Training and empowering leaders…requires more than just a good plan or a thoughtful process. It requires the wisdom of self-awareness, the power of grace, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Does your church have deacons? And if so, do you know who they are and what they do?

If the answer to these questions is “Yes,” you’re in the minority. Few American churches have a thriving diaconal ministry.

The average church website lists pastors, staff members, and directors who oversee various aspects of ministry, but rarely will you find deacons listed among the leadership. One popular megachurch in Georgia described its ministry structure this way: “There are no deacons, per se… Instead, individuals are chosen by a ministry within the church to represent that group at a quarterly meeting with the senior pastor and other key staff members.”

But what should we expect from a “Children’s Ministry Director” or “Women’s Ministry Director” or “Lay Counselor?” What qualifications must these individuals have? What biblical authority do they carry?

If we allow these roles to be filled by qualified deacons, then we have a clear set of biblical parameters to follow. But if we ignore the Bible’s teaching about deacons, we leave God’s people without clear biblical expectations for their leaders. And we risk weakening of the authority of Scripture as modern ministry titles eclipse the timeless importance of God-ordained offices.

What is a Deacon?

The apostles, of course, appointed elders to lead the first churches: “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed” (Acts 14:21–23). But we also see the apostles entrusting the practical needs of the church to a second group of leaders:

“And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’”
Acts 6:2–4

The apostles seemed to envision two distinct ministries within the church: pastoral and practical. Some leaders were to devote themselves to “prayer and the ministry of the word.” Other leaders were to focus on meeting practical needs. The offices of elder and deacon correspond to these two types of ministry. Though elders and deacons aren’t specifically mentioned in Acts 6, the basic differentiation between pastoral and practical ministry lays a foundation that the rest of the New Testament will build upon.

In his commentary on Philippians, J. Alec Motyer observes:

The impression we receive in the New Testament is of local churches loosely federated under apostolic authority, with each church managing its own affairs under the leadership of overseers (who are also called elders) and deacons. Deacons were obviously a distinct office, but we are told nothing about the functions a deacon was meant to fulfill….And if we ask why their representative functions are not more closely defined, then surely the answer is this: ministry arises from the nature and needs of the church, not vice versa.
Alec Motyer, The Message of Philippians, BST Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984), 25.

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