Back in my Navy days, each ship had a small group of seasoned and trusted officers who took turns standing a 4-hour watch on the Bridge. In the absence of the commanding officer, this Officer of the Deck (OOD) was responsible for everything that was going on. When the responsibility was passed at the end of the shift, the oncoming officer would say, "I relieve you, sir." We also had a junior officer under our wing, who we would constantly train for two years. At the end of that period, the junior officer would be qualified to become a new OOD, replacing the one that transferred off the ship. Year after year, the ship would continue to be able to fulfill its mission.
Sea story over. Transfer those thoughts to the position of a church deacon. What if a deacon couldn't transition off the leadership team until a relief was trained to take over? Hmmm, sounds difficult. But shouldn't that be the proper attitude? Sometimes in a small church, there's a shortage of "qualified" younger deacon candidates. It's a problem in search of a solution.
In the previous post, I mentioned that my church had lost a generation of future leaders. So, how do we fix something like that? Waiting until the month before a new deacon is needed doesn't sound like an attractive option.
- How do we identify potential candidates?
- How do we recruit candidates?
- Should candidates even know that they're being considered?
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