this office, you know, and we must decrease and he must increase. That's what we want people to see. We want people to see more Christ than less of us. That's good, Thank you.

Speaker 3: 34:24

So obviously this has been covered. But you need to trust in the Lord and that's more than a daily exercise in continuing to. You know I talked about. You know doubting yourself and all or being overwhelmed by the needs. It's basic. You know what a solo deacon, his main need is, what all believers' main needs is is to entrust his burdens to the Lord, allow God to guide us and empower us, and then to realize one deacon can't do everything. And if it's great I've been encouraged by Daniel's testimony there with your church, with the committees, it sounds like you're doing so much way beyond the work of having one deacon because of your reliance on the body.

Speaker 2: 35:10

Well, that's great. We didn't have time to talk too much about the Presbyterian Diaconal Committee. I'd encourage you lone deacons out there to be aware of the existence of your Presbyterian Diaconal Committees and the ways that they can help you and augment your work. Maybe they can provide you with a loner deacon, somebody who you can bounce ideas off of. We do have the deacon check-in program that you can plug into that you'll find out on our website and that would be a way for you to develop a relationship with another deacon who can be a part of that network of counselors who you can involve in difficult things as well. So those are just some other ideas on how to use that.

Speaker 2: 35:49

Brothers, good to be with you. Thank you for joining me on the Reformed Deacon Podcast. So good to be with you, Daniel. This is, I think, your first appearance, but hopefully it won't be your last. We're looking forward to seeing you again. Jared and John are veterans now on the Deacon Podcast, but look forward to our time together again in the future, and I'd like to thank all you in the audience for joining us today. We hope this has been an insightful discussion with useful takeaways to encourage solo deacons. If you are a solo deacon, be sure to use the resources on the OPC Committee on Diagnostic Ministries website, opccdmorg. God bless, Thanks for joining us. Go to our website thereformedeaconorg. There you will find all our episodes, program notes and other helpful resources. And please make plans to join us again for another episode of the Reformed Deacon Podcast you.