Interview with Cornelis Van Dam about "The Deacon"
On the OPC Committee on Diaconal Ministries podcast, I interviewed Dr. Cornelis Van Dam about his book The Deacon.
You can listen here.
Transcript
Dr. Van Dam: Who are the poor? Well, to answer that question, we need to go back to the Old Testament, and the Old Testament really helps us to see that the poor are not just those who don’t have enough money. The poor include the oppressed, the poor include those who are feel powerless, those who are afflicted. The Old Testament sensitizes us to the fact that the poor include a whole range of people who have lost the joy of life, lost the joy in the Lord.
Narrator: Welcome to The Reformed Deacon, a casual conversation with topics specifically designed to help local Reformed deacons. There are nearly 1,000 deacons in the OPC alone, so let’s take this opportunity to learn from and encourage one another. We’re so glad you could join us. Let’s jump into our next episode of The Reformed Deacon.
Tim Hopper: My name is Tim Hopper. I’m a deacon at Shiloh OPC in Raleigh, North Carolina. In this episode of The Reformed Deacon, I’m going to talk with Cornelius Van Dam, emeritus professor of Old Testament Studies at Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary and author of The Deacon: Biblical Foundations for Today’s Ministry of Mercy, among many other books and articles on a variety of subjects. Welcome, Dr. Van Dam. It’s great to have you on our show.
Dr. Van Dam: Yes, thank you for the privilege of being with you here.
Tim Hopper: Well, we’re very thankful for your book. OPC Committee on Diaconal Ministries has a love for this book, and I personally, as a deacon in my own church, we’re actually reading through it right now as our, our diaconate— we have 3 new deacons as of last year, so —reading through it and discussing it together, and it’s a book that I always recommend to anyone in our church who’s interested in, in learning more about the diaconal ministry, and we thank you for that. It’s been a great resource. Can you tell us a little bit about the history and motivation for putting this book together?
Dr. Van Dam: Yeah, I was a minister for 10 years, a pastor, and it struck me that every time we had new ordination of office bearers, especially deacons, they would come up to me afterwards, the ones who were ordained for the first time, and say, “Now what exactly am I supposed to do?” Well, what ‘What can you refer me to?’ So then I would refer him to the works of P.Y. de Young and so on. But that question always kind of bugged me because I didn’t think there was actually a good holistic treatment of the office. Virtually all the books start with the New Testament, but God has a history with his people, and therefore I wanted to put it in a broader framework to illustrate the, the principles and the importance of caring for the needy in the midst of God’s people.
Tim Hopper: And you come from a background of Old Testament studies, and, and the book really lays out that Old Testament foundation. Can you just share with us briefly, for people who maybe haven’t thought about what the Old Testament foundation of diaconate is, where do we see that, uh, and start to form in the Old Testament?
Dr. Van Dam: Yeah, perhaps I can best answer that question by saying that there are at least 6 basic principles that we find in the Old Testament that impact on the office of deacon in the New Testament. For example, who are the poor? Well, to answer that question, we need to go back the Old Testament. And the Old Testament really helps us to see that the poor are not just those who don’t have enough money. The poor include the oppressed. The poor include those who are— feel powerless, those who are afflicted. All these conditions can have different causes. It can be a social cause, it can be a mental cause, it can be a medical cause. So that’s one thing. The Old Testament sensitizes us to the fact that the poor include a whole wide range of people who have lost the joy of life, lost the joy in the Lord. And is that element of joy that the Old Testament stresses, you know, your people, you’ve been delivered from Egypt, rejoice in the redemption of God. And anything that takes away from that joy should be countered with the comfort of the redemption, including tending to the needs of those who are poor and needy. Also, the Old Testament gives an order of responsibility. In the Old Testament, the family comes first, and then society, and then finally the king. So you have that principle that also impacts New Testament. Furthermore, we live in a multicultural society, but Israel was also multicultural, and there are wonderful principles on this multicultural issue that are very helpful for us today. Again, we have to go back to the Old Testament has practical impact on how deacons deal with our situation today with refugees, immigrants, that whole thing. Another principle in the Old Testament that’s very important for us is that if Israel obeyed God’s laws, she would be a shining light for the nations. Well, there you have it. We have to be a shining light to our nation. And there again, the, the actual work— one of the principles goes all the way back to the Old Testament. Another thing that’s very interesting is that the Old Testament did not have the office of deacon. Why is that? Well, that stresses again the first responsibility of the family and of the people of God to take care of the need. It’s everybody’s responsibility. Now, in the New Testament, we transition into a totally different context. The nation of God’s people becomes, as it were, invisible, as detached from the land., and so God in his wisdom and sovereign grace gave us the office of deacon. But when you reflect back on all these principles, they all go back to the Old Testament.
