BCC Blog Articles

After the new deacon board was introduced in both morning services on March 6, a few people have asked how it is different from the previous deacon boards that led the church for most of its existence.   It’s a good question and a little background will help answer it.  Under all the prior boards, deacons were responsible for everything – both the spiritual and temporal aspects of church leadership.  It was a big job and they were elected to their positions by the church membership for three year terms with a limit of two consecutive terms.   Then the church voted for an elder led governing structure in January, 2008, a move most evangelical churches had already made.    The revised church constitution, approved at that time, provided for a division of the responsibilities that had been carried out by the prior deacon boards.     The elder board governing structure became effective in October 2008.  This new board’s main purpose is to provide the spiritual leadership and ministry focus for the church body.  The new deacon board’s purpose is to be responsible for the ministries that meet the physical and operational needs of the church under the oversight of the elders.  The deacons are appointed by the elder board for minimum two year terms with no term limits.