Why the Summit Matters

In this episode, host David Nakhla asks seasoned deacons Ray Pellerin from Merrimack Valley OPC in North Andover, Massachusetts and Len Richards from New Life OPC in Williamsport, Pennsylvania to discuss their experience and excitement about the National Diaconal Summits. Each have been to multiple Summits since their inception in 2010. Listen as these men reminisce about their favorite moments as well as some clips of the talks and the singing. 

Referenced in this episode:

NDS Summit Videos

NDS Summit Podcast Audio

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Transcript

Learning Through Lifelong Deacon Bonds

SPEAKER_12 0:00

It's just a great way of learning, so much to learn, and it's so much to be encouraged by, and the relationships that you can establish are lifelong.

What The Summit Is

David Nakhla 0:10

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. My name's uh David Knocklin. I'll be your host today as we talk about the upcoming National Diaconal Summit. We held June 25 to 27 this year in Wheaton, just a few months down the road here. I'm joined today by two senior deacons, Ray Palerin. Ray is a deacon at Merrimack Valley OPC in North Andover, Massachusetts. And we also have Len Richards, the deacon at New Life OPC in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. So Ray and Len, thanks for joining me. You guys have been to several summits. We've done four summits. This will be our fifth. How many summits have you been to, Len?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

I've been to three. I missed the uh the COVID one. I was at the end of a two-year odyssey of 11 surgeries, so I wasn't able to make it.

David Nakhla 1:20

Okay, so you had something to prevent you from being there. But uh three, that's awesome. And Ray, how about you?

SPEAKER_12 1:27

Yeah, I've been to three as well. I believe I missed the first one. What year was the first one? Because I think the first one I went to was 2017.

First-Time Hopes And Unknowns

David Nakhla 1:38

Yeah, the first one was in 2010, and then we had one in 2012, 2017, 2022, and now this next one will be in 26. And we're hoping to have them every four years moving forward. So that's great. Yeah. So thinking back when you were thinking about attending your first, you'd never been before, didn't know what it was. Len, that first one was, you know, nobody had ever heard of a National Diaconal Summit. What were your thoughts? Was it something you were eager to go do or a little bit apprehensive?

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Yeah, I was excited to attend. I'd, you know, the opportunity to gather together with other deacons from all around the country, you know, I was just so excited. I became a deacon in 1999. So I had been a deacon for 11 years. We had a fairly remote congregation in in Hackettstown. I know we were part of a uh a fairly vigorous presbytery, but we were we remained kind of isolated. And finally we had a chance to uh gather together with others who were called according to the same purpose we were, and we had an opportunity to learn from one another, to encourage one another, and to walk along the way together, you know, showing examples of how we can serve more effectively, more efficiently. And I I couldn't wait to get there.

SPEAKER_12 3:08

Cool. How about you, Ray? Yeah, so the first one I went to must have been 2012, because I was a fairly new deacon at the time. And obviously not knowing what to expect, I was encouraged to go by our session. And I always look at things like this as a nice opportunity, at least to see what it's all about. And secondly, who am I gonna meet that I can just get to know better and understand all the different issues that can plague us in various churches and how to minister to those. So I agree with Len. It was very, very good. I was so surprised at how well it was run. Number one, it was just extremely well run. And number two, just the presentations themselves, my fellow deacons I got to meet, it was just uh excellent.

David Nakhla 4:02

So there's a deacon out there who's listening, he's on the fence about registering, not really sure he should say something he should attend. What's he's missing? What would you say to him? You think, Len?

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Yeah, I would tell him to remember the purpose to which he was called. You know, God consecrated him to uh serve as a deacon, to tend to the physical needs of the body of Christ. And it's not a job, it's something that God has prepared you uh to endeavor toward, to glorify him in all that you do. And while you can serve your local congregation well, you can serve your presbytery better, you can serve the denomination better by knowing what all of the others who have been called thusly have experienced along the way. Experience strength and hope that they carry throughout to be able to solve problems that don't normally come up in uh maybe not in your congregation, but somebody in Chicago or Michigan or California is gonna have a solution to your problem, and you're gonna hear about it at one of these uh sessions. And and there's so many different things that you can take advantage of here. There's so much great teaching that occurs. We have multiple main kinds of lectures, but there's always questions and answers at the end of every single thing. Anything you can think of, there'll be a response that you can embrace and utilize in your circumstance and in the circumstances that you haven't experienced yet.

SPEAKER_04 5:50

Right.

