Meet Your Fellow Deacons: New Hope OPC, Green Bay, WI

Some of the New Hope OPC Deacons: Mike Spronk, Jim Wilke, Rick Cohler Todd Kirsteater and David Schoeneweiss. Not pictured: Josh Agen and Bill Knoespel

There are currently seven active deacons at New Hope OPC. Representing the New Hope OPC, Green Bay, Wisconsin deacons:

Deacon Josh Agen grew up attending New Hope OPC after his parents discovered orthodox preaching on Christian radio and left a mainline church. He left the Green Bay area for about 20 years for college and career but moved back in 2017. He is now beginning his fourth year as a deacon at New Hope OPC and sixth year as a deacon in the OPC.

He began serving at a very small OP congregation simply because there was an acute need for men to serve. He says, "I didn't think I had gifts that were particularly suited toward serving as a deacon. However, I have found serving as a deacon to be a great blessing as it gives me an opportunity to be directly involved in one of the ways God extends mercy to those in need, and to share the gospel with individuals seeking help from outside of the church." New Hope has a food pantry and distributes grocery and gas cards to individuals who request aid from the community. They are also actively involved in assisting and advising people within the church family who have continuing needs. They have a separate Mercy Ministry committee that deals with more outward focused ministry such as a Bible study at a local jail, fundraising to support various local organizations, and nursing home ministry.

Josh says that the diaconate sometimes struggles to know how best to help or motivate individuals who seem unwilling to take positive actions to improve their situation. He would like to grow in that area, but he says that one of the greatest strengths of the diaconate is, "the care and servant-heartedness of the other deacons [which has been] a wonderful testimony [to him] of the gracious work of the Holy Spirit in their lives."

Deacon Rick Cohler says, "I have been a deacon at New Hope for more than 30 years and currently serve as head deacon. I was drawn by the ministry of assisting our members and others who are in need. My late wife, Fran, and I have two adult children, a son in Evanston, IL and a daughter in San Diego, each with their own family. Fran went home to the Lord in 2015. After being alone for four years, God brought a lovely woman named Charlene into my life and we've been married a year-and-a-half. She has two adult children with families. Between the two of us we have seven grandsons and one granddaughter. 

New Hope offers a small food pantry, and gas and grocery cards as an outreach. Our monetary aid is usually for members only, though we have made exceptions. Our greatest strength is our unity in Christ. A frequent challenge is working with someone who just sees us as another source of income. After several times of assistance we ask the person to come speak with us about their needs. That rarely occurs and we tell them we can no longer assist them without a conference. There have been several people, however, who have been brought to Christ through their interaction with the diaconate. We provide a moving ministry to members as a demonstration of Christian brotherhood.

We issue a call for additional volunteers and are always blessed with the large crew which shows up. Each deacon takes his turn as "Deacon of the week" and handles any calls which come into the church office.  This keeps the responsibilities spread out so they don't become burdensome. Occasionally as a term nears its end I consider not running for reelection, but God always puts it on my heart that He wants me there to keep me humble.

Deacon Dave Schoeneweiss has been a deacon for six years. He and his wife were active in their previous church, but when the church split, the Lord led them to New Hope OPC.

Dave says that he was particularly drawn to diaconal work because of the coupling of witnessing opportunities with serving and giving to physical needs. He says that humility and service have been the greatest lessons the Lord has taught him as a deacon.

When he reflects on the diaconate's strengths he says, "I like when we can debate suggestions on how to help people, with everyone having some input. By opening decisions up to debate, it gets people thinking before they vote. I like that we can all agree to disagree and come together in the Lord's name in the end....seeing the results of the deacons' service in people's lives with the Lord's blessing [has encouraged me the most as a deacon.]" 

Deacon Mike Spronk has been serving as a deacon at New Hope OPC for about 8 years. Prior to being at New Hope he was a deacon in a Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in Minnesota. He was a pig farmer for many years before moving to the Green Bay area.

While in the CRC he was involved in Volunteers in Ministry, which is an organization associated with the CRC that provides furniture to families in need. He says he enjoys being a deacon: "It's fun learning about other people and having lunch with them." He would like to see the diaconate grow in their work of sharing Christ, but is thankful for the congregation's generosity in recent years which has enabled them to serve and give much more freely to those in need.