It is my pleasure to report, on behalf of the Oldtown Deacons, that the spiritual life of our church is thriving. It is a challenging time for houses of worship competing with all of the time commitments in everyone’s lives and with all of the messages we are bombarded with every day from social media, television, and the nature of discourse in today’s society. However, we are proud of our Oldtown family, who – despite our diverse backgrounds, opinions, and sentiments – come together every Sunday, and every day in-between, to worship, to grow together, and to reach out to our friends and family in our community and beyond.
This year, the deacons have undertaken an effort to reflect on ourselves and our role in the Oldtown family. In the book of Acts, where the word “deacon” first appears, the apostles commissioned the first deacons so there would be someone to take food to the widows – a way of saying, in the language of the time, to focus on the care of those most in need. The word “deacon” comes from the Greek word “diakonos” which means servant.
While it may seem that the deacons focus mostly on “tasks” of serving, such as helping the pastor with serving communion and the preparation and cleanup of the sanctuary, we also serve our congregation by working with Pastor Kelly to plan worship services and to care for and pray for all those in need in our congregation and our community. Each month, at our meetings, and on days between, we discuss the needs of our Oldtown family and what we can do to support them, both physically and spiritually. We hope we are doing all that we can, and we ask that if there are any needs of which you are aware, or if there are any questions we can help with, please don’t hesitate to speak with one of your deacons, and we will make sure to serve your needs to the best of our ability.
We are extremely thankful for the generosity our congregation shows in contributions to our Deacons Fund on the first Sunday of each month. Those small envelopes you see on the first Sunday of the month help pay the cost of things like communion elements, worship candles and other elements, donuts for fellowship after worship, and the Upper Room devotionals that are available to everyone. Following is a summary of the deacons’ account for 2018:
| Deacons Account 2018 | Expenses for the year included | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Balance | $747.95 | Upper Room | $276.00 | |
| Income | $749.06 | Coffee & Donuts | $388.66 | |
| Expenses | $952.51 | Pastor’s Conference | $133.67 | |
| Ending Balance | $544.50 | Worship Supplies | $44.99 | |
| Mailings | $54.97 | |||
We have a great team of deacons and are proud of the work we do, with Pastor Kelly to serve everyone. May the Peace of God and the blessings of our Oldtown Family be with you throughout the coming year!
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Fennell, for the Oldtown Deacons