Friday, 01 August 2008
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The Deacon
As I mentioned in a recent comment on Krissy's site, I may soon be up for consideration on the deacon board at my church.
I found this out when I went to talk to my Sunday school teacher (the head of the deacon board), and it was later verified by my pastor. I originally went to talk to them because I have recently begun to feel my call to the ministry (long dormant due to a crisis of faith in college) stirring again, and I wanted to figure out where in the church I could serve. I was thinking Sunday school teacher, youth leader, something along those lines. When I found this out, I was momentarily shell-shocked.
I immediately begain to ask how the deacon board "worked" at my church. I honestly didn't know a lot about it, or the men on it. I wasn't even sure that my teacher was the head. All I really remembered about deacons were the ominous old deacon board (essentially the board of directors) at my church growing up. That idea didn't appeal to me at all.
I also remembered a short personal study, spurred by a conversation in my NT Greek class at Howard Payne, about what a deacon was really supposed to be - and why the term was separated from "elder" in the New Testament.
I won't go into a deep theological definition, but my opinion is that a deacon (from the Greek diakonos) essentially serves (waits on) the church members and helps the pastor with tasks that he (not being omniscient) can't perform on his own. Usually, this is general service, visitation, and a few aspects of church administration. So, essentially, deacons are servant leaders.
What do you think? Based on your experience and/or study, what is the Biblical function of a deacon (or deaconess)?
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Comments (1)
In my experience, deacons are the lay-administrators of the church. They sit on committees, attend Sunday and Wednesday services, and display loyalty to the church. Usually they are selected as deacon because they are already active in the church and making them deacon gives a certain amount of authentication to what they are already doing. The only thing that changes in their level of service is that they are required to attend deacon meetings that make them get to the local diner a little later. I know this is a bit cynical, but for all practical purposes, the deacons seem to be nothing more than another power base in church politics that is, in theory, more closely connected with the congregation. I have seen, more than once, the deacon body unite to depose staff members who rocked their boat. The first time, the pastor asked them to become involved in community outreach programs. This request led to him being forced out of the church by the deacons.
I know that probably wasn’t helpful but you asked for thoughts and experiences, not help. I must offer the disclaimer that this is based on experiences in the Southern Baptist world. I would imagine it would be a bit different in denominations with different church polity structures. I do want to say that I think that although I know you best through Xanga, I consider you an intelligent, authentic, and conscientious person. I have yet to meet a church that could not use an intelligent, authentic, and conscientious deacon.