Tonight we had our first of three sessions on deacon training. I was moved by the number of quality of potential deacons sitting in our house. God has been so kind to Austin City Life! In preparation for training our deacons, I did the following:
- Studied the deacon passages of Scripture
- Read Alexander Strauch’s Ministers of Mercy and re-read Mark Driscoll’s A Book You’ll Actually on Church Leadership.
- Re-read Darrin Patrick’s notes on developing-elders-deacons-members.
- Read Bob Thune’s paper, Deacons: A Theological Study
- Read Tim Keller’s section on Leadership Development in the Redeemer Church Planting Manual
- Oh, I found this deacon outline after the training, which is quite good. I agree with most of it.
Then I wrote and mailed a letter of invitation to potential deacons, gave them a copy of Driscoll’s booklet, and developed a teaching outline for our three session Deacon Training. In all of this I borrowed heavily from Bob Thune and David Fairchild. Thanks guys! Here’s the list of topics we are covering each month:
October 5, 2008 – 1st training meeting @ Dodson’s house
Discussion topic: A Theology of Deacons
Assignment: One Page Reflection Paper on 1 Tim 3:8-13
November 2, 2008 – 2nd training meeting @ Dodson’s house
Discussion topic: The Practice of Deacons
Assignment: One Page “Dream” Ministry Description
December 7, 2008 – 3rd training meeting @ Dodson’s house
Discussion topic: Holding to the Mystery of Faith
Next Assignment: One Page Summary of the Gospel
December 8-14, 2008 – Interviews and Installation
6 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 7, 2008 at 10:35 pm
pw
very helpful, JD…is there a link for Bob’s paper?
October 8, 2008 at 3:01 am
jdodson
hey pete. I was thinking of you last week, tried to call you but couldnt find your number. email me, please.
i’ve asked bob if I can post his paper and will let you know once i get the green light.
October 8, 2008 at 1:39 pm
jdodson
the paper is up, both on the post and in Tools for Missional Church
November 3, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Deacon Training - II (Practice of Deacons) « Church Planting Novice
[...] the process of developing deacons, our most recent meeting focused on The Practice of Deacons. A previous post lists resources for A Theology of Deacons, the focus of our first meeting. In attempting to work [...]
November 19, 2008 at 1:32 am
Steve
A theology of deacons… now that sounds interesting.
February 6, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Deacon Interviews « Church Planting Novice
[...] getting around to some overdue Deacon candidate interviews. After three sessions of training (I, II, & III), I am meeting with each candidate. In preparation I am praying for each candidate, [...]