Tim Hopper: Yeah, that’s very good, and I would commend the chapter, uh, or chapters maybe in the book on that to people because I think it’s not something we think through carefully enough. I, I think it’s it from your book you have the quote from the form of ordination for deacons in your, um, Canadian Reformed Church, um, Book of Church Order, the quote, “No one in the congregation of Christ may live uncomforted under the pressure of sickness, loneliness, and poverty.” Uh, and I, I’ve kept that in mind over the years, and it’s been helpful reminder for me that poverty is not the only form of, of being poor. And that’s been particularly relevant to us in the last couple years with the pandemic and just seeing a lot of people who are downcast and, you know, they’re still making ends meet. Um, but Being aware that that’s part of our calling as deacons to serve in that way, uh, has been a helpful thing to keep in the forefront.
Dr. Van Dam: Yes, I completely agree. The pandemic has really elevated the role of the deacon.
Tim Hopper: Yeah, one of the points you make in the book is that it’s important for church members to not rush to refer a need to the deacons instead of trying to meet it themselves. Can you elaborate on that? Because I think that’s something that sometimes people misunderstand.
Dr. Van Dam: Sure. Just as was evident in the Old Testament, also in the New Testament, the family has the first responsibility. And maybe I can refer you to two passages in particular. 1 Timothy 5:3 says, honor widows who are really widows, but if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents, for this is good and acceptable before God. So children have a real obligation to help their parents. If they become indigent or needy in any way or form. Also, 1 Timothy 5:8 says, if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Wow, that’s pretty— that’s pretty harsh. But that shows how important it is in God’s sight that those who are closest to the needy have the first responsibility. In that same chapter, 1 Timothy 5, in verse 16, we read, if any believing woman has widows in her care, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them so that it can help those widows who are really needy. So again, the principle is help the needy closest to you so that you can be of assistance to them. And of course, there’s many blessings associated with helping family members. I mean, it really brings the family together. There’s joy. They experience God’s favor and blessing in helping each other. Those families are blessed, and practical life experience teaches us that. There can be a family with some issues, and then suddenly there’s a crisis, they all come together, and everybody feels a lot better, and there’s more communication, more fellowship.
Tim Hopper: Yeah, very good. I often mention that to our congregation, that one of the most encouraging things that can happen to us as deacons is to hear news from someone the congregation that, oh, we, we saw this need and we just went and met it.
Dr. Van Dam: Yeah, yeah.
Tim Hopper: Uh, and it’s such a blessing to us to, to see that. And, and part of our calling, uh, I think the, the PCA’s Book of Church Order talks about how deacons are to stir up the grace of liberality in the congregation. And to see your congregation serving one another without necessarily needing the deacons is, it’s such a blessing and, and it motivates us in our own ministry. And I’d love to see that. Did you have in your study for this book or otherwise any favorite authors that you’ve, uh, come across on other writings on the diaconate?
Dr. Van Dam: Yeah, I guess, uh, P.Y. de Jong was one of my favorites. His work is a bit dated, but also Berghoof and de Coster, the Deacon’s Handbook. It’s, it’s a bit dated too, but still very, very useful. These are hands-on books and very, very helpful. Timothy Keller, of course, has also given some very helpful literature. He’s got a book from 1985, Resources for Deacons: Love Express Through Mercy Ministries, and he also has the Ministries of Mercy, the Kala Jericho Road, which, uh, deals especially with those outside the fellowship of the church. So there are some very helpful, uh, works out there. Matt Smedhurst has recently published Deacons: How They Serve and Strengthen the Church. Nine Marks put that out. So there’s material out there that’s very helpful. My purpose in the book was to really underline the, the magnificent work of God in both Old and New Testament, and how the deacon grows out of God’s concern for his people, and that we’re part of a long history of taking care of the needy. And I think especially today, with the state becoming more and more socialistic, it’s really important to reaffirm the place of the church —and the family, the fellowship, and taking care of those who are in need, that we don’t just shrug people off to government agencies.
