Thank you, Trinity Baptist Church, for your faithfulness to seek the LORD and His purposes for our Faith Family. Melinda and I have been richly blessed through all the churches we have been privileged to serve and count the last twelve years here as a joy to walk alongside you. We have made it a point to listen to God and be true to His Word, which we find so many others in our journey doing the same. We anticipate God’s continued direction and favor as we begin year thirteen and beyond. It is an honor to serve you as your pastor.

 

As we finish summer break, and begin to prepare for the start of school, we do so with continued faithfulness in mind. This month, we will have the privilege of hearing from our New Deacon Selection Task Force. We have been praying for them by name since they were formed in early 2024. With the need for additional deacons, the question was asked should we allow for women to be nominated to serve as deacons at Trinity Baptist Church.

 

Our deacons took a long look at this possibility most of 2023. We had several deacon discussion groups where deacons came and heard from each other and looked at scripture. In November of 2023, your deacons voted to send this question to the Church Council. In January, they put together a task force and gave them the responsibility of researching the possibility of allowing for women to be nominated as deacons and also to carry out our new deacon selections which we hope will take place this fall.

 

I, like many of you, consider Trinity Baptist Church to be a very healthy church that can handle a very healthy question. This is not new to Trinity. In 2003, Trinity put together a task force to consider the very same question. The church voted in the positive, but not enough to change the bylaws. Trinity has been on the front edge of ministry for almost 75 years. Nothing changes our mission together. This month we will hear from another task force given much of the same responsibility. They have been meeting since February and are now ready to share with the church what they have discovered as a group.

 

There are two church discussion times planned. The first will be Monday. August 26th at 5:30 pm and the second will be, Sunday, September 8th at 4:00 pm. Both will be held in the Worship Center. In preparation for these discussion times, the task force has asked that two papers be available for the church to read. They will be available on our website and hard copies will also be available in the office. The papers are from Dr. Jim Denison, “Should Women Serve as Deacons? Seeking the Word and Will of God,” and Dr. Todd Still, “Women in Ministry: Biblical, Theological & Practical Reflections.”

 

Our decisions are not based upon papers, but upon the Word of God. Both of these papers take the Bible and give great explanation. Please take advantage of these opportunities of preparation as we travel these days together. I love that our church will be the one to determine the outcome. That is one of the beautiful things about being a Baptist.

 

We have a great group of men who serve TBC as deacons. Many of their wives serve alongside them as needed. With the age of our deacons rising, they have expressed a need for additional deacons. We have many who serve TBC without a title. God puts the body together as He chooses. How will we do our part at TBC for future years to come? This is not a question of salvation but of how we will organize to serve the LORD and one another. This is a healthy question for a healthy church. Let’s keep reading and praying together.