Our church belongs to the Presbyterian Church of Korea denomination. Each denomination has slightly different names and processes for establishing positions within the church. In our denomination, we have deacons, ordained deacons, deaconesses and elders. Currently, our church only has deacons and we need to establish the other positions in the future.
Deacons serve the church by supporting the ordained deacons, and they are appointed by the church every year. Ordained deacons are positions that are elected by the congregation through a vote and they hold the position for life (a permanent position). Deaconesses are positions held by elderly women who look after the congregation, offer comfort and prayer, and is also a permanent position elected by the congregation through a vote. Elders are the highest-ranking positions in the church with not only rights but also heavy responsibilities. It is a permanent position elected by the congregation, and requires the approval of two-thirds of the church’s ordained deacons.
Looking at it this way, the appointment of our church’s deacons next week is an important first position they will have within the church. When I first came to London in 2008, we had only three deacons in our church. But this year, God has blessed us to be able to appoint 27 deacons. In fact, many churches tend to give the position of deacon to those who attend Sunday worship regularly and give offerings. However, I did not want to appoint deacons in that way. Although the standard has been lowered to some degree depending on the situation, it is still a position that requires a lot of dedication.
The most important criterion for me is whether the person truly loves the church. It goes without saying that they should serve as a good role model in attending services and in giving offerings. But I look at whether they prioritize the church when their personal life and church duties overlap. Therefore, I consider whether they have faithfully served important roles within the church for a long period of time (except in cases where they cannot serve due to giving birth, which is considered an exception). We could ordain more deacons each year, but I often delay the appointments because of my high standards. Nevertheless, I think that our younger members of the congregation respect our deacons because we ordain them in this way.
The four newly appointed ministers are also individuals who have faithfully served the church. Even with the busy task of raising three young daughters and running a business, Deacon Woojung Kim has been serving our finance and service preparation teams since our Wimbledon church was established. Deacons Younghoon Lee and Eunae Kim, who run busy restaurants, led the service preparation team after the pandemic when our church was switching to offline services and are both serving as cell leaders currently. Since his youth, Deacon Minwoo Choi has been serving with the mindset of offering help wherever is needed within the church. He has served in the church choir for a long time and is currently serving in the production team and as cell leader. Each and every one of our deacons are like precious jewels.
Of course, there are also many others who are worthy of being appointed as deacons within our church. However, I have delayed their appointments due to their age or them recently joining our church. I am very happy that we can appoint these valuable deacons this year. “God, thank you so much for giving us these precious deacons.”