Tim Hopper: Amen. The book does have a very helpful bibliography in the end that lists a number of those, or if not all of those references, as well as very thorough footnotes, which I love to see as a very helpful aspect of your book. I’ve read a lot of these different works and think none of them really provide quite the kind of comprehensive overview that is available in your book, which is, is why I recommend it to people. But, um, it’s great to dig into those sources as as well, and I, I enjoy reading some of the older sources too. Just even, you know, the ones that are seemingly dated in ways is a good reminder of getting out of our, our chronological snobbery that C.S. Lewis talked about, that maybe we don’t have it all figured out, maybe we forgot some things. One of the issues you tackle in the book is the role of women in diaconal ministry, which we know is a thorny and sometimes divisive issue, and you look at it both theologically as well as historically. Can you maybe just give us a little summary of —of, of, uh, how you looked at that and the approach you took there.
Dr. Van Dam: Yeah, first let me just outline very, very briefly biblical evidence, because that’s where it all comes down to. That’s where the crunch is. In 1 Timothy 3, we have the qualifications for a deacon, and in the middle of those qualifications, it suddenly starts about women. And in verse 11 of 1 Timothy 3 says, women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate. Faithful in all things. So who are these women? The, the Greek original specifically has the word for woman. Now most translations have simply translated women and then— or wives of the deacons, because the context is diaconal. But more recently people have been saying, oh, these are deaconesses. But it should be very well understood that the term is not deacon or servant, the term is woman. So I don’t think that passage, uh, supports women deacons. The other passage is one that Calvin favored, 1 Timothy 5:9, about the enrollment of widows for special service in the church. And Calvin used that as a justification for unordained deaconesses to, to help the poor in the hospitals especially that he established in Geneva, the care of the sick. Now there’s a lot that can be said about all of this But for the purpose of this podcast, there’s only one other passage that should be mentioned. That is Phoebe in Romans 12, verse 1 and 2. I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae. There the term diakonos is used, but does it mean servant or does it mean deaconet? Well, the discussion goes on and on, which shows that there’s no conclusive evidence either way. What I do find very, very telling is that in the first two centuries of the Christian church, there is no evidence of any woman being ordained as a deacon. So that indicates to me that Phoebe was probably just a servant of the church, a messenger who was helping the church out in different ways. As a matter of fact, the Didache, or the teaching of the 12 apostles, which is first century— a late first century Christian document— that says that men are to be selected as deacons. So very, very clearly excluding women. So you ask yourself, well, what happened? Why, why is everybody talking about women deaconesses in the early church? Well, by the 3rd century, in the latter part of the 3rd century, the Syrian Church Order explained the necessity of female deacons. And what was the situation? Well, for cultural reasons, women should visit women when they’re sick or in need. And for reasons of modesty, since baptism was performed in the nude, women were then used to baptize female converts. So there was a very specific background, but even that institution of deaconesses did not find general favor in the Eastern Church, and at a later point it was even forbidden in the Western Church. So you cannot really appeal to tradition to justify female deacons today. Now, what has happened is that because of Calvin supporting non-ordained deaconesses, the Reformed churches, uh, in the Netherlands, for example, they for a time had deaconesses. But when the churches came together in synod, they did not go for it. And so Calvin’s idea did not get any traction in terms of providing the tradition of deaconesses in the churches. Now, there are different cultures and there are different situations in Korea. The deaconesses are very well established, but they have no ecclesiastical authority in the, in the sense that we think of authority. So it’s, it’s more like Calvin’s paradigm, and other Presbyterian churches have a similar situation where the deaconesses are simply there to help. Now, having said all that, let’s switch over to a typical Canadian Reformed Orthodox Presbyterian church. Women are an enormous resource. For the work of the deacons. I mean, deacons couldn’t function without women. And amen, you know, the wives of deacons can be enormous help in sensitive situations. In terms of volunteer labor, how many women haven’t prepared meals for shut-ins and haven’t helped the work of the, the ministry of keeping alive the joy in the church? I mean, women are indispensable, and I think we should emphasize and emphasize over and over again that just because they’re not formally ordained, me oh my, the contribution they make is, is priceless. We couldn’t do without them. And, um, the Church certainly, uh, really values and rejoices in the work of, of, of the women in the supporting role. They don’t need to be ordained. They’re already called prophetesses, priestesses, and queens in God’s service, and they can use that also in diaconal service.
Tim Hopper: Yeah, amen. And I think particularly, you know, you can think about the passage about Phoebe. It gets caught up in this debate over whether or not she was kind of a big D ordained deacon, and you can then start to overlook the fact that Paul is, uh, you know, commending her for her service to Christ. And, and she was doing an invaluable work, uh, it seems. And that should be something that all believers should be striving to, to serve in the same way, and women included. And, and should be able to receive that exact same commendation that Phoebe received. And we should thank the Lord for that, and, and thank the Lord for many women who are serving in our churches, uh, very faithfully.
