#50: More People, More Problems, Meet The Deacons

This week on Beyond the Pulpit we revisit why we paused deacons, build a clear biblical case for the office, and explain how character-qualified servants protect preaching, solve real problems, and strengthen unity. We outline our pathway, address women as deacons, and preview the first roles we’re commissioning.

• two biblical offices, distinct roles
• history of pausing deacons for clarity
• definition of deacons as servant leaders
• qualifications from 1 Timothy 3
• Acts 6 as a prototype for word and service
• case for women serving as deacons
• why deacons prevent distraction from preaching
• character testing and church affirmation
• five-step pathway to commissioning
• first assignments in men’s and women’s Bible studies
• partnership between elders and deacons
• upcoming midweek ministries and start dates

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Transcript

Welcome And Why Talk Deacons

SPEAKER_03 0:03

Welcome to Beyond the Pulpit, exploring the life and ministry of Walnut Creek Church downtown. Walnut Creek Church exists to glorify God by making authentic disciples of Jesus Christ who love and worship him in all they do. Well, all right, welcome to Beyond the Pulpit. My name is Derek Wadley, and I'm joined by Luke Cookie. Good morning, everyone. And Dan Root. What's up, everybody? And uh we at our recent member meeting, uh, we talked about deacons. Specifically, we put before the church uh two candidates to become deacons over men's and women's Bible studies, Craig and Melanie Albers. And after the meeting, there's been a number of questions that that we've been asked. And so we thought it would be good to do a little bit of a refresher about deacons. Deacons, who are they? And so uh we have five questions we want to ask and answer in an attempt to refresh. Here we go. So question number one Why don't we have deacons currently?

SPEAKER_01 1:03

That's a good question.

SPEAKER_03 1:04

That's a fair question.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Yeah, so that was one of the questions someone asked me. They said, You guys are pretty uh biblical, but you don't have deacons, so what's up with that?

SPEAKER_00 1:11

So well, we have there's hidden in a way. They're in hiding.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Yeah, deacons are in hiding. No, um, so uh a little history lesson. We used to have deacons uh many years ago. And what what happened was that over the course of time as the church grew and we had different locations, uh, we started to have conversations about deacons. What are we doing with deacons? Who who's gonna lead the deacons? What what what are the roles of the deacons? Why do we have them? And we realized, oh my, uh, we don't have a very uh good theology of of deacons. We and it wasn't uh that we really disagreed with each other as pastors, it was more like we did not have a common understanding. So we worked through it and we said other than they were servants.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

They were servants, they were servants, because that's what the word means. But uh the first people you called when things went sideways.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Yes, yes, and we had a lot of them. I think we had like 40.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Between all the locations, all the locations. We had 40.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

And our determination was that deacons were not functioning like deacons in the life of the church, and that is not uh uh a a rebuke to our deacons at that time at all. It was one hundred being thrown in the 100%, one hundred percent Luke's fault.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

As one of those law standing deacons prior to this, I take the full responsibility. The full weight of Luke's responsibility. Take full responsibility.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

No, it was 100% the responsibility of the pastors. It was our fault. And so we said we're fault.

SPEAKER_03 2:46

There's no way out of this look.

What A Deacon Is Biblically

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Um, we thought the best thing to do, the best way to be good to our deacons and to lead the church was to take a break from deacons and to reset. And so we had conversations with deacons, and we said, uh you're not disqualified from being a deacon, but you're not. You're a deacon. But you're not a deacon anymore. And um and again, uh most of the deacon conversations we had, people were like, obviously. Yeah, I feel like I'm not a deacon, so so it was a service to our deacons. And um we said the day will come and set the free. Yeah, we set them free. So if you love them, let them go. And so we love them. And we let them go, and we we communicated that to the church, and we said we have our we have work to do, and um and then we were working on it, COVID happened, and there's a whole new world, and and so we and we did we've had building campaigns and planning, you know, Rhode Island, and there's just a lot going on. And and so it was a little bit of a back burner issue, but uh over the last couple of years we said, okay, we have a com we have reached a common understanding among uh the pastors and the locations, and and now it's about how do we implement uh deacons. And so that's how we get to this point. We say the time, 2026, the time is is now. Um we're we're gonna reinstate deacons. Um 26 deacons in 2026. 26 deacons in 2026.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Okay, so we'll just go back to where we were.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

