BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Village Lutheran Church in Bronxville gained a new deacon recently, after Tuckahoe resident Rosemarie Gustafson graduated from the Lay Deacon Program.

Gustafson was added as a lay deacon at a special service last month. The congregation began a Deacon Training Program training site through the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod a decade ago.

Deacons at the church assist the pastoral office of the congregation with both word and service. They are typically volunteer positions, though they receive significant and in-depth seminary level training.

According to Robert Hartwell, the senior pastor of the Village Lutheran Church, the congregation has seven active deacons and one intern in the program. He added that deacons are essential in helping the church run efficiently.

“The early church instituted the diaconate to help the apostles when the demands of the ministry became too great,” he said. “Deacons serve a crucial role in the church of extending the congregation’s ministry to the sick and home bound, to programs and educational endeavors and in worship services.”