Dr. Van Dam: Yes, and in addition to that, the word for diaconos is a word that is so general. It’s used of anybody who’s of service.
Tim Hopper: Yeah, yeah. And let’s, let’s all try to be like Christ, who came to not to be served but to serve, right? And then we can join Phoebe in being like Christ, and then we can all be deacons in that way as ministers or servants of Christ in our churches and in the world. Amen. One of the things you talk about that we’ve been discussing in our own congregation and in the OPC is this idea of diaconal visitation, and I think it’s probably something that is not practiced in our churches as much as it should be. Can you go into what, what is diaconal visitation and, and why is it important?
Dr. Van Dam: Yeah, when I was a minister, I actually introduced diaconal visitation in our congregation for the very first time, uh, because it was not done. But there was a movement in the Netherlands that really caught my eye, and, uh, I benefited from it, where Professor Trimp at the time stressed the need for diaconal visits. So what we did was we had a congregational meeting and we explained the, the work of the deacons and why it would be good for the deacons to visit people in their home, not to be nosy, but for three main purposes. I I should explain first of all that we have wards in our congregation. So each congregation is divided into wards with two deacons assigned to each ward, and these deacons can then visit either individually or together the different families in the ward. The first purpose is to establish a level of trust and being comfortable with each other, find out about each other, meet the family, ask general questions— what do you do for work and how are you functioning in society? You know, just, just to get a kind of an inventory of the family and to build bridges, to build A subsequent visit could be more pointed in asking, what kind of gifts would you have that could contribute to the well-being of the church? How do you see yourself as being able to help others? And of course, connected with that is another purpose, and that is, is there any way that we as deacons can be of service to you? Is there anything that’s lacking in your life that we can help? In other words, trying to be proactive both in assessing whether there are needs, but also in asking whether they have thought about how they could contribute to the communion of saints. And that has been a real blessing, uh, where this was implemented, because people realize that the diaconal ministry is a vital part of the church. It’s not just, you know, to hand out a check now and then. It’s all about fellowship and gendering the joy in the church. And being of service to each other. A very wealthy family can be burdened by a child with disabilities, by a sickness in the family, by grief of a loss of loved one. Maybe somebody’s in jail from the extended family. Like, all kinds of things that can take away the joy. It’s not just the money. So the akhmo visits, I think, really help in getting to know the congregation, being familiar with their lives, and being comfortable with each other so that if there is a need they will more readily come to the deacons as well.
Tim Hopper: That’s excellent, and that’s a good admonition and reminder for us, and it’s easy to overlook those needs— people who appear to be all fine, and maybe there are things that aren’t going well, or maybe they could be engaged in serving in other ways. Our, our deacons— before we were reading your book together, we read a little book by Ed Welch, uh, called Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love. Um, it’s a little, uh, kind of counseling book, interpersonal counseling. And one of the big takeaways we had from that book was that you should be striving to get to know the people in your church well enough that you could know how to pray for each individual. So your conversation goes beyond just the, you know, the small talk and, you know, how’s the weather, how’s work, but that you know how you could be praying for them. And that was a, a bit of a wake-up call for me and thinking about knowing my congregation, and particularly as a deacon. And we’re a busy growing congregation, and it’s, it’s very easy to just stay busy and have things to do all the time. And, uh, the lesson for me was I need to kind of just step back and, and get to know people better and, and know what’s going on in their lives and know how to pray for them and know how to encourage them and support them. And, and I think at least for personalities like me where it’s always just like, okay, on to the next thing on the to-do list, it’s hard to step back and get to know people. And visitation, I think, is an excellent way to, to work towards that.
Dr. Van Dam: Yeah, and it makes people comfortable with each other. It really facilitates communisaints. It makes praying easier as well together. Yeah, you really feel connected.
Tim Hopper: And I think another thing we talk about, and authors have noticed before, that Deacons can also just work so much towards the peace and well-being of the church, and certainly the elders should be doing that as well, but just in the way that the deacons can interact with the congregation can often, you know, smooth over frustrations and help build relationships between people, and there’s just a lot of opportunity for what deacons can do in those interpersonal relationships, and we need to remember that we’re not just there to fix a toilet and swing a hammer, but to get to know people and, and pray for them and encourage them.
