Stepping Up

In one respect, this book has been in preparation almost as long as I’ve been in ministry. In my first position I was asked to act a pastoral resource to the Board of Deacons. I offered to prepare and present a devotional thought to begin each meeting. The notes for those meditations are long gone, but the concept is not. When I went to Central Presbyterian Church in Miami twelve years ago, I resumed a more ongoing relationship with the Board of Deacons. And, again, over a my time there, I prepared a new devotional thought for each monthly meeting. At Green Valley Presbyterian Church in Henderson, Nevada, I have continued the practice. This time, however, I wrote out my devotional thoughts and collect them here, in the hope that they might benefit the larger church. To my knowledge, there is no other book which is specifically dedicated to the spiritual, biblical, theological, and practical dimensions of the diaconate. Deacons in the Presbyterian Church (USA) are unique. They are not a lower level of ordination—a stepping stone in clergy preparation—as they are in some liturgical churches. Nor do they exercise the sort of authority one finds in some Baptist churches. They comprise a ministry of compassion and service, as defined by the sessions of individual congregations. The meditations in this book approach the task of deacons by examining those who first held the office, relevant Scripture passages, The Book of Order, The Book of Confessions, and other miscellaneous thoughts. The perspective of this book is unabashedly evangelical. Not only do I wish to be true to my own convictions, I am convinced there is, in the evangelical wing of the PCUSA, an immense wellspring of vitality and faith. I would want that faith to bless the whole church. There is also a broader application. In the New Testament, every believer is called to “ministry.” So these thoughts may be profitably read by any Christian believer.