A little history. Question number two. Here we go. What is a deacon? What is a deacon? So uh we have some training material, and we're gonna be working through some of that here. And this is the answer uh to the question what is a deacon? A deacon is a servant leader in the church who models the character of Christ through humble practical service. The word deacon comes from the the Greek term diaconos, meaning servant or minister. Deacons are not primarily decision makers or teachers like elders, but doers, men and women who meet tangible needs, support the ministry of the word, and promote unity within the body. And so when you read the New Testament, you see the word diaconos used a number of times. And uh, sometimes it's just speaking of servants, but other times it's speaking of um people who are in the office of deacon. So the scriptures are relatively clear that there are two offices elders, uh pastors, elders, uh, overseers, bishops, it's the same office in the life of the church. And then the second office is deacons, and they're not the same office, they're different offices uh for the edification, growth, health of the church, and they have different roles. And so pastors, one of the roles of pastors uh is that pastors need to be able teachers. That uh so there's an emphasis where elders uh lean towards the proclamation of God's word, and deacons uh lean towards meeting tangible more tangible practical needs in the life of the church. And so that's our understanding of a deacon.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

What would you think? I would add just that to help point out that there are two offices. You know, first Timothy three uh gives us character qualifications as you're that's what you're referencing. Yes. Uh for the office of elder, and then right after that you see character qual character qualifications for what's called a deacon, which therefore we would say helps establish this is an office of the church. And so Certainly. Yeah. So uh a deacon, as you already said, they're they're more of the doer of uh uh helping meet tangible needs in the church, whereas the elders are primarily uh preaching.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Yep. And the the the character qualification for deacons is high. High. So they're not second-class officers in the life of the church.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Maybe have they worthy of respect.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Worthy above reproach, worthy of respect. I mean, they have a there's a very high standard to serve as deacons in the life of the church.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Well, they they get the thing though that says not drinking a lot of wine. So I was wondering how you know, do how does that work? How do we work with that?

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Yeah, that's a good that's a good question.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Um We're Baptists, so we stay away. We stay away from that. Watch out. Watch out, Duke. Watch out. Please edit that. That makes editing so much harder to learn. Guys, I just wanted to spice things up a little bit. Okay, so here's the bonus question. We have five first podcasts back.

Can Women Serve As Deacons

SPEAKER_01 7:19

We have five questions, but this is a this is a bonus. Can women be deacons? That was one of the questions I got. They said, wait a second. Can women be deacons? And um and we've I feel like we've been pretty clear. We've talked through all this issue. So how do you answer how do you answer that question? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

That's the answer. Uh see a different podcast. Well, I think I think so. There is a there are good brothers and sisters who disagree on this. Um, our position after studying the scriptures is that we land uh on the side of where men and women can serve in the role of deacon, and one of those passages being uh 1 Timothy 3. I think when you look at the way uh Paul writes uh to Timothy here, uh he in verse 8 he starts talking about deak deacons, and he says, likewise should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith, the clear conscience, able to be tested first, uh blameless, they can serve as a deacon. Then he says, verse eleven, it says wives, um, which is interesting. But if you look at this word, uh you'll notice a footnote in most of your translations it says, or the women.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

The women.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Yes. And most um a lot of scholars would understand this is actually talking about women deacons. Women deacons, yes. And so Paul seems to be speaking about deacons in general, then women specifically, then deacons, um, even more specifically, men deacons or husbands of one wife. We also would see that Phoebe seems like she served. Romans 16.1. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

Now there's a that's a big debate.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Big debate. It's a big it's a big debate, and that's that's something that we wrestled through as elders.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

If we read three books, we get four different arguments. Yeah, I know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

But you gotta make a decision. You have to make a decision. And I would say there are good arguments both ways. Yes. Um, but as we've tried to really uh understand what the scriptures say and read the best arguments, it seems like what makes the most sense is women should be deacons. Yes. Yes, sir. Or can be.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Can be, yes. Okay, that's good. Yep. So that's the deacon. They are they are character-qualified servants of the church who sit in the office of deacon, and they they serve and lead and administer uh to support the ministry of the word, the preaching of God's word, and they promote unity within the body, the body of Christ. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Okay, question number three, which is kind of four, but three. Um why does the church need deacons? Because uh some people have asked, you know, they've they've said, you know, the church seems to be functioning pretty well, so why are you gonna mess it up by adding deacons? You know, what's why do you even need deacons?

