Central installs new deacons
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Kevin Rhoton, Ronnie Rogers and Jeff Vance join the ranks of existing Central deacons, whose role in church organization is to serve fellow Christians and the general community, according to New Testament patterns and precepts. As pulpit minister Tim Parish emphasized, ?Deacon is not a title. It?s a job, it?s a lifestyle.?
“The charge to you men today is that you serve as Christians” to God, church and community, elder Nestor Stewart said in framing the duties of deacons. And what should a newly-created deacon desire upon entering that office? Stewart asked.
Rhoton, who formerly served as deacon at Collegeside Church of Christ in Cookeville, is an agent with Farm Bureau Insurance. He and his wife, Shelly, have two daughters, Emma and Abby.
A computer specialist with ATA Services at the Arnold Engineering Development Center, Rogers and his wife, Cindy, have one son, C.J.
Vance, who is manager of purchasing and customer service at Metal Products Company in McMinnville, and his wife, Ann, are parents of one son, Will.
The trio joins 10 other Central men who have been serving as deacons for a number of years.
Among the programs in which the deacons and other Central members are active are the community-wide clothing recycling center and emergency food and furniture distribution. Other on-going activities include an expanding youth program, domestic and foreign mission support, Christian higher education, visitation for sick and elderly, and a planned retirement village.
One of the newest outreach efforts at Central is a ministry to inmates at Warren County Jail. In operation since last June, the program counts 16 baptisms or restorations, according to Dale Randoph, one of the organizers. Some 45 to 50 Central members are involved in the ministry, including those who grade Bible homework done by inmates, and women who bake pies given as holiday treats to the jail population.