Announcement
North Hills,
We have, for some time, recognized the need for more deacons at North Hills, and have had discussions on how and when to appoint more. This past Sunday (August 28, 2022) we heard Jon preach through Acts 6 and the appointing of the first deacons. Out of that sermon we have determined the process we will have in order to choose more deacons to serve North Hills. The process will be as follows:
- Between August 28 and September 11, 2022, any North Hills Member may submit a name to the elders for consideration. This can be done by simply sending one of the elders a text, email, or phone call. (see below for the link to elder’s contact info)
- The elders will take that list of names, and meet with the deacon candidates to evaluate them compared to biblical qualifications (1 Timothy 3:8-13) and to see if they desire to serve the church in this capacity.
- Lastly, the vetted list of deacon candidates will be made available to North Hills on Sunday morning September 25, 2022, and will be voted on with discussion at the Members’ Meeting that evening at 5:00 pm.
Here’s the elders’ contact info if you may have any questions.
We have in the past, at North Hills, had deacons assigned to specific tasks, but at this moment we are having a shift in methodology. Deacons will work together, as a deacon body, to serve in the following areas:
- Deacons will be tasked with care for the sick & bereaved, as well as, general needs and benevolence needs. This care would include making the elders/church aware of prayer needs amongst the congregation, organizing any meals needed (due to sickness, babies, funerals, etc…), visits and communication with those with needs, being the lead in meeting benevolence needs as they arise, and generally communicating with the elders and church on how the congregation can help in these areas.
- Deacons will be tasked with the care and upkeep of the facilities and ground. This would include proactively identifying and overseeing the remedy of maintenance and safety issues in the church facilities. Deacons will be in communication with staff on these issues to determine the scope of work and who would handle individual tasks. This would also include making sure garbage cans are taken out and brought in regularly or coordinating with staff on this. Other areas of care in this area may include making recommendations for improvements or larger deferred maintenance issues to the church/elders/finance team that would be outside of the current budget.
- Deacons will be tasked with assisting and serving in gatherings of North Hills. These gatherings include but may not be limited to our Sunday morning gathering, members’ meetings, and fellowships. Deacons will coordinate the use of the facilities by being responsible for the opening and closing of the building(s), setup and cleanup, adjusting thermostats, filling the baptistry when needed, overseeing meals when needed, coordinating audio/visual and technology needed, preparing communion, acting as and coordinating greeters (passing out handouts, answering questions for guests, welcoming people, etc…), and in general making sure the church is physically prepared to have whatever gathering is being prepared for.
There could be more tasks added to these as needs arise in our congregation. This is a fairly lengthy task list and no one deacon could be expected to handle all of these. This is just the surface of what the deacon ministry of North Hills could be. We need a group of men willing to serve the church and, as you can see, there is a need for quite a few to fill this office of the church. Please be in prayer for this process and that men that God desires will be appointed to the office of Deacon at North Hills.