T

he Bible documents Paul's letter of instruction to his young apprentice Timothy in the evaluation of candidates to serve as deacons (1 Tim. 3:8-11). As early as A.D. 60, the office of deacon was well-established, as evidenced by Paul's opening address in his letter to the Philippians (Phil. 1:1):

     Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
     To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

The nearest word we have to the original diakoneo is "servant". Acts 6:1-3 details how the Apostles, busy with the growth of the new church, called for the selection from the church body of seven men of good character to take over the benevolence ministry - the caring ministry - visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, providing for the needs which are presented to the church, and in general being alert to the spiritual needs of the congregation. Deacons free the pastoral staff to focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word, promoting unity within the church, and facilitating the spread of the gospel.

In addition to being "go to" resources for the congregation on any issues, at Cape Charles Baptist all members are assigned a deacon. The deacon's responsibility is to get to know the member and family, help them contribute to the church body and take advantage of all the church has to offer. If a member wants a particular deacon to be his/her assigned deacon, he/she may request that assignment, but since an attempt is made to have the membership roll divided equally among the deacons, that may not be possible in all cases. If you would like to explore this further, please contact the pastor or any of the deacons whose numbers are listed below.

Contacts:
Berkley Rayfield (Deacon Chairman) at 331-1585 (h)
John Blackburn at 331-2883 (h)
Tom Brooks at 331-4733 (h)
Butch Travis at 331-1352 (h)
John Parker at 331-1258 (h)

Deacon Schedule

	Month	Year		Deacon On Call	Phone
	January	2007		John Blackburn	331-2883
	February	2007		Berkley Rayfield	331-1585
	March	2007		Butch Travis	331-1352
	April	2007		Tom Brooks	331-4733
	May	2007		John Blackburn	331-2883
	June	2007		Tom Brooks	331-4733
	July	2007		John Blackburn	331-2883
	August	2007		Berkley Rayfield	331-1585
	September	2007		Butch Travis	331-1352
	October	2007		Tom Brooks	331-4733
	November	2007		John Blackburn	331-2883
	December	2007		Berkley Rayfield	331-1585