Doulos

by Pastor David

“Doulos” is the Greek word for slave. It’s also the name of our summer internship program. Far from being a dismissive term, “doulos” represents the heart of Christian leadership. Jesus’ disciples had the same worldly, upside-down perspective of leadership that we are prone to ourselves. They argued which of them would be the greatest, got upset when James and John tried to weasel their way into sitting on Jesus’ left and right hands, and fought over who would be the greatest among them. Jesus corrected their selfish perspective by explaining, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:42-44). The greatest example of servant leadership is Jesus himself, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

In that spirit, we have asked our interns to embrace the title “doulos” and to slave for a summer for our local church. This is now our second summer of Doulos, and we are thrilled to have Siona Savini and Jake Desroches with us. Siona’s main focus will be in music. First, he’ll be leading our Sunday morning worship in music. He’ll serve us through choosing our songs, picking a music team weekly and directing rehearsals, and then leading us corporately on Sundays. Siona will also be putting together our music plans for both Summerfest and River of Life. Jake’s main focus will be our youth ministry. He’ll be planning and carrying out our direction for River of Life, counseling at Hume Lake, and having weekly discipleship meetings for junior high and high school. Besides their main focus, Siona and Jake will also be involved in a variety of church life like Upward, Kidsfest, and more.

Our hope for Doulos is that while our interns will serve our church, we will simultaneously serve them. Jake and Siona will have a staff meeting on Monday with Pastor Scott and David, which is a time to review the previous week, look forward to the next, and have pastoral time together. A second meeting on Thursdays allows us to have accountability time, review sermons and a book, and grow together. Besides that, our prayer is that you will be able to invest in Siona and Jake. We are thankful for the Buchers, who are housing Siona, and the Hoffmans who are hosting Jake. Wherever Jake and Siona serve, you have a chance to get to know them, to speak into their lives, and to minister with them. There are also plenty of chances to have them over for meals and to live life together as the church. So as we head into this summer of Doulos, let’s all follow Christ’s example of living as a slave for others. Only then will our leadership look like His.