SPEAKER_12 5:51

Yeah, David, I would say a couple of things. One is if you're a soul or single deacon in your church and you've never been, then you will be tremendously encouraged. You'll be able to find help, as Len mentioned, from other senior deacons that have been around for a while and have experienced so many different situations, how to handle them, but also not only the encouragement, but you'll you'll get to meet fellow deacons that you can start a relationship and you can continue that relationship. So whenever you come across a situation, especially again as a soul or single deacon in your church, you can just pick up the phone and you can call another deacon and bounce it off of them, right? So you have that. And then the other ones, someone who's still fairly new but has fellow deacons at their church, it's still uh just a great way of learning. There's a so much to learn, and there's so much to be encouraged by. And the relationships that you can establish are lifelong.

Why Videos Cannot Replace Presence

David Nakhla 6:55

Yeah, that's great. So it's a great segue into this next objection that is says, you know, guys, it's great, but it's gonna require me to take two days off of work, time away from family and church. They're gonna be recording this stuff. I'll just watch the videos afterwards. That'll suffice, right?

SPEAKER_12 7:13

Nope. Not if you want to get more out of it, that's for sure. Why not? Help me out here. Well, it's the experience. Let's look at this analogy. You could watch TV and see all the pictures you want about the Grand Canyon, but it'll never come close to being there in person and see the majesty of it. And I think that's the closest thing that I can relate as far as, you know, you in your mind, meeting people face to face, having those discussions face to face is nothing like just watching it on a video. Wow. What do you think, Glenn?

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Personal interaction. You can't capture that in a video. You just can't.

SPEAKER_04 7:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

You don't have the direct responses to your queries. You don't have that arm around the shoulder that you're going to get in these rooms. It's just, it's so important to understand that it's not just your congregation that has deacons.

David Nakhla 8:09

Yeah, good. If I can add to that, I've oftentimes thought about when you go to an event, you step outside of all your other responsibilities. And when you're in person at an event, you are all there. You know what I mean? You watch something on a video, you turn it off, and up, your life is, you know, you're not you're not reflecting on it, you're not marinating in it. But when you go to an event, it's a form of a retreat.

SPEAKER_12 8:32

Yes.

David Nakhla 8:32

Right? Yes. Where you are stepping away from all your normal stuff into a new environment and just marinating in the teaching, in the fellowship, and the networking, and the encouragement. Your mind is fully engaged in it for that period of time, and that's just that's the videos are fine, but you're not getting half of it through the video.

SPEAKER_12 8:56

Yeah. The videos, David, are good for a follow-up. That's right. You want to kind of go back, it's like listening to a sermon a second time, right? On sermon audio or something. You were there, but sometimes you just you you're not gonna get everything. And the other thing, as a deacon, how would it be if you were trying to meet with a fellow member of your church and you decided just to do it over the phone instead of a face-to-face meeting, right? You wouldn't do that unless there was some unseen circumstance, but you typically would not do that because it wouldn't be nearly as effective.

Why Go Again After Before

David Nakhla 9:34

That's right. Presence. So important. So, okay, well, there's another deacon out there who's listening. He says, That's great, guys, but I've been before. I've gone to the summit, been there, done that. You know, why do I need to go this time again?

SPEAKER_01 9:48

The opportunities that we have, no matter how long we're a deacon, we haven't encountered every circumstance that we're going to. There are so many different elements of church life that need us to become a part of the solution. And without knowing uh how others have handled these circumstances, you know, it's kind of like, you know, we're we're in a three-legged race, but one of the legs is missing and we're constantly just going in a circle. And it doesn't work that way. It doesn't work. We have this opportunity. There's so many men that have unimaginable experience in the things that are waiting at our doorstep. And I want to be able to access them. I want to have opportunities to have their names in my phone. David, I've called you countless times over the course of our relationship just to say hi, just to hear the sound of your voice, just to, you know, congratulate you on one of your kids graduating. These are things that we have because of the Deacon Summit. And without that, you know, we can still be very effective conduits for God in whatever circumstance He places us. But sometimes we're limited in how we can respond because we lack experience.

David Nakhla 11:15

Yeah. I like to joke with deacons that you got to fly to Chicago to meet the deacons 20 miles down the road, right? Has that been true for you guys? You're like, hey, you know, I had to come all the way here to meet you. You guys live just a short ways away.

