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Overview

The deacon ministry at Southview is not about status; it’s about service. Above all else, we strive to maintain trainable hearts and in our efforts.

Although many of our deacons serve in many ways, our specific focus is on family ministry. Each deacon is responsible for about 10 families, assigned primarily through SMBS classes. We urge the deacons to maintain regular contact, at least once a month, with their families, without being intrusive. We also administer a benevolence fund to help church members with short-term financial concerns, serve communion, assist with baptisms and strive to make sure the needs of our members are met.

Deacons also focus on helping to maintain the unity of the church. Two of the most important aspects of the early church were love and unity among the community of faith. Protecting the unity of the church is what we see the first deacons doing in Acts 6, and the result was that the Word of God spread, and the number of disciples increased rapidly. That is our desire - that the word of God would spread and that the number of people who are Christ followers would increase rapidly because of the unity of our church and the ministry of our deacons.

We model our service after deacons appointed in the early church (Acts 6: 1-7). For more information, contact our current deacon chair, Don Collins.

Benevolence Fund

The Deacons administer a Benevolence Fund on behalf of the church. It isn’t a line item in Southview’s annual budget; Church members contribute to it whenever and however the Lord leads them. We use these funds to meet short-term financial needs among the body at Southview as a part of our Family Ministry Program.

You don’t hear much about the Benevolence Fund because we deeply respect the privacy of the individuals and families whom we assist with Southview’s resources. Even inside the Deacon body, only the few members of the Benevolence Committee are aware of the ways in which we help Church members.

And each of you is a part of this ministry. You support it when you give generously to the Benevolence Fund by noting it on your offering envelope. You support it when you make your family Deacon aware of a need in another church family. You support it through your prayers and through the many acts of kindness and outreach performed in Sunday Morning Bible Study classes and small groups. In all of these ways we seek to model Christ’s behavior—always offering a hand up. The Deacons want you to know that this fund is available—both to help Church members with short-term crises, and to give you an opportunity to contribute from your overflow of joy at God’s grace.

We hope that you’ll be in prayer for Southview’s obedience and wise use of the Benevolence Fund. God delights in cheerful givers and joyful servants.

Contact the Deacon Chair