Walt Mueller says "If the church does not listen, the church cannot understand"
We need to start listening to the generations below us to hear what they have to say. We need to create Jr. deacons boards from the following ages and stages:
- married with teenagers
- married with young children
- young adults
- teenagers
- jr high
These Jr. deacons boards will meet once a month and talk about the church from their point of reference. Then once or twice a year they will come before the main deacons board and tell their thoughts, ideas and vision.
Comments
Let's propose a strategy and a plan and mayby try a pilot project in our churches starting in September. Any thoughts or ideas?
Not only do we have problems with only a small proportion of church populations actively involved in Church leadership, but we have a shrinking leadership base. Whether you call it a deacons board, or an elders board these groups of what is now most often men between forty and sixty are turning over at alarmingly quick rates due to fatigue, apathy and/or moral failure. The early Church saw a need to divide the responsibilitie s of day to day operations from bigger picture leadership because they foresaw that the apostles (or elders if you will) would be distracted from their calling by these many issues. Their solution was the first group of deacons to bring food to the widows, etc.
Elders are quitting because they are overworked. What we need to begin with is freeing up those who are to be dedicated to direction, prayer, teaching, counseling (the elders) from the day to day operations (budgets workings, building decisions, etc.). Once we have stable leadership with men who are available to invest intergeneration ally with the whole church because they are no longer overwhelmed with the day to day activities we can then look at what this group of deacons (or Jr. Deacons under your semantic system) would then look like.
For reference look to Acts 6:1-8