Central Florida Deacon Newsletter
August 2026

Three things to know, listed below!

1. Equip - Chainsaw Training!
   Friday and Saturday October 9th/10th
   MNA Disaster Response is hosting a chainsaw a free chainsaw training at Willow Creek PCA in Winter Springs from Friday evening to Saturday morning.

   Register at: MNA Chainsaw Training
   

2. Support - CrossTown Ministries Supply Drive

   Amazon School Supply Wishlist
   Unfortunately, we were not able to serve CrossTown this summer with a work day, but we still have an opportunity to support this amazing ministry.
   

3. Connect - 2026 Deacon Fellowship:
   September 11th-12th at Orangewood Church.
   Registration is now open for this year’s Deacon Fellowship which will be hosted in partnership with ThirdMill Ministries.

   Register at: tinyurl.com/deacons2026

   Check out the special conference episode of The Deacon’s Table: Deacon’s Display God’s Mercy

This is the “Equip, Support, Connect”
Central Florida Deacon Newsletter.

Hello fellow Deacons!

Just like that everyone is gearing up for the new school year. It has been my prayer that each of you had an excellent summer, and that the heat has not been too hard on your air conditioners. If you have any last minute summer plans, I hope that they are a blessing and that those of us with children make the transition into the school year smoothly.

While back-to-school season does not mean the end of the heat, it does mean that we are in the middle of storm season. I was blessed to join faith leaders from across our state at a meeting with the Executive Director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management this past Wednesday. While the state is expecting a slow storm season, he emphasized the importance of readiness, especially among churches. That is because, as he pointed out, churches have long been the leaders in the disaster response efforts across our state and our country. So, be ready, and pray for no storms.

There are a lot of exciting things coming down the pike in the coming months such as a New Deacon Training Manual, a Deacon Development Guide, Monthly Deacon Catch-up Calls, a new Presbytery website which will likely absorb the Central Florida Deacon site, and of course, our Deacon Fellowship on September 11 and 12. I would love to come visit one of your Diaconate meetings to share more about all of that, and I will be providing more info about each of those things in the next few newsletters.

I hope that August brings many blessing to each of you as well as many opportunities to serve those in need and support the work of your church!

See ya serving!

Your Most Obedient Servant,
Benjamin Schultz.
Administrative Deacon,
Presbytery of Central Florida.

Monthly Deacon Catch-up Calls

One of the many ideas I picked up from our brother Deacons at the OPC National Diaconal Summit was to have monthly times when I host a video call that Deacons are free to join at your convenience. The idea is to set some time aside to chat, catch-up, pray together, and encourage one another.

I will aim for each call to be brief, no longer than 30 minutes, so that it does not take up too much of your valuable time. Right now, I am planning on hosting two calls each month starting in September, one in the morning and one in the evening to offer some flexibility.

I would love to get feedback on the schedule via the link below, but I am tentatively thinking an evening call on the first Tuesday of each month and a morning call on the following Saturday.

This would mean our first calls will be on Tuesday, September 1st from 6-6:30pm and Saturday, September 5th from 8-8:30am. Depending on what feedback I receive, I will confirm or change that schedule and send out the link in the next newsletter.

Catch-up Call Schedule Survey

Three Things:

Your time is valuable and information abounds.
With that in mind, here are three things to know:

EQUIP

Chainsaw Training! Need I say more?

Willow Creek Church:
4725 E Lake Dr. Winter Springs, FL. 32708

Register at: MNA Chainsaw Training

SUPPORT

School Supply Drive

I am sorry that we had to cancel our Joint Service Project and could not serve CrossTown Ministries together.

CrossTown is a school and afterschool program which is cultivating a Gospel environment where loved people love people in the Paramore area of Downtown Orlando.

While we were unable to serve them by refreshing their campus with a joint work day this summer, there is still an opportunity to support their incredible work.

As the school year approaches, they have created a list of things that they could use to help their students thrive. If you, your Diaconate, or anyone in your church might be interested in blessing the staff and students of CrossTown, their wish list can be found here: School Supply Wishlist

CONNECT

The 2026 Deacon Fellowship
September 11th-12th at Orangewood

Our annual Deacon Fellowship is getting closer and closer!

This year, we are partnering with ThirdMill Ministries to host the Deacon Fellowship. This partnership allows us to elevate the fellowship so that we can be Equipped, Supported, and Connected better than ever.

In order to accommodate this partnership and the increased quality of the fellowship, for the first time ever, we are expanding it to two days: Friday, September 11th and Saturday, September 12th.

We will start at 6pm and end at 8:30 on Friday the 11th, then resume again at 8:30 on Saturday, finishing at 2pm. Breakfast and lunch will be provided on Saturday, with a donation request of $10 for lunch.

We will be hearing from Chris Sicks, Pastor of One Voice Fellowship and author of the book “Tangible,” as well as from Randy Nabors, Pastor Emeritus of New City Fellowship and author of the book “Merciful.”

In addition to hearing from these great speakers, we will have the unique opportunity to network with brothers and sisters in Christ from other denominations who are serving here in Central Florida and connect with agencies, ministries, organizations, resources, etc. that can help us better serve those in need.

For more information about this year’s conference, check out the special conference episode of The Deacon’s Table: Deacon’s Display God’s Mercy

You can register now at: tinyurl.com/deacons2026

I look forward to seeing you there!

Here to Serve

Contact me

benjamin@cfdeacon.org