New Speaker Lineup And Topics

SPEAKER_12 11:29

I would say also to that point is repetition is just so important. How often do we read our Bibles and you're gonna read the same passage, you're gonna read the same chapter, the same book, how many times? And every time you do it, you see something new. You see it, there's a refreshment that the Holy Spirit's given us to say, Ben, I never noticed that before. And I've read it a hundred times, right? Yeah. And it's that repetition, it's that follow-up, and and as Len mentioned, it's that camaraderie. You can't get enough of it. And as you mentioned earlier, too, David, it's it's a break, right? You're taking a break from your regular routine. And as we approach every Lord's Sabbath, that Sabbath day, like God tells us, the sixth days you shall lay, but the seventh day is it's dedicated to the Lord. And it's one way of resting from our normal labors, but resting in Christ, right, for what He's done for us. This is kind of like expanding on that. Because it gives you multiple days. And I believe Len mentioned it earlier too. We've been called, and I wasn't initially when I became a deacon, I wasn't looking to become a deacon. Our session basically asked me if I was interested, and we were going to an officer's training at the time, and the only reason I was going to officers training because I wanted to learn more about what God's Word says as far as officers. You know, there was a calling, they asked me to do it, and I said, you know, here I am, I'm willing to serve. And Len mentioned it earlier too. We're here to serve, we've been called to serve, and it's a privilege, and it's a blessing to do that, and to do it with fellow deacons and to learn from them and them, to learn from us, it's just an added blessing.

David Nakhla 13:22

So, also related to those who've been before, we have a whole new lineup of speakers. So we don't do a repeat. Each summit has been different. Of course, the principles and the basics haven't changed, but we're gonna have this year, we're gonna have Danny Ollinger talking about the history of diaconal ministry in the OPC. I'm I'm so eager to hear that talk. It's gonna be wonderful. Eric Watkins can be talking about diaconal evangelism.

SPEAKER_12 13:49

Yeah, because he's an evangelist now, right?

David Nakhla 13:51

Yeah. Matt Butler, church safety. That'll be new. And then I'm just touching on just a few here. Tim Hopper, fitting service into a busy life. You think you could learn something from that, right? And what deacon isn't fitting his service into a busy life and to hear from Tim. So that's just a few.

SPEAKER_12 14:08

Yeah, they can be not necessarily life-changing, but definitely life-enhancing the presentations, because they're they're all good. And I'm glad you mentioned it, David, about you know, different speakers, different presentations. A lot of times you can hear the same thing, but if you hear it from a different perspective, a different person, it's like we have the four gospels, right? You put them all together, you get added details on each one, and you see the overall picture much clearer. That's right. When you have different speakers, and I'll never forget uh Dr. David Apple, his presentation.

SPEAKER_11 14:44

Lord, well, if we're able to put this paradigm shift into practice and God changes the mindset, the attitude of the congregation, Morgan will be doing the management of worship. And that will free up the deacons and make personal contact with members.

SPEAKER_12 15:04

Man, so powerful. Just so many others that we've been blessed with over the years and over the last few summits.

SPEAKER_06 15:13

In other words, the community of the saints extends just as much to the outer man and outward things as it does to the inward man and inner spiritual needs. And what our standards are telling us is that we cannot just spiritualize away meeting each other's needs. We think of those widows in Acts 6. One way of saying is that they needed to be loved. They were not being treated with love, they were being passed over, they needed to be loved. And that's why they needed to be fed and clothed and sheltered and remembered.

SPEAKER_08 15:45

But Jesus didn't qualify what kind of neighbors were to love. I was blessed by the sermon last night. All of our neighbors seem to be significant to Christ. All of our neighbors are placed next to us by God and called to love them.

SPEAKER_10 16:01

Deacons in the life of the church are meant to help us remain focused by restoring us to the peace of our Lord so we can enter in the act of worship with all our heart and soul.

SPEAKER_07 16:12

Really and truly, ministry only happens in the context of the local church. True and lasting help comes through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it comes through the working of the local church.

SPEAKER_09 16:27

The evangelistic side of mercy ministry, which in a social justice world, when even the church, people in the church are now often looking outside the church for different paradigms of compassion, mercy, and justice, this is where I say, brothers, this is a great time to be the church. It's a it's an exciting opportunity to be the church.

SPEAKER_12 16:57

And you're on the plane, you're flying home, and just like in the next day, you're just thinking about everything that you've heard and how much of it you actually were able to absorb and how much you actually didn't get a chance to absorb. But it's again, it's an ongoing thing and a good reason to review the videos afterwards.

