Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC)

The charge to Rock Spring’s Board of Deacons is a broad one:

• Organizing and helping with various parts of worship services at Rock Spring, including assisting the pastors in the administration of the sacraments of baptism and communion.
• Supporting members and friends who are ill or in need.
• Welcoming new members and helping to integrate them into the life of the church.
• Welcoming visitors and supporting outreach efforts.
• Working with the pastors to address Rock Springers’ spiritual needs.

As the church looks forward to calling a senior pastor, the Board of Deacons is exploring new ways to accomplish its work. One of these is to make opportunities available to everyone to participate in worship services by doing such things as greeting, ushering, being liturgists, and helping with fellowship and outreach activities. Members of the board continue to seek ways to foster spirituality and to be an extravagantly welcoming church to both new members and the wider community.

With the recent reduction in the board membership from 18 to 12, the Board of Deacons fulfills its responsibilities by inviting former Deacons to serve communion and by enlisting dozens of volunteers from the membership to assist the Deacons in such roles as hospitality, liturgy, and ushering.  Several Committees operate under the oversight of the Deacons, including Caring Ministry, Movable Feast Planning, the Membership Committee, and the Worship Committee.

• The Caring Ministry is a network of care that supports members and friends of Rock Spring who are ill, experiencing a special need, or simply need a way to stay connected to the church family.
• Movable Feast invites Rock Spring members and friends who would like to share meals and fellowship to meet as small groups for a few months.
• The Membership Committee reviews the membership roles annually to make recommendations of which members should be moved to the inactive list,.  It also reaches out to members for whom we have little or no information, in order to update our information and ascertain whether they still wish to remain on the rolls.
• The Worship Committee, made up of both deacon and non-deacon members, fulfills the charge to make worship more meaningful and inclusive. The committee meets regularly to prayerfully consider feedback and to make appropriate recommendations to the clergy and worship leadership.

*Updated on March 9th, 2010