SPEAKER_02 10:06

Set the bar real high.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Yeah. Yeah. And um that's a it's really good. I already have Bentley. They might make it too. I know make it Bentley.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Double Bentley. That's right. That's good. That's good. Like Michael Todd.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

I don't know if we're ever going to finish this episode. We're gonna let the fluke here about credits. I'm sorry. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Uh uh one resource that we've used, if you're interested, is um the Nine Marks Building Healthy Churches uh series. Uh they have a book on deacons, or it's just called Deacons by Matt Smithhurst.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

Pretty straightforward title.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Yeah, it's a good title. He does a great job. He does an excellent job. He works through a lot of the the different texts, Acts chapter six and first Timothy chapter three, and uh he goes through uh some church history on on deacons. So he he's really helpful. And he says, he says this well, okay. So why do why do we need deacons? Okay, the witness of history is plain. A congregation without biblically functioning deacons is impoverished, but a congregation with them is incalculably rich. And he makes a really good case to proving proving this point that that the church is gonna function best when people who are in the office of deacon are functioning. And um, in our training material, uh, we have four reasons. We're gonna not just read it, read that we're not just gonna read the training material, but in our training material, we have four key reasons why the church needs deacons. Number one, go get it, Duke.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Oh, yeah, that's me. Oh yeah. Number one. Uh God has given uh the church deacons. And so as we uh stated just a moment ago, really, we see that the uh office of deacon is clearly established in the church. First Timothy three. Uh Titus has the uh or first Timothy three has the qualifications for elders, for deacons. Philippians chapter one, Paul recognizes, he says, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and the deacons. Uh and so uh the office of deacon, um, or the deacons are are an office of the church that God has given to us. And one passage that we would we would also point to, I don't know if we can get into this, I think, now I suppose, but is Acts chapter six. And Acts chapter six, one through seven. Um most would recognize this as what's called the kind of the prototype role uh for deacons in the the early church. And so we don't see the exact word used, but we see the uh practical principle and the practical application of it of uh of deacons there. So we want to rec or we want to do what the Bible explicitly uh teaches, and the Bible uh clearly establishes the role of deacons in the church, and so um I think we should have deacons in our church.

unknown 12:54

You know.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Um I uh I think it's or in your material here, you have the uh that we have written down the office of deacon is part of God's design to glorify himself through his church. Yes, yeah, so this is how God has set things up, he set the church up uh to have the office of elder, the office of deacon, and God's design, his way of doing things is best and will lead to the most blessing and flourishing.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Amen. Amen. Reason number two deacons solve tangible problems in the church. So reason number one is it's God's design, part of God's design. Uh, reason number two, deacons solve uh tangible problems in the life of the church. And the pattern you see in the scriptures and in the book of Acts is that um as the church grows and multiplies, uh, you see that there are more problems. And yeah, in Acts chapter six, uh you see that the the number of disciples are increasing, and so are the problems. And I wish it just said uh that the church was multiplying. Yeah, the church multiplying solutions. Yes, and so did all the happiness and joy. Um, but what you see is the timeless principle that more people equal more problems, even within the even among the people of God. Yeah. And so uh what what could have happened in the early church in Acts chapter six, um, well, what was going on is that some some of the Jewish widows were being overlooked by other Jewish widows in the daily distribution of bread. Yeah. And so there was some some tension there over who's eating and who's not eating. And uh the the apostles, they could have just said they could have said, um, we're gonna stop preaching the word of God to to go wait on tables. That's what we're that's what we're going to do. Remember, remember what Jesus said. Remember he in Mark chapter six, he sees the huge crowd. And Jesus says, You give them something to eat. And you know, so if Jesus is not above waiting on tables, remember he got down and he he washed the disciples' feet. I mean, if Jesus is the greatest servant uh who's ever been, and we're trying to follow him, then why don't we just get down and serve? Why don't we just meet the the the physical tangible needs of of the church? But they didn't do that. No, and it's not that they they they thought they were better, it's not that they thought they were better too too important, rather they thought that the preaching of the word was so important that they they enlisted deacons uh in order to meet the tangible needs of the church that the word of God uh might might continue, might flourish.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Yeah, and I think just to add to that too, um they didn't ignore the need either. They did not ignore the need. So it wasn't like um we need to go solve the problem with our own hands and feet, so to speak, uh by giving, becoming the ones who distribute the food. But we're also not gonna ignore a tangible need in the life of the church. And so when it's the solution, we're gonna point in that case men to over oversee uh the distribution of food. That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

