The Biblical Deacon Plan
The Biblical Deacon
Dr. J. Mike Minnix
[Click on the following link to go straight to the website for the material described herein: The Biblical Deacon ]
The Biblical Deacon is a proven plan. This is not just an idea created by imagination but something that I used in a church for more than a decade. During 12 years, our church added more than 2,500 members and baptized 700 people. Did deacons have anything to do with these statistics? The church had a history of short pastorates. with pastors serving less than two years and a few that barely made it past five years. With deacons committed to a biblical deacon ministry, a new unity was experienced in the church and that made growth possible. I have worked with wonderful deacons throughout more than 45 years of ministry. My father was a deacon when I was a boy. However, without training and biblical insight into the true nature of the deacon ministry, I observed many men failing the Lord, the church, the staff, and the members, and in doing so failed to do what could have and should have been done. Many of them made mistakes because no one had ever trained them to serve as deacons. A church will seldom call an untrained pastor, but most churches ordain untrained deacons year after year. This plan requires training for a man to be a deacon in the local church - and it works!
The Biblical Deacon costs $29.00, with all proceeds going to More Than Bread Ministries, Inc. which maintains www.sermoncity.com. To learn more, keep reading.
What IsThe Biblical Deacon?
The Biblical Deacon is more than a book. With more than 300 pages, the material contains a plan to have a biblically-based deacon ministry in the local church. After pastoring for 25 years, I moved to a new church in the metro-Atlanta Georgia area to pastor. I decided it was time to implement a deacon ministry that reflects the Bible rather than tradition. The Biblical Deacon is the plan my deacons and I created.
How Much Training Do Most Deacons Have Before Serving?
The answer is usually NONE! He bases his ministry on what he sees other deacons do, or on what he assumes to be the role of a deacon. The Biblical Deacon is a plan to train EVERY DEACON in your church - both those who are serving and any deacon in the future who is elected to serve. In fact, our church placed a requirement in the by-laws of our church requiring every man to be trained before being seated as a deacon.
The results of this plan changed our church and created a unity that I had never experienced in the churches I served. Our meetings were like prayer services and sometimes felt like worship services. If you want to have a deacon ministry that is biblical and effective, get this plan today.
This is not a plan for the lazy and indifferent man. In fact, any deacon who wants a title or position rather than a job as a servant will not complete this plan. Those who do complete it, will never be the same.
How Can This Plan Help Me And My Church?
This plan ...
- Trains every deacon in the true biblical nature of the deacon ministry
- Requires every deacon to complete a study in 5 areas of discipline
- Reminds deacons that they are not politicians representing voters
- Returns the deacon ministry to its divine purpose
- Keeps men in the Bible for 105 days before being seated as a deacon
- Teaches deacons how to be accountable
- Creates a wonderful relationship between pastor and deacon
- Ensures that all deacons are theologically united
- Teaches deacon the role he has in the deacon ministry
- Makes deacons glad they are serving rather than wishing they hadn't
- Does more than can be explained in these few words
What Do We Get When We Order The Biblical Deacon?
When you order The Biblical Deacon, you receive a digital copy of all the material and you have a license to print any or all of the material for use in your church. Of course, the license restricts you from transmitting or sharing the digital or printed material to any other church or individual outside your church fellowship. You can copy the material for your church as long as you wish.
Why Don't You Sell Paper Copies Of The Material?
It isn't practical for a number of reasons. First, you don't need a copy of all the material for everyone who will use it. To buy paper copies of the books for every deacon would cost many times the prince of purchasing the digital copy and printing your own material.
Once you pay $29.00 for the digital copy, you can print all the copies of the material you wish. The only restriction is that you are not allowed to give or share the material with people or churches outside your church.
If you were buying printed copies of the double book (one copy with answers and one copy the blanks), the double book cost would be $29.00. If you were buying copies for 15 or 20 deacons, you can see how the cost would rise quickly. Printing only the copies you need from the digital format, and doing so the double-sided printing, you can create copies $4.00 per copy or less. Almost every church has a copier or has a church member who has one at work or at home. This creates a savings for your church and keeps your ministry from storing copies of the books that may not be used.
What is in the material?
- Instructions on why The Biblical Deacon ministry is needed
- A brief history of the deacon ministry and how it has often failed
- A description of the duties of the Deacon Leader or Chairman
- A description of how to experience an effective deacon's meeting
- A plan to get the deacons to accept the new ideas
- A Mentor's book containing over 160 pages with answers to all questions
- A Candidates book containing over 160 pages with blanks for answers
- All instructions on how to implement the plan
- A sample by-law so you can make the plan permanent, if you wish
What Are The Five Areas Of Study In The Plan?
- Qualifications for Deacon Service
- Role and Relationships of the Deacon
- Baptist Doctrine
- Deacon Ministry
- The Deacon as an Evangelist
Each of these lessons covers numerous scriptures and the deacon using the plan must fill in the blanks as he studies. One older deacon in our church said that he would have given anything to have this program when he was elected to be a deacon as a young man. I did not have one man who refused to go through this program. In fact, the men enjoyed it. We even had some men who were not deacons ask if they were allowed to complete the plan. We allowed them to do so, and a number of them were later elected to serve as deacons in our church. We did not have any man who served under this plan to resign during his years of service, and every man agreed to serve again in the future if chosen by the church to do so.
Is The Material Too Difficult For Some Men To Complete?
Absolutely not! This plan is biblically based. Any man who can read the Bible can complete the program. Also, each deacon going through the study has a mentor he can call if he has problems. Also, his material is checked as he completes it to make sure he is progressing properly.
Who Serves As A Mentor When A Church Is Just Starting The Program?
The pastor and deacon leader (chairman) must go through the program first. Once they have completed it, they serve as mentor to one, two or three men till all the current deacons have completed it. After that, every man elected to serve, who has never been through The Biblical Deacon plan, is assigned a mentor by the deacon leader. The mentors are rotated through the years so that each deacon who wishes to is given the chance to be a mentor to a new deacon.
Can My Church Customize The Plan?
Yes, you can do so. It is required, however, that any changes you make must be printed on separate sheets and added to the book. A note should appear at the top indicating that the page is not part of the original material. As author, I can't endorse material I haven't seen. Once you note that the material is your own and has been added, you can make the plan fit your own church polity and doctrinal choices.
I Have Other Questions?
Write to me at: j.mikeminnix@gmail.com and I will do my best to help you with other questions. I encourage you to get the program and follow it as closely as possible. You will praise the Lord for the results.
Also, you can go straight to the material by clicking the following link: The Biblical Deacon
