Deacons in the Church

Can y'all help me out here and explain to me what the Biblical role of deacons is? I understand their qualifications--is that where I am to derive their role?

Also, how do deacons function in the house-church model? Is it distinctly different from the typical Baptist church?

My questions come from a conversation I had with a brother--I told him that I didn't think that deacons were supposed to make rules in the church. But to be honest, that theology has been developed in a box, because I have never really had a meaningful discussion about it with anyone. It's not really something we have Sunday school classes over.

Thanks!

Weren't deacons first appointed in Acts to assist with serving at the tables so that the apostles would be free to minister in prayer and studying and preaching the Word.
So I would say they are in a ministry of helps, helping administer in practical ways, the finances and other means of the local church.

They are appointed as and when necessary so a small house church gathering may not require deacons at all?

They are appointed to serve, not to rule. If anyone should be ruling that would be the elders.

Blessings,

Further to previous response:

"What are some duties that deacons might be responsible for today? They could be responsible for anything that’s not related to teaching and shepherding the church. Such duties might include:

Facilities: The deacons could be responsible for managing the church property. This would include making sure the place of worship is prepared for the worship service, cleaning up, or running the sound system.

Benevolence: Similar to what took place in Acts 6:1”“6 with the daily distribution to the widows, the deacons may be involved in administrating funds or other assistance to the needy.

Finances: While the elders should probably oversee the financial business of the church (Acts 11:30), it may be best left to the deacons to handle the day-to-day matters. This would include collecting and counting the offering, keeping records, and so on.

Ushers: The deacons could be responsible for distributing bulletins, seating the congregation, or preparing the elements for communion.

Logistics: Deacons should be available to help in variety of ways so that the elders are able to concentrate on teaching and shepherding the church.

CONCLUSION

Whereas the Bible charges elders with the tasks of teaching and leading the church, deacons’ role is more service-oriented. That is, they are to care for the physical or temporal concerns of the church. By handling such matters, deacons free up the elders to focus on shepherding the spiritual needs of the congregation.

Yet even though deacons are not the congregation’s spiritual leaders, their character is of utmost importance, which is why deacons should be examined and held to the biblical qualifications laid down in 1 Timothy 3."

In the baptist church I attend, what I would call an elder they call deacons.

And in other churches I have attended there were elders but no deacons.

But I agree that in scripture the elders seem to be involved in the more spiritual aspects of the body and deacons the practical aspects.

Yet both must be spirit filled and we see deacons preaching- Stephen and Philip.

Greg, were there 3 divisions in the early church? I had been taught that bishops and presbyters were the same office.

How interesting! Definitely gonna read more about it! Btw, my pastor gave the go ahead the start constructing the curriculum for church history. Any suggestions on resources?

congregations vary as to the responsibilities of a Deacon. Some are little more than glorified ushers, others are full elders and decision makers voted into their office by the congregation.
What must be known and understood in Deaconship? A godly life, a boldness to declare the gospel, a humility that does not intrude upon higher callings, a willingness to serve in menial tasks according to man's judgment. A Deacon is called and ordained by God to serve the congregation with the preaching of the gospel, with the serving hand of the gospel and with the humility and joy that adorns the gospel.
Deacons that cannot declare the gospel are not deacons, deacons vying for power and position are not functioning as deacons; and deacons functioning like business executives are fundamentally erring in their example.

What I saw in my studies so far:

The English word for 'deacon' = servant.
So the texts in the New Testament in some translations say 'Elders and deacons', but should be read like: Elders and Servants.

Words for elders are:
- Elders
- Shepherds (pastor)
- Overseers (bisshop)
- Leaders

So you got one group that is leading, over-seeing, shepherding the flock --> elders.
And you got one group supporting them in serving in practical ways so that the elders (and in first the apostles) could focus on there ministry --> servants. But these servants could have more gifts, so they could 'preach' like Stephen or be evangelists like Filiph. But the duty of 'servants' is to practicly serve the church and in that way the elders can focus on 'taking care of the flock in prayer and in ministry of the word'.

And I don't really understand why we look at church-history as a 'foundation'. I understand we can learn from church-history, but to answer the questions, we should first look at the bible (imo).

wijnand,

Thank you for your comment. It was very helpful!

Let me explain, practically why church history is very important:

You use it all the time to help in your determinations of what is biblical and what is true. You of course first having the cornerstone of Christ, and the foundation of scriptures; however, if someone comes to you with some new, false doctrine, not only do you have the scriptures testifying against that doctrine, but you have the history of the church and it's traditional understanding of the truth backing you up.

When dealing with Jehovah's witnesses, for example, I don't have to invent all kinds of counterarguments to deal with them and their doctrine that Christ is not God. I can bring the arguments and scriptural proofs that Athanasius used to solidly convince an ailing church that Jesus Christ is indeed of the "same substance" (homoousion) as God the Father and not of "similar substance" as the Arians (and now JWs) believe. I will of course use the scriptures, but why should I reinvent the wheel, when it has already been done for me?

Church history, like any extrabiblical source should be handled carefully and not at the expense of a plain understanding of scripture. But it is useful, and I do believe foundational for believers to know so that whenever they hear something strange/new/unclear, that they themselves can harken back to church history, bibles in hand, and recognize that there is indeed nothing new under the sun.

Thanks, Greg! I already have the volume by Eusebius, but I haven't read it :(. I will look at the other as well!

Wijnand: I agree. I have studied this and come to the same conclusion. I found that bishop and elder are used interchangeably in scripture. Both really just mean overseer. They are ordained to have oversight over and ministry to the body. They are charged with the growth and maturing of the body of Christ.

Deacons on the other hand are those who have been ordained to served in leadership over a particular area of ministry such as Stephen and the first deacons serving over the ministry of feeding the Grecian widows.

Something else that I have found. One does not have to be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher to be an bishop/elder. However, among the eldership there are given the gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher to minister to the body specifically for the purpose of maturing and growing the body to the point that the body stands as a fully grown and mature spiritual man, ministering to itself and to the world.

Twayneb, thanks for your reaction. I think that one thing in your message is a little bit confusing. I can be wrong in this, so correct me if this is so.

I see in Ephesians 4 that the five 'gifts to the church' (or: ministries/services) are there for the equiping of the saints so that they can minister to each other. For me this is a big thing. We have the idea that the 'ministers' are the leaders/preachers and they must to the work, the 'ministry'. But I would say that there job is to equip the saints so that they all can do the ministry that God is calling them to do. Every believer should build op the church. And if that happens, then the body will grow to maturity. All the preachers and teachers can't grow up the entire body of Christ.. but if they get the church of Jesus Christ active, then the entire body will be build op and mature :-)

Many churches would have a different spirit if they changed the name of the board of deacons to the board of servants.
~ Derek Prince

Sorry if I was confusing. The five-fold is to equip the body so that the body can do the work of the ministry, building itself up and reaching out to the lost. The body is called to do the work of the ministry. The five-fold is called to equip the body to do that work.