Here is another example of and reference to The Three Tables from Baptist history. In the Thursday, September 17, 1908, edition of The Journal and Messenger, the “Central National Baptist Paper,” we find an interesting article in which the writer recounts a deacon installation service at Bethel Baptist Church in Mad River Association. In that “impressive service,” two men named Albert Hance and Clinton Gordon “were set apart as deacons.” The sermon was preached by Rev. David Kerr. In it, Rev. Kerr argued that Isaiah’s vision “for his prophetic work…is just as essential for the deacon’s work as it is for the pastor’s work.” Following the sermon and prayer, Pastor C.M. Briggs [I believe it is “Briggs”; the print is distorted] “offered words of counsel, exhorting them to walk worthy of their office as deacons and to watch the needs of the three tables, viz.: the Lord’s table, the table of the poor, and the table of the pastor.”
This language is helpful: “watch the needs of the three tables.”
The Three Tables model is one of service and service necessitates watching in order to know when, where, and how service is to be offered. It is not enough to stand at a table and stare into the distance. We must be attentive to the needs of the table.
Wise words from yesteryear!