Dr. Van Dam: Yes, absolutely.
Tim Hopper: Amen. I guess on that same vein, in the book you talk about how deacons can be involved in promoting stewardship in the lives of the congregants. An example you give on that, which is excellent and very relevant in our congregation, is even helping those who are preparing for marriage to think about just stewardship and finances in their lives. Can you speak to that a little?
Dr. Van Dam: Yes, the, uh, Yes, I gladly do. So when, uh, couples get married, they typically have a commitment from the pastor that they have some premarital counseling. That’s becoming more or less an expected thing. So they meet the pastor 3 or 4 times or whatever. Sometimes they go through an entire course with the pastor. Well, the pastor in that kind of a context would be very well advised to have deacons participate in at least part of it. Especially when it comes to financial planning, not going over your head in debt, because too much debt is one of the primary reasons for a lack of joy. The pressure become unbearable and things start to happen that shouldn’t happen. So I, I’m a real promoter for, uh, getting deacons involved in premarital counseling. It prevents a lot of grief down the road. Also, it’s a good reminder to them that they’re stewards of God’s resources And if you’re making a big pile of money, you remember there are people out there who don’t have that kind of money. And our marriage form even says that you work also to provide for the needy. So there’s an altruistic element there that it’s good for a couple who are married to just to be reminded of. So yeah, that’s a, a wonderful thing. The other proactive element that I would like to see happen more often is that the congregation be educated from time to time, that the, uh, office bearers simply call together a congregational meeting and say, let’s discuss issues related to the akhnet. What about stewardship? How do we handle our money? What are the priorities in our life? What does God expect of us? We live in a very prosperous society, and we live in a global village as well, but we also live in an immediate community. We live as a fellowship. What do we do with our resources? Is it just for the next boat or the next cottage, or are there other priorities? And I think in our materialistic culture, it’s not redundant to have a meeting like that once in a while just to remind ourselves what God expects of the wealth he is placing in our hands.
Tim Hopper: I’m a big fan of all the things you’ve said, and I, I tell people frequently, you know, my— one of my biggest fears as a deacon is not that we’re going to find someone in our congregation who isn’t able to put, put food in their mouth or their children’s mouths. That’s very rare in our affluent society, but we could have somebody with $100,000 of credit card debt and have no idea. And I think that prevents the joy that we should have in our— in Christ and in our lives. That is very true. And we try to, try to be proactive with people. And I think marriage is a great opportunity— a great time for people to be thinking about that. We offer in our congregation when couples are married, which we’ve been blessed with many in the last 10 years, to help pay for them to go to the— to a Dave— the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class. And, you know, we don’t give a full agreement with everything Dave Ramsey says, but just as a very good time for the couple to learn and even more than anything else that to learn to talk to each other about money is a hard thing for a lot of couples, and that, that class really forces you to every week be talking about that, and we help pay for that if that’s a— oh, good— of value to people. And I think pretty much without fail, those who have taken us up on that have really appreciated it and, and exemplified good stewardship, and we’re thankful for that. So I think this is a great, excellent reminder for us in our churches.
Dr. Van Dam: Yes.
Tim Hopper: A couple more questions before we wrap up. You talk in your book about the relationship between elders and deacons and how they should work in cooperation with one another. And this, this can be maybe a surprisingly tricky thing for that to do well, and there can be issues here. Can you give us some examples what that can look like, or patterns that could be followed in churches?