David Nakhla 17:18

Would you say that the summits helped you have a higher sense of the calling of your office?

SPEAKER_12 17:24

Absolutely. Yeah. And you know, the other aspect too is what size church are you at? I'm in a different situation because we don't have our own church building. So we don't have the same things that other churches that have been established and have their own building, especially like inner city churches. Right. They're probably getting people knocking on their door all the time seeking help, right? And we don't get that. It's very rare that we might get somebody who calls or anything like that. So there's still so much to learn. You can learn from those who've been in the ministry who who have different situations that I'm not accustomed to, but uh handling them is what's key. How do you handle them?

David Nakhla 18:09

Yeah. When you guys think about the summit, and you've been to a few, and you think about going in June, what are some of the top things that you're just really looking forward to? What aspects of the summit do you think are the in your mind?

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Well, I'm going with the other deacons from my church. So we split up and we go to different seminars and different talks, unless there's nothing else scheduled, because we want to be able to recognize ourselves in every situation. Right. So each of us will take time to take notes and reflect on it. And then on our way home, while we're sitting at the airport waiting to go home, you know, we're gonna talk about it. We did that the last time that I went, and it was extraordinary to reflect on that passage of time and the different elements of each presentation. The ones that we shared, plus the ones that we went to individually that we were able to encourage one another with.

SPEAKER_04 19:11

That's great.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

I just think it's such a blessing. Ray, I don't know how many people you're going with, but however many deacons you you have in your church, try to get them all to go.

SPEAKER_12 19:22

Yeah, we have two others that are will be going as well. So good. But to your question, David, is the presentations are I haven't heard of one that was like, eh. They were all good. Every one of them. And then around sitting around the fire pit and the conversations that you can have. Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's just awesome. And even uh, you know, when when the weather's nice, which it has been, we've I think we've been blessed from that standpoint.

David Nakhla 19:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 19:53

You're sitting outside and you're having, you know, grabbing a snack or lunch, right? Uh right on the grass there and uh outside the fellowship hall there, the the dorms, and uh the conversations are just yeah all good.

Workshops, Plenaries, And Registering Early

David Nakhla 20:06

Yeah, yeah. I love the picture of the guys around the fire pit. And those fire pits were added, I think maybe during COVID or whatever. They built those the last time. That was the first time we had those fire pits. Yeah. And that was just so great to just sit around those fire pits, have those conversations. It's the fellowship and the networking. To me, that's the part I really love the most. So we could talk a little bit about maybe someone who hasn't been, and uh Len, you alluded to it. We will have four plenary talks, which is, you know, where everybody is all in the same room. And then we have three workshop sessions. And during each of those three time slots, there will be three simultaneous workshops happening. And so, first come, first serve, the earlier you register, the more choices you have as those workshops fill up, then we pare it down to the remaining options. So, and that's where Len was talking about just they divided and conquered. They each went to a different workshop so that one deacon from his church went to each of the workshops. A fun aspect of that is that when you go home, there's still more you can enjoy. There were six workshops you did not sit in. If you didn't have a friend who sat in them, you'll catch them either on the podcast or on videos. That's a good way to use the videos to catch the ones you couldn't be at, but just to give folks a little sense of the structure of our time there. You know, one of the things that we've in my talk that I gave last time was the benefit of plurality and the fact that that you're not alone and that we serve one church. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is one church, we're one body, and we work together and and we really do try to have our deacons have a sense of that, even in the presbytery, in the denomination. So if somebody is a lone deacon, they're not alone. Can you guys reflect a little bit more on how that manifests itself through the summit?

SPEAKER_01 21:59

Yeah, we have an Opportunity to reconnect with guys that we've met along the way. I've been a deacon for 27 years and I've gone on mission trips, short-term stuff. I've been in workplaces where there were many, many other deacons to work with, and just stunned by the interactions were always seamless. It was as if we'd known one another for our whole lives. We talk about the same things. We're not absorbed with the sports and I like sports and all that, but I'd much rather talk about Jesus than anything else. And, you know, you go there, there's hundreds of other guys that that's all they want to talk about as well. They want to figure out how to glorify God in all contexts of their existence. And here, you know, well, I don't I don't do that. And I get shown new ways that I'm able to uh glorify God. And it's just so uplifting and so encouraging. So it's reconnecting and making new friends along the way. And now it's every four years, so we really gotta we really have to grab on to guys and get phone numbers. The emphasis on that perpetual communication between brothers is really important.

