Women Deacons - 2

Some thoughts:

1. The responsibility to care for God's people belongs to those men whom He has called and gifted to serve as shepherds. These men are called "elders" or "pastors".

2. Pastors are called to feed God's people, lead God's people, and protect God's people.

3. In the church in Jerusalem, an issue arose that had serious spiritual consequences for the church. The apostles (the elders of the Jerusalem church) decided that the remedy for this situation was to to be sure that both the Hebrew and Hellenistic widows were receiving food in the daily distribution. They then set a precedent for deacons by delegating the responsibility for managing this process to seven men from within the congregation. These men were managers (scholars tells us that there were probably over a thousand widows in the Jerusalem church). Many men and women from within the church would have taken part in distributing the food, but these seven men were given the authority to manage the process and to oversee the distribution of church resources.

4. Deacons are called to handle those responsibilities delegated to them by the elders in order to free the elders for prayer and the ministry of the Word.

5. Since many of these responsibilities will include organizing and giving instructions to both men and women in the church, deacons need to be good managers (hence 1st Timothy 3). They should also be men (since other men will be under their charge).

6. Acts 6 sets a precedent for Deacons being given authority by the elders to oversee the distribution of church funds. This is why deacons must not be greedy for dishonest gain (1st Tim. 3).

7. If a plurality of men working together is important for eldership, I would suggest that it is also important for the diaconate. I think it was the wisdom of God that the apostles told the congregation to choose for themselves "seven men". These seven men were not given separate duties and called to go their own way, but rather they were to work together. So also, I believe deacons have an important office - one worthy of honor and respect - and the responsibilities entrusted to them by the elders need to be handled within the plurality. I am not in favor of deacons as "independent ministry managers" - so that one deacon is over the nursery, another over sound engineering, another over lawn maintenance, and they never meet together or hold each other accountable. In other words, I like the idea of "deacons' meetings", just as I like the idea of "elders' meetings".