So they chose people of high characters as well, the way they describe it in Act 6.

Guarding The Word Through Service

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Certainly. So uh why do we need deacons? Well, it's that deacons meet tangible, practical needs in the life of the church. Reason number three is that deacons are required for the preaching of God's word. Uh the church is the pillar and buttress of of the truth. And the church exists to lift up the glory of Christ in the world, and that happens most clearly uh when the church gathers and worships and uh remembers the work of Christ and the word of God is is preached. Um and so they say in Acts chapter six, verse two, it would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. Um so it's not that they thought, again, it's not that they thought they were above um solving these problems. It's not that they thought that at all. Instead, they understood the priority of God's or preaching God's word. And uh John Stott, I thought I think this is really interesting, that in the book of Acts, there's John Stott notes that there were three attacks by the devil uh against against the church. Uh the first one was persecution in Acts chapter four. Uh the second one was corruption from within in Acts chapter five with Ananias and Sapphira. But the third, in Acts chapter six, uh, was clever. John Stott says, the devil's next attack was the cleverest of the three. Having failed to overc overcome the church by either persecution or corruption, he now tried distraction. If he if he could preoccupy the apostles with social administration, which though was necess or which, though essential, was not their calling, they would neglect their God-given responsibilities to pray and preach, and so leave the church without any defense against false doctrine. So the idea was uh by the devil, this is John Stott's insight, if the devil could could move the apostles away from preaching the word of God, then the church would become defenseless against heresy, against false teaching. And so you need to have both. You the church, a healthy church, is going to meet tangible practical needs uh within the body, and there will be tangible practical needs, but the church must give give the priority to the preaching of the word of God. And the more the word of God is lifted up and understood and believed, the more people's lives will be changed and uh problems will be solved. And and I think the the apostles knew that the the women who are being overlooked in the daily distribution of bread would be better cared for by the deacons. So it's not that they're saying just okay, just you know, okay, you guys just go solve the problem. We don't care about the problem. They cared about the problem, they did not solve the problem themselves, instead, they enlisted deacons in order for um that these women to be well cared for and for the word of God to be exalted.

SPEAKER_03 19:00

Because there's like a reality that like pastors have a certain set of skills. Um and so it's like there there are just certain things that like I think if we asked you, Dan, to like be in charge of uh they would not go as well. What are you trying to say, D? As they do the preaching of the word saying I feel we could go. I feel but it's like that's just like a practical reality. Certainly when you lean into deacons, you're leaning into people who are also gifted in those very specific tangible areas.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Certainly. That's right. Yeah, and the part of the reason Acts six gives us this story is so that we understand the result. And verse seven it says, So the word of God, here's the result. So the word of God spread. The disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith. And so the result is the widows are cared for, the word of God is spreading, people are coming to faith in Christ, and it it's just a picture of a healthy, healthy church.

