Serving Hope Church with Hearts and Hands
Dear Hope Family,
My wife, Joan, and I began attending Hope Church in the Fall of 2011. What drew us to Hope was that it felt like a church plant, mostly because we were still meeting at Speas Elementary School. Church plants seem to have an all-hands-on-deck mentality, and we were excited to participate in the development of our new church home.
It is that same mentality that eventually led me to becoming a deacon. It is truly an honor to serve as a deacon at Hope Church. Our responsibilities center on both “heart” and “hands.” Heart because we get to support church and community members through difficult circumstances via our work with the Mercy Fund. Hands because we support the operational blueprint of worship services and church functions.
The best part of being a deacon is sharing the responsibilities with a band of brothers, the diaconate. These are committed men that give selflessly of their time. And most importantly, we do it together. We support each other through shared tasks, helping navigate challenging Mercy Fund considerations, and caring well for each other through our shared brotherhood.
Despite the tremendous blessing of a growing church, our diaconate has not grown in the same trajectory as our membership. Furthermore, some of our brothers are in the midst of challenging medical circumstances, so we have asked that they focus on their health and recovery. Given our church size, we need 12-15 active deacons to help accomplish our mission, but currently we only have four!
As such, we have moved into a season of recruitment for the diaconate. We ask that you consider nominating a church member or speak to a friend or spouse about nominating you if you feel called yourself. Please find us and ask us what we love about being a deacon. Certainly, you will hear that we love that we get to serve our Lord and our church in tangible ways.
Finally, we ask that you also please pray for the deacons. Please pray for our brothers facing medical challenges, for our brothers on sabbatical enjoying much needed rest, and for our active deacons working to keep things afloat with God’s help.
“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” Proverbs 16:3-4
Blessings,
Michael Mitchell
Chair of the Deacons