Care
Showing Christ’s love to one another in practical ways.
”Life is full of gains and losses, joys and sorrows, ups and downs—but we do not have to live it alone. We want to drink our cup together and thus celebrate the truth that the wounds of our individual lives, which seem intolerable when lived alone, become sources of healing when we live them as part of a fellowship of mutual care.”
— Henri Nouwen
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Benevolence & Financial Assistance
Includes financial aid, utility assistance, rent support, and emergency funds.
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Meals & Hospitality
Covers meal trains for new parents, families in crisis, or those recovering from illness or surgery.
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Counseling & Mental Health
Offers pastoral counseling, grief support, and spiritual guidance, and marital as well as referrals for pre-marital/marriage, and mental health.
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Visitation & Homebound Care
Focuses on hospital visits, home visits for elderly or homebound members, and follow-ups after surgeries or illness.
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Prayer Support
Offers individual or group prayer support.
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Family Support & Life Transitions
Extended support and care for individuals, families, pre-marriage/marriage, adoption/foster care, and life transitions (death, job-loss, divorce, etc.).
Deacons
The gospel compels us to strive to be a body that is pursuing health spiritually, emotionally, physically, relationally, socially, financially and in every other way conceivable. Though all believers have been commissioned to love and support one another in our pursuit of health (Phil 2:4, Gal 6:2, Rom 12:10), early church leaders called for the intentional appointing of some to take on an even greater role in that process. Throughout the New Testament these leaders are called ministers or servants, and at times, they’re also referred to as deacons.
Building on this paradigm, we, too, prioritize the health of our congregation through the appointing and equipping a team of deacons whose primary objective is to care for those in the GCC body.
Deacon FAQs
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A deacon’s purpose is to exercise practical measures of servanthood in order to care for the body of Christ. We see this modeled in 1 Timothy 3 and Acts 6. Though the New Testament is fairly silent on the specific role of deacons, by definition of the Greek word (diakonos) means “servant” or “minister” and is sometimes translated as “deacon.” Based on our understanding of the pattern laid out in Acts 6, we can discern general responsibilities that can be applied to our church setting.
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Deacons will primarily focus on caring for those in the GCC congregation. We do have systems in place to care for others outside of the GCC congregation.
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Like our elders and staff, our deacons will demonstrate Christ-like character and an engaged relationship with the Lord. They will also possess spiritual and natural giftings that are conducive to the role of compassionately caring for others. Any GCC congregant can nominate themselves or someone else to be considered for service in a deacon role. We affirm the appointment of both male and female deacons and require each deacon to be a covenant member of GCC.
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Deacons will focus on caring for others in several primary ways including:
Active engagement with those pursuing GCC covenant membership
Emergency and Crisis Response
Benevolence
Visitation
Meals and Emergency Child Care
Prayer and Encouragement
Grief and Mental Health
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The deacon team will be made up of 15-20 individuals.
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At this point, there will be one central deacon team that will include individuals from both congregations and who oversee care for both congregations.
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To this point, the spiritual and administrative leadership of Gospel Community Church has been the primary responsibility of the elders and the staff. Our elders guide and shepherd the church, giving direction and oversight, and are often involved in teaching. Our staff takes on many of the day-to-day tasks related to ministry and helps to cast vision. Deacons will add a third dimension to the leadership structure of GCC and will work closely with our elders and staff. Their leadership responsibilities will take place in the care they provide for the GCC congregation.
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Yes! Caring for others is not exclusively the responsibility of a deacon; rather, it is something we are all called to take part in as believers (Phil 2:4, Gal 6:2, Rom 12:10). There will be teams of volunteers to help assist deacons in most of the focus areas mentioned above. If you are interested in being a part of GCC care efforts, please email info@gospelcc.org or fill out a connection card here.