Character And Recognition Matter

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Number four. That's right, number four. Deacons are necessary because character matters. In the church. And uh, I think this quote is helpful. Some have argued if the church is healthy, we don't need the office of deacon because all of us are deaconing. So the idea that deacon means servant, therefore we're all servants, so why do we need officially have deacons? And I think part of the reasoning for deacons is because character matters. In other words, um we're gonna have deacons. I think certain the question is whether or not they are character qualified and recognized. Certainly. And I had someone asked me that this week, and which is a fair question, like totally understandable question. And I said that's my that was one of my responses. I said, um we're gonna have them. The question just is whether or not they are character qualified and recognized. And so um uh if we don't recognize qualified deacons, we may end up having, quote, deacons. We will have deacons who are not qualified, which can create uh problems within the life of the church. Um I think you have a uh there's a statement here without recognizing qualified deacons, the vacuum may lead to unrecognized individuals taking on deacon-like responsibilities. This scenario risks the hindering of the uh hindering the smooth function of the church, potentially impeding the spread of the gospel. And so Paul says, you know, specifically, let them also be tested first, then let them serve as deacons if they prove blameless. And so we should have men, women who are tested, character qualified, stepping to the office of deacon uh to help uh lead in one sense the church.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Yeah, just like just like if if someone had had bad character, underdeveloped character, and they're in the pulpit leading the church, preaching the word of God, I think all of us would say that's a problem. And the same wor in the same way, if someone is in the office of deacon and they they don't they're not men and women of character, I think we'd say, wait a second, uh, that's not good either. So we want to have men and women who are character qualified to serve as deacons. That's right in the life of the church. Yep.

unknown 21:59

Sorry.

The Pathway To Becoming A Deacon

SPEAKER_01 22:00

So those are those are we could go on for an hour about why we why we need deacons, but that's that's why the church needs needs deacons. I think it's part of the wisdom of God, which leads to question number four. What's the process of becoming a deacon? Well, you know, the Bible doesn't give us the exact process for the recognition of deacons, um, but we have worked through it. We have a pretty simple uh process. It's called the pathway to becoming a deacon at Walnut Creek Church. And there are five steps. Okay, number one. Dan traveled to Mount Everest and went up on higher mountain. I just had a feeling this was the right way after being on Mount Everest. Okay, uh, number five, or the here are five. Uh what's the pathway? Uh Read and Reflect on Deacons by Matt Matt Smethurst. So, Smethurst, we're not putting all of our eggs in that basket. We've read uh uh many other books on deacons, but this is the most concise synopsis of what we believe about deacons. And so each candidate or couple will read the book and submit a two-page uh summary, outlining insights, and personal takeaways from the book. So this is like our kind of our our working textbook on our understanding of deacons. Number two, complete the deacon training. So there are two parts to the deacon training. Um, some of it we've gone through here uh during this time. There's a lot more information, but so everybody's got to jump start. Everyone's got it doesn't count. This podcast doesn't count as completing the first step for the deacon. Okay, you got to start over. Okay. Uh number number three, undergo a character assessment. So there is a character assessment that we go through. Yeah. And the character assessment, um, it's done by the candidate. So if I was gonna become if I was hoping to become a deacon, yeah, so there'd be a self-evaluation, and then the evaluation of the spouse, and then if it's a couple, then it's vice versa. So um there's a character assessment, and then we go through the character assessment um to see if if they are above reproach. They're not perfect people. Uh no deacons are gonna be perfect, but do they do they have a high are they worthy of respect? Are they not greedy for money? Um, are they above reproach, self-controlled, sensible, respectable? Um, do they have good fruit in their life? Uh number four, uh be presented to the church for evaluation. We did that last week, um, where we we give the church about a month, maybe, you know, it it's it's not an exact time period, but we want the church to be aware uh uh that we are recommending whoever it is, you know, in this situation, the Albers, uh, to become deacons. And the reason we do that is that we want the feedback of the church because as pastors, as pastors, we don't know everyone perfectly and know everything that's going on. And so uh we we want the church to be involved. We want the the the the blessing and the support of chur of the church, we want the evaluation of the church. I think that will um help strengthen deacons. It's not a you know, we don't want to like sneak people through, you know, to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Well you see this principle in Acts 6. Certainly in other places where elders are recognized that the the church was involved in affirming that. Uh the church was involved in affirming those who are leading in the church.

What Deacons Will Do Here

SPEAKER_01 25:12

So certainly. And then commissioned, uh be commissioned at a weekend service. So at some point you know, in the we'll pick a week, probably roughly a month from now. And lay hands on them. And why do we lay hands on them? Well, Acts 6, 6, they had them stand before the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them. And so there's a a picture all throughout the New Testament about laying hands. You lay hands on them when you recognize someone in a position. And uh so we're just following that example. That's that's the testimony of church history, the pattern of church history, and you see that pattern in the in the scriptures. And so that's those are the five steps, those are the five steps, and so we're we're close. Uh we are uh close. Yep. Question number five.

