Buechel Park Deacons
2023 Officers:
Jan Causey, Chair
David Beverly, Chair-elect
Carrie Bearden, Secretary/Treasurer
Carla Fentress, Asst. Secretary/Treasurer
Diaconate Members:
2021-2023: Carrie Bearden, Jan Causey, Carla Fentress
2022-2024: Sara Buckner, Kaylee Rohleder, Tom Rohleder
2023-2025: David Beverly, Greg Leichty
Deacon Emeriti:
Charlie Gatton, Roxie Hoffman, Ken Raymond Sr., Julia Tate
Deacon Ministry Teams:
Benevolence: Jan Causey, Carla Fentress, Tom Rohleder
Communion: Carrie Bearden, David Beverly
Homebound: Deacons will visit our homebound members once per quarter to take communion. Required visitations are at Christmas and Easter. Each quarter, Deacons will select the people they plan to visit.
Hospital Visitation: All
Correspondence/New Members: Carrie Bearden, Sara Buckner
Shepherd Ministry: Jan Causey, Greg Leichty, Kaylee Rohleder
Our Diaconate may consist of three (3) deacons elected for each one hundred (100) active church members. Deacons shall be nominated and elected in the Fall of the year except when filling a vacancy. The term of office will normally begin on January 1 and will be for three years or until a successor is elected. No deacon will be re-elected to the diaconate except after he or she be inactive from the diaconate for one (1) year prior to re-election.
Duties of a Deacon:
- They are to cooperate with the pastor and with all officers and members of the church.
- They are to zealously guard the unity of the spirit within the church in the bonds of peace.
- They shall serve as a council to advise and confer with the pastor in all matters pertaining to the welfare and work of the church.
- They are to establish and maintain personal relationship with all the members of the church. They are to seek to know the physical needs and the moral and spiritual struggles of the brothers and sisters. They are to serve the church in the capacities of encouraging missions, prayer, Bible study and church leadership.
- In counsel with the pastor and by such methods as the Holy Scripture may direct in accordance with New Testament teachings, they are to have oversight of the discipline of the church. In administering discipline they are to be guided in all matters by the principles set forth in Matthew 18:15-17, I Corinthians 5:9-13 and I Thessalonians 5:12-14
- The deacons shall be free to call upon any member of the church to aid in disciplinary action.
- The deacons shall serve as a consulting body for the finance ministry team. They shall organize themselves as they deem best for this, calling to their assistance other members of the church as deemed necessary. They do not act as a judging board regarding the budget but in an advisory capacity.
Qualifications to be a deacon:
- A deacon should bear some resemblance to the seven who were chosen in Acts 6 and the character description in I Timothy 3:8-13 in conduct and spiritual maturity.
- The deacon shall be a mature person who is of serious disposition and spiritual maturity in relation to the work of Christ and His church. This quality shall have been exemplified in faithful attendance, Christian stewardship and a high level of respect established within the congregation.
- The deacon shall encourage by work and example, only those types of personal behavior and habits that are healthy for the body and helpful to others.
- The deacon shall have been a member of the Buechel Park Baptist Church for two (2) years, or a sufficient length of time and to a sufficient degree of involvement to be well known in the congregation.
- The deacon shall be an example of Christian maturity in family relationships.
- The deacon shall be a servant of the church who shall assist in the pastoral ministry in cooperation with the pastoral staff.
- The deacon shall be above reproach in Christian moral practice inside and outside the church.
- The deacon shall have a basic understanding of the Christian faith in doctrinal expression.
- The deacon shall be a person who recognizes that Christian growth in understanding, in devotional maturity and in discipleship is a part of being a human follower of Christ.
- The deacon shall manifest a spirit of humility which recognizes and accepts one’s own humanness as well as the humanness of others.