On January 13th, Verge Church set in its first Deacon: Chuck Phelan.
Verge has been looking to the future of setting in a Deacon for over a year now. Throughout this process, I went back to the scripture to dig deeply into what Paul was intending this position, in God’s Kingdom, to be: who they are and what they would be to the local body.
As I left common cultural ideas behind, I came to the conclusion that, as Paul was describing both the office of Elder and Deacon, he was ultimately describing a Father.
Our culture today so earnestly desires to value the abilities and capabilities of every person, but with that, we must ensure that we do not deviate from the ways of God. God’s ways will always be “God’s ways”. As the people of God, we must be willing to follow the ways of God even in spite of what our current culture would deem relevant or appropriate. Within the Kingdom of God, relevance outside of God’s ways has no relevance at all.
As Paul described a Father, he also made us very aware that the Deacon’s Wife of utmost importance to the qualification of that man.
Chuck and Debbie Phelan have been a true Father and Mother to Verge Church. They have sacrificed and served this body and continue to carry the people of Verge and Tucson in their hearts. Their uncompromising love for Jesus Christ and His body is so evident.
Paul Kidd, JB and Momma Joy Masinde joined us here in Tucson to serve us in the setting in of Chuck and Debbie as Verge’s first Deacon. A day we will never forget.
Firsts are important. The character of Chuck speaks to what we value as the qualifications of the office of Deacon, and as such, we celebrate what God has done in this man and look forward to what God will do through his and Debbie’s lives.
Rich
You can watch the service on the following Facebook link. The ordination begins at the 2:08:00 mark.