SPEAKER_03 25:58

What will the deacons do? Yeah, what will they do?

SPEAKER_00 26:02

Yes. Now that depends on I mean the rule. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:06

So like with the Albers, concretely, like their role will be like helping the oversight administration of the men's and women's Bible studies. Correct. So that's like a real tangible need in the life of the church, and they're gonna step in and serve in that area. Yep. Um, and we're not just gonna pick a role, like all roles in the life of the church are deacon roles, but there are like certain roles that can like actually help the church flourish in certain ways. And so yes, it's some of it's gonna depend on yes, like the needs as they arise and is the right person available, person or persons.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Certainly. Yeah. And the picture you have in the scriptures is that the the deacons and the elders work together. So it's not like 100% of the job description of an elder is on one side, and then 100% of a job description of a deacon is on another side, and there's this clear delineation where there's no overlap. It doesn't, it doesn't work, it doesn't work that way.

SPEAKER_03 27:06

You hear stories about like churches with elder boards and deacon boards, and they're like at odds with one another, but we don't we don't see that in the scriptures and we don't uh uh that's not gonna lead to flourishing.

Upcoming Ministries And Announcements

SPEAKER_01 27:18

So so deacons, deacons and and pastors will work together closely. And there there's there's uh there's overlap there. And um and so we we we really believe that men's and women's Bible studies, it's an important piece of what we're doing. Um and we want people of high character to be involved in the administration of the Bible studies, the oversight of the Bible studies. So like I'm I'm helping to to oversee men's and women's Bible studies, but I I there are there are real logistical ums, materials, yes, like uh you know, setting up groups. Yeah, putting people together in groups, sign up registrations, sign-up registrations, communication, communicating with people and oh, I signed up for this time and I can't do that, but I can do this time and there we want this to be a uh uh a flourishing ministry in the life of the church, and there are logistical demands, and it it and when I say there are logistical demands, I'm not saying they're just kind of worthless commands and consideration demands and considerations. I don't think that at all. Uh in fact, what we're saying is that it's really important the way that people are cared for and communicated with and led and overseen. Um and so this is part of the reason we believe it it requires a deacon uh qual qualified couple to do this.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

That's right. And I think uh for clarification, uh I think some have been confused when we said um overseeing men's and women's Bible studies, they kind of lump that in with community group. And so that's community groups are different uh ministry from men's and women's Bible studies. So men's and women's Bible studies are happening about three times a year, give or take, yeah, sessions. Yep. And that's where men sign up to be in a group that goes through a study for you know eight to ten weeks or so, somewhere in there, maybe a little shorter, a little longer. And uh you're just with other men for those those few weeks. And same with the the ladies. So when we're saying Craig and Mel will be overseeing men's and women's Bible studies, it's those specific uh uh Bible studies, not community groups as a as a whole. I think there's some I think I don't know why there's the confusion, but I think maybe just some people don't realize we have men's and women's Bible studies, but yeah, that can be a good idea. Or people call a community group Bible study, but the idea is that uh um they're overseeing the specific men's and women's Bible studies that happen about three times a year. Yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 29:48

That's right. So it's just a quick little refresher here uh on Deacons. Uh couple of things to be aware of in the life of the church is that this uh coming Wednesday, tomorrow, the 14th, uh, if you're listening to this today, January 13th. Uh otherwise, if you listen to this on Thursday, then yesterday. Um but either way, Wednesday the 14th is when all of our midweek uh ministries are kicking back off here for the new year. So the adult Bible studies that meet in the sanctuary on Wednesday nights will be there, kids club, student ministry. Uh, there's uh pay attention to your messages from Cody Smith on that because they will be off-site for part of the time uh over at Britain's Skating Plaza doing some ice skating. Oh, yeah. Um, and so that's kicking off. Re-engage is kicking off. So if you're signed up for that, it it starts on Wednesday the 14th. Uh, we've got a whole bunch of other ministries starting in the in the coming week. So check out our website and uh get signed up for any of those that might serve you well.