Last fall a small task force, made up mostly of deacons but also including one elder, met with Pastor Jim to ask a couple of questions. They asked, first, What ministries ought the deacons to have now, in this chapter of the life of the church? And then they asked, How ought we to organize to get those ministries accomplished?
They asked these questions because they realized that the Board of Deacons needed to be more effective. They understood that Chapel Hill has grown too big, is serving too many people in too many ways, for a group of fifteen or so people to be able to manage it all. They knew it was time to build a new model to better meet the needs of their church.
After numerous meetings, during which they talked to leaders of the church and staff members who oversaw ministries of care and mission and outreach, they reached some conclusions. They decided to do some of what they’d been doing in the same way, some things in a different way, and some things they’d not done before.
One idea to come out of these meetings was the concept of shared authority, whereby it becomes the responsibility of the deacons not so much to do ministry as to mobilize God’s people (that’s us!) to do ministry. Accordingly, the deacons have been reorganized into eleven Ministry Teams. These teams are targeted to meet needs more precisely and to involve more volunteers in the process.
Each team has a deacon-in-charge and a deacon-in-waiting, i.e. a senior deacon who thoroughly understands his or her team’s mission, and a second, more recently elected deacon who is being mentored into that kind of understanding. They are the glue that holds the team together. Additionally, each team has a staff liaison, someone who understands the kind of caring the team is charged to provide and can offer counsel and a place for the buck to stop.
How then does this actually work? Well, we’re beginning to find out. One early success of the program can be seen in the new Homebound/Shut-ins/Nursing Homes Ministry Team, led by Deacon Jim Doerksen, in shared authority with Renewal Minister Lance Brown. They have recruited 13 teams who have begun to call on 50+ shut-ins in 39 households on a regular basis.
“We are living into this vision,” says Pastor Jim. “I expected it to take a year or two. I believed we would have a very hard time recruiting people to call on our shut-ins. Instead, with a single announcement, Jim has had very little difficulty recruiting. There is something of a consumerist culture here, but this is an amazing response that came very quickly.”
Other teams are in other stages of organization. Some, like the Memorial & Reception Ministry Team and the Communion Ministry Team, will carry on pretty much as they have been. Others, like the Parish Nursing Team and the Hospitality Team, are brand new and are still figuring themselves out.
(One thing that having more teams means, by the way, is that we need more deacons to lead them. We are at present short three deacons to lead all the ministries. If you have an interest in learning more about the opportunities and responsibilities involved in being a deacon, do not be afraid to inquire. Pastor Jim would love to hear from you.)