SPEAKER_12 23:18

Yeah, I would add to that. You know, in our calling, God has given us gifts. I think we have an extra measure of caring, compassion, mercy, and we all have that in unity, right? As deacons. So it's that commonality of being able to have those discussions because we care. We care about our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And it's just it's just amazing. And when the church is thriving and the messages are preached truthfully and faithfully, it just grows and grows the aspect of the love of Christ and it expands through the congregation. And I know personally as a deacon in my church, and and we just we see this played out in the church. And part of being a deacon is to kind of help to manage that and and use it to the benefit of the others. You know, in other words, so if the deacons aren't called to do everything themselves, right? But we're called also to help lead and encourage others to be a blessing and encourage to others. So it continues to expand. And I think part of the summit and the relationships that we can gain and the the knowledge that we can gain is just only adds to that tremendously.

David Nakhla 24:47

You guys are both senior deacons with lots of years' experience in life and as deacons. Talk to those older deacons, more seasoned deacons. Is there benefit and responsibility, maybe even that they might have to new deacons, to new deacons in training? Can you interact with that a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 25:03

Yeah, I think we have the privilege. Ray mentioned, you know, our service as a privilege, and it is. As seniors, we have the privilege to walk alongside the youngers. And, you know, specifically as it relates to supporting one another, I think that was a uh a line from the notes that you sent along. I thought that was really an important element of our responsibility as we're advancing along the way together. We have experienced different circumstances that that they have yet to experience, and they look to us for help and guidance through them. You know, I I don't want to claim any specific wisdom, but you know, you do something uh over and over again, you you get wise about certain circumstances. So, you know, it it's not me, but it's it's the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in me that allows me to have that rote response. It's muscle memory to quote a sporting analogy. I know what to do in certain circumstances. And, you know, like if we're helping people through difficult situations, situations that we've been through dozens of times, and you know, I'm not saying that every case is exactly the same, but oftentimes the solutions are remarkably similar.

SPEAKER_12 26:34

Yeah, I would add uh to that too, Lynn, is our perspective, right? Not only are we been in deacons for a while, we have more life experience because we're older. And we all come from a different perspective.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

Yeah, we have an extension of the Achinal Brotherhood, and we're gonna see that in play at this summit. We're gonna meet people that have as many years or more than we have. I see one of the guys is that brother who's been a deacon for 500 years. Bob, but you know, he has been very helpful to me over the course of my relationship with him.

Takeaways That Reshape Diaconal Work

David Nakhla 27:18

Yep. Yep. Bob Keyes is going to be one of our plenary speakers, Deacon Bob Keyes, with more than four decades of service in the church. So one of our deacon of deacons. So as you reflect back on the teaching you received, is there anything in your mind that still comes to your mind, key takeaways that you picked up from a speaker or even a particular statement that was very impactful to you?

SPEAKER_01 27:45

I remember being in a breakout meeting with Bob Keys, and he was talking about solutions to uh circumstances, disaster circumstances, and up to hearing him talk about cultural responses ahead of spiritual responses because they have greater access to resources. And I've been at some major disasters, you know. But he said you need to take advantage of what culture has made available. They're not just for unbelievers. When he said that, they're not just for unbelievers, that changed the way I looked at everything because I always wanted to look at spiritual responses and God's people supporting solutions. That was early on, it was either 2010 or 2012. And just sitting there, I immediately put my hand up because you know I questioned that. I questioned, but he was uh gentle and kind in leading me through this morass that I was wallowing in. He didn't even break my legs when he pulled me out.

SPEAKER_12 28:53

So you were there's just been so many good, and I love the breakout sessions. And the last summit there was a presentation by Pastor Steve Tracy, and it was focused on disabilities in the church.

SPEAKER_13 29:12

Maybe, you know, you see someone arriving and you're and you're wondering, well, we just don't have the resources. Sometimes churches say to have a disability ministry in the next Baptist church down the road, you would be much better served going there just because we don't think we have the resources or we don't know how much time this is going to take. Is this family going to start draining the diaconate of all its money, of all its energy, and of all its time? And then sometimes there are other things that we add that are just not appropriate. Well, you know, we're not really going to make any adaptations for a a family with a child on the autism spectrum because this is the way we've done things for 35 years. It did no harm to our parents, and they raised children, and we'll all be fine. No, we can't really make any adjustments to the way we do things here. We've always done it this way.

