By the grace of God, deacons, as elected church officers, glorify the Lord and serve His church by modeling the application of the gospel of Jesus Christ into the daily activities of life as husbands, fathers, and brothers in Christ. They perform various tasks and participate in ministries designed to care for and unify the people of God and also care for the facilities of the church for the purpose of freeing the pastoral staff to focus on prayer, the ministry of the Word of God, and the spreading of the gospel (Acts 6:1-6; Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:8-13). They are committed to the Great Commandment (Mark 12:28-31) and the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-15).
Deacons meet monthly with the Pastor to review various ministries and needs of the church.
The deacons of Jeruel must meet all the biblical qualifications as outlined in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 and subscribe to the church covenant and to each of the Articles of Faith.
Once a year, a request is made to the congregation to nominate men to serve as deacons. Candidates must be men who have already shown they have a servant’s heart and meet the biblical qualifications of a deacon (1 Tim 3:8-13). The names are collected by the nomination committee, and the pastors review the list. In those cases where a candidate has previously communicated a disqualifier to a pastor, he is not contacted. All other candidates are contacted to accept or decline the nomination.
Once the candidate accepts nomination, they will be added to the nomination list to be reviewed by the pastors and the deacon board. If the deacons and pastors are supportive of the recommendations from the congregation, the candidates’ names are presented for a vote on a secret ballot. (If there is an issue with a candidate, the pastors and deacons will collectively discuss the issue and come to an agreement on the best course of action on a case by case basis.) The church will be notified of who is being presented for a vote about two weeks before the members meeting in which the vote will take place. After the church votes, the deacons collect the ballots and tally the results. Candidates must receive an affirmative vote from the majority of the ballots that are turned in from the members at the members meeting (i.e. if 100 ballots are collected by the deacons, a candidate must receive 51 “Yes” votes to be approved). The head deacon will oversee the tallying of the results. The head deacon will notify the church of the results of the vote.
A deacon’s term of service is three years. Deacons may serve 2 consecutive terms. After 2 terms a deacon is required to take a year sabbatical prior to being nominated again for a subsequent 3-year term of service.
- Rick Ramalia – Head Deacon
- Rocky Ramalia – Clerk
- Jeff Simmons
- Mike Rickerd
- Lloyd Kimbel