Dr. Van Dam: Yeah, before I do, I want to just lay out the ground and emphasize a couple of points. Both elders and deacons are in Christ’s service. They’re responsible to Christ. They’re in a sense responsible to each other, but their first accountability is to Christ. And so there’s a certain unity between these offices, and that’s why Scripture often mentions them together. But they are also very distinct. They have different responsibilities. Now, because both elders and deacons are in Christ’s service and responsible to Christ in the first place, therefore the deacon is not the servant of the elder. I think that needs to be said. At least it’s, it’s a good reminder in our circles. And also, secondly, the two offices need to cooperate together. So how do we do that? Well, I think that the akon office should at every opportunity remind those whom they’re ministering to the enormous importance of the ministry of the word and listening to the word and listening to the elders as they give spiritual guidance and comfort in Christ. And so when deacons give assistance to those in need. They should also emphasize the importance not just of putting food on the table, but also getting the spiritual food from the preaching of the word, from the counsel of the elders. It’s just as important— it’s even more important because it’s the eternal life that’s at stake. In turn, the pulpit and the elders can underline the importance of the diaconal work and say, you know, circulate your gifts. The deacons are there to encourage you to do that. Be a positive influence in the congregation. So there’s a give and take. Now, on the practical level, when I was a minister, there was a situation in the congregation and I said, why don’t the deacon and the elder involved meet together? So there’s a situation where there’s a family in spiritual trouble, but the spiritual trouble has a basis in debt. You know, they can’t manage their money. So the elder actually needs the deacon and the deacon actually needs the elder. So they should meet together and perhaps even visit the family together. There should be cooperation to, to help each other, to help that family. And the deacons can focus on the material side of things and focus on the, the purpose of maintaining the joy in the congregation, and the elders can focus especially on the spiritual aspect that is needed. Now, when deacons visit, they should do it also prayerfully and pray with the people they visit, administer the word to them, but the focus of their visit is diaconal. When elders visit, they also administer the word, and that’s the focus of their visit, to administer the word in terms of challenging them, admonishing them, encouraging, comforting them. And they also pray. But between the overlap, you know, apart from the overlap, there are very specific emphases in both the eldership and the deaconship. So they’re united in Christ’s service, but they have distinct responsibilities. But these responsibilities overlap, and when they do, they should cooperate and help each other for the sake of the congregation. For the sake of the people involved.
Tim Hopper: That’s great, very helpful. Thank you. Just one final question: if you had a piece of advice for someone thinking of becoming a deacon in his local church, what advice would you offer?
Dr. Van Dam: Well, first of all, I would rejoice with him, and I would say, you know, that’s great. And I would encourage him to use his gifts for Christ’s Church. It’s a very noble thing to share what God has given you in his, uh, sovereign grace with others. If he has special gift. The second thing I would do after I encourage him is to urge him to equip himself as much as possible by reading good literature, reading scripture, reading accompanying literature. Equip yourself so that the gifts God has given you— gifts of empathy, counseling, comforting— that those gifts can be made even better by a godly preparation through the study of God’s word and the study of helpful literature. People nowadays, I’m told, don’t read much. It’s all, uh, image culture, and it’s click here, click there. And people, if they want to prepare themselves for ministry in the church as a deacon, they should just prepare to sit down and get a good book and go through it, or meditate on appropriate scriptures and so on. And that’s why I, I gave reading references at the back to help, and also questions to stimulate discussion.
Tim Hopper: Yes, and I, I would commend what we’re doing as a diakonit— and, uh, going through and discussing that in your meetings. We use those questions, and it’s been very helpful. Thank you so much, Dr. Van Damme, for taking the time to discuss aspects of the role of deacon in the church. We did want to mention to the listeners, um, June, June 2022, we’ll be having another OPC National Diaconal Summit, uh, in Illinois, and the Committee on Diaconal Ministries plans to give out copies of this book to all the attendees, uh, Dr. Van Damme’s book, The Deacon: Biblical Foundations for Today’s Ministry of Mercy. So if you want to find out more information about our summit, you can go to the Committee on Diakonal Ministry’s website, opccd.org, or to our podcast website, thereformeddeacon.org. Check out the notes from this episode. Uh, thank you again for joining us on this episode, Dr. Van Dam.
Dr. Van Dam: It’s been a pleasure, and may the Lord bless your ministry in the OPC. I have a lot of good contacts within the OPC, and I really rejoice in the work you’re doing.
Tim Hopper: Thank you, brother, and we’ll see you again next time on the Reformed Deacon Podcast.
Pete Unink: This is Pete Unink, Deacon at Covenant OPC in Orland Park, Illinois. Deacon brothers, did you know that the OPC National Diaconal Summit is just around the corner? Have you made plans to come to the 3-day summit in June? I have. I have attended the 3 previous summits and they did not disappoint. From the talks, to the fellowship, to the food, it was all so well planned and made such good use of our time. So register soon for a time of training, encouragement, and refreshment with your fellow deacons. As Deacon Tim Hopper mentioned in this episode, by attending you will receive Dr. Van Dam’s book, The Deacon: Biblical Foundations for Today’s Ministry of Mercy, along with free merchandise from the Reformed Deacon Podcast. This opportunity only comes every 4 to 5 years, so don’t miss it. Go to opccdm.org to register or to get more information. Thanks for joining us. Go to our website, thereformeddeacon.org. There you will find all our episodes, program notes, and other helpful resources. And please make plans to join us again next month for another episode of the Reformed Deacon Podcast. [MUSIC]