Officers of the International Union of Deacons
• Deacon Paul Johnson, Chairman
• Deacon Edward Hall, Vice Chairman
• Deacon Leon Moore, Recording Secretary
• Deacon Daryl Davis, Corresponding Secretary
• Deacon Willie Davis, Treasurer
• Deacon Willie Smith, Sargeant At Arms
• Deacon Tony Gibson, Chaplain
The International Union of Deacons believe that it is the Deacons responsibility to look after the business matters of the church. (Acts 6:1-6) We are to provide the pastor, saints and all those who are well wishers of the local church, the best of our service and talent in ministering to the spiritual and physical needs of the congregation under the divine of God.
The goals of the International Union of Deacons are to develop and demonstrate:
- Mastery in being a Deacon of Excellence
- Reverence and Respect for Training and Ordination
- Skills in Creating Effective Business Ventures
- Compassion in Ministering to the Needs of Widows, Widowers, and Orphans.
- Spiritual Relationship and Fellowship
Preamble
Whereas, the distinct call and directions of the Holy Spirit urges us to create an International Brotherhood, an active, creative Christian fellowship of men, bounded by love and heightened by compassion for the needy, the lonely, the suffering and the the sick within our midst; and
Whereas, in the witness of the recognition given us by the Holy Spirit of the expressed need for training in the skills and disciplines that nurture us in Christ and enable us to make Him known to others by both work and deed; and
Further, in support of the Holy Scriptures which impels us to promote and advocate, the highest standards of Christian service among chosen believers in order to permit Pastors to continue “to pray, and to the ministry of the word.” (Act 6:4); and
Further, in accord with our inescapable obligation to act so that our Christian love through servanthood may be purposefully expressed, concretely demonstrated and effectively channeled; we do,
Therefore, hereby establish this International Union of Deacons in the Precious Everlasting name of Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Purpose
The purpose of said Union are:
- To foster and maintain, first, a stance of prayer and obedience, which provides the atmosphere that is essential to discerning the whispering of the spirit; then a posture of solidarity and fellowship of creative development and effective service
- To crystallize and deepen our faith in the Risen Lord as Savior.
- To continually test, and make manifest our diaconic credentials through concerned outreach in times of life’s greatest crises -birth; sickness; family breakdown; aging and death; thereby demonstrating the broadening social conscience of the church.
- To develop and administer programs of spiritual and educational value In the areas of witness; proclamation; sacraments, i.e. baptism and communion; evangelism; stewardship; counseling; service delivery; and administration so that the membership may be knowledgeable and informed with respect to their diaconic task.
- To involve and invest ourselves in the total life of the church as it worships, teaches, and serves.
- To further through financial support our sense of creative mission as it is expressed through the Home Mission Department of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic faith, Inc.
- To do anything and everything incidental or connected with the foregoing purpose.
To delimit our zeal and focus our commitment, we set forth the following affirmations of faith and assurance:
- The commission to serve is our motivating spirit, and the outgoing, self-giving, sacrificial love of Christ Jesus is the source of our conviction. We do not serve for the purpose of acquiring power. We are Christ’s men and, hence, He has made us sensitive to the danger of power.
- We renounce divisiveness and struggle for power, which divide and hinder the church.
- We shall seek, at all cost, to avoid the comfortable detachment that dodges real current issues affecting people, because compassionate commitment demands fervent involvement in the bread-and-butter issues of man.
- Finally, we do not fear criticism, and we are not free from error. Therefore, we freely express a willingness to swiftly abandon ineffective services and programs, and outmoded structures once identified.