SPEAKER_12 30:05

Even though we don't have that type of situation in our own church, it was eye-opening because if it did present itself, I have something I could fall back on. And I could also seek his support and advice if we needed to. It's a new perspective on something that may happen and can happen at any time, at any place, at any church.

SPEAKER_04 30:29

That's right.

SPEAKER_12 30:29

So it's good to have that overall knowledge being translated to us.

David Nakhla 30:37

When we were preparing to record, you mentioned something Bill Shishko said. You want to share that?

SPEAKER_12 30:42

Yeah. So in the last summit, Bill Shishko had a presentation, and the first thing he said when he opened was Please do not use the expression, I'm only or I'm just a deacon.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

Hopefully that will be knocked out of you if you've used it in the past. But I say that not only because there are demands and pressures that a minister faces that deacons don't face. But the other is this: after 35 years pastoring in Franklin Square, and almost for my first year there working on reforming a diaconate that was really not existent, I just came to revel in the work, the the variety of the work, the excitement of the work that deacons do. And so I'm right there with you, brothers, as a minister. I love and esteem the work of the deaconate, and I'm hoping that I can bring some of that love and excitement to you this evening.

SPEAKER_12 31:42

And that kind of hit me, made me chuckle, because sometimes we can catch ourselves saying, ah, I'm just a deacon, I'm just trying to help. You know, it's like, but we can be so much more than that. And that's our calling, right? God called us specifically. So it was a phenomenal presentation, and I did get to spend some really good quality time with him during that weekend.

The Singing And The Final Invitation

David Nakhla 32:02

Okay, let's try to bring the plane in for a landing here, but there's one aspect of the summit that we've not really talked about. Well, besides the cool t-shirts that were given out the last summit. I mean, we can't forget about those, but we'll just set that aside. How about the singing?

SPEAKER_01 32:34

I'm not sure that any non-attendees have ever experienced what it's like to sing with hundreds of men, each singing in their own parts. And it's just a glorious crescendo that lifts us all, according to the way God has called us to proclaim his holiness through song. It's just it's just the best part of the days. It's the singing by the man at night.

SPEAKER_12 33:36

The singing and the men's voices together and the harmony is like I'm not a great singer, but I love to sing. But you're in an auditorium or lecture hall, and you have a couple hundred men plus singing to the Lord, praising the Lord. It's just I get sometimes I just get choked up because it's just it's so good.

David Nakhla 33:58

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, me too. The combination of the acoustics of Barrows Auditorium with 200 men who love the church and love their Lord and are fully engaged in talking about their ministry, that combination coming together to to bring together some of the most beautiful singing. I'm at General Assembly every year. It tops General Assembly singing. Not only the acoustics better, but you got more men, and it's just it really is a wonderful aspect.

SPEAKER_12 34:27

So you remember the one time, David? It was at the same time as the General Assembly in the same place. So we had everybody, and that was phenomenal. Yeah, that was the ultimate. Yeah. That was like wow.

David Nakhla 34:40

So, listeners, it's hard to put into words what the summit's like. You can look over the schedule full of speakers, meal, fellowship times. You can even see some of the videos from past summits, but it's just not the same. You've got to come, you've got to be there, you've got to experience it in person. If you're listening today and you're still on the fence about coming, we hope you've heard enough to register today. April 15 is the deadline for early bird registration. The earlier you register, the more choices you'll have for the workshops. And the early bird registration waives all fees. There will be a$25 fee, which is still nothing compared to how much is being invested in you at the summit. So hopefully you've heard enough to convey that this will be well worth your time. You don't want to wait another four years for the next one. Be in Wheaton on June 25th to join with so many other like-minded brothers, band of brothers, learning from one another, benefiting from encouraging one another, and fellowshipping together in their like-minded labors. Thank you, Len and Ray, for joining me today to encourage deacons to make plans for attending the summit.

SPEAKER_12 35:58

Thanks, David. Thanks, Ray. Yeah, you're welcome, David.

David Nakhla 36:01

You can register, find out more at opccdm.org slash nds dash registration. That's opccdm.org slash registration. Google National Diaconal Summit, you'll find it and look forward to seeing you there. Special word of thanks to our producer, Trish Dugan, who works faithfully behind the scenes to bring this podcast to you. Be sure to visit our website, thereformdeacon.org, where you'll find all of our episodes, program notes, and other helpful resources. And we hope you'll join us again soon for another episode of the Reformed Deacon Podcast.