Question i (2) - Faithful Deacon

Will you be a deacon?

W-4.0404 i. (2)—Will you be a faithful deacon, teaching charity, urging concern, and directing the people’s help to the friendless and those in need, and in your ministry will you try to show the love and justice of Jesus Christ?

Who or what is a deacon? Presbyterians did not invent this pattern of ministry, nor is it unique to our way of being the church. A genuine claim can be made that its roots lie in the earliest witness of the apostolic church.

In the foundational episode of Acts 6:1–7, seven disciples are appointed to distribute food to those in need. Although the title of “deacon” is not explicitly mentioned in English translations of this passage, the Greek words diakonia (service) and diakoneo (to serve) illuminate the activity of deacons in the early church and inform our understanding of their role today. Time spent exploring the dynamics of this interesting passage will afford space for discovery about the place of service, cooperation, and justice in ministry.

We can also discern more about what it means to be a deacon by examining this passage alongside the principles of ministry and polity enshrined in our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Constitution. Specific Book of Order references, and their enclosing chapters as a whole, provide ample space for discussion about ministry in general and the function of deacons in particular:

• The genuine concerns about the welfare of widows in Acts 6:1 informs G-2.0201, in which the role of the deacon is defined first as a ministry of “compassion, witness, and service,” and in W-5.0303, where it is described as a mission of compassion.
  
• Despite the frictions in Verse 1 and some resentment in Verse 2, the church ultimately demonstrates an openness to change and adaptation, which prompts F-1.0404: the calling of the church to see “both the possibilities and the perils” of its forms of ministry.
  
• The discernment of prospects in Verse 3 and their subsequent election in Verse 5 gives shape to G-2.0401, on the nomination and election of deacons, and to F-3.0106, regarding election by the people.
  
• The description of qualifications in Verse 3 informs our polity as expressed in G-2.0201, concerning the qualifications for deacons.
  
• The emphasis on corresponding functions in ministry in Verses 3–4 undergirds G-2.01, which outlines the particular functions of ordered ministry in supporting, never undercutting, the ministry of the whole people of God.
  
• The way the early Christian community commissions their new servant leaders in Verse 6 gives shape to our teaching in G-2.0403 and W-4.04 on the practice of ordination and installation.
  
• The spreading of God’s word and the growth of the church in Verse 7 is echoed in W-5.0301 as it relates to the church’s mission in the world.
  

The term “deacon” is worth exploring as well. From the Greek διάκονος (diakonos), the word appears twenty-nine times in the New Testament and essentially means “one who renders service to another”—servant, attendant, helper, etc. The term had a place in the vocabulary of the Greek-speaking culture prior to its early Christian adoption. Even Scripture sometimes indicates a more general usage: tables needed waiters (John 2:5) and monarchs demanded servants (Matt. 22:13). In these and countless other non-biblical examples, diakonos was the preferred noun.

That the early church adapted cultural patterns of service for Christian ministry is instructive: Presbyterian deacons need not try to reinvent the wheel in every act of ministry, but may well choose to make use of patterns, practices, and programs already present in the church or community. The deacons in one congregation in western Pennsylvania, for instance, chose to utilize the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization as a way to invite the congregation into relationships beyond the church walls.

The forms of Christian ministry are always flexible; its heart is always Christ-shaped. When participating in or adopting outside forms, including secular ones, deacons should always ask:

“Servant leadership” has become a popular phrase in our time, but the ancient office of deacon has been shaped by a paradigm of servanthood for centuries. For deacons, service is not a secondary action to decision-making leadership in meetings, but in fact the primary calling of the office. Service to others is central. That said, there can be a temptation in Presbyterian circles to view the role of deacon as either a lower proving ground for “higher office” as a ruling elder, or as a repository for menial or repetitive congregational tasks no one else wants to do.

On the one hand, setting up tables, making coffee, and counting the offering may well be taking up so much time for the deacons that ministries of compassion and witness to those in distress and need may be curtailed. Indeed, some may even prefer straightforward practical tasks to the sometimes- risky posture of loving real persons. On the other hand, basic communal tasks can be their own witness to the gospel when undertaken with love and generosity—as modeled by Jesus himself in the washing of his disciples’ feet (a menial act of hospitality common to the culture, transformed by him into a sign of God’s grace).

Servant tasks are either blessing or curse, depending on the culture and needs of a congregation and the attitude of those who undertake them. Those preparing for this office, together with those already serving, should be encouraged to examine regularly the role of deacon in the congregation to ensure its alignment with the primary calling 

expressed in G-2.0201. This principle should be taught: Practical tasks for the congregation should never overshadow living connections with persons in need within and beyond the flock; yet often compassion to those in need is first and best expressed through practical help and support. Deacons can and must practice wisdom to determine which side of that holy balance is needed when on a relationship-by-relationship basis.

For Reflection and Discussion:

In discerning a call to the ministry of deacon, what aspects did you consider?

How does a look into Acts 6:1–7 and some history behind the biblical concept of deacon assist you in moving forward with this call?

Will you be a faithful deacon?

The call to be a “faithful” deacon may prompt discussion about the shape of such faithfulness. One of the more important aspects of ordained ministry is the commitment to continue in everyday discipleship, to be what C. S. Lewis once called a “mere Christian.” There is a sense in which the most important work ordained officers can do is, first and foremost, to practice the word and way of Jesus with their peers. Ordained deacons should be encouraged to examine regularly the shape of their church membership as expressed in G-1.0304 of the Book of Order.

The invitation to faithfulness also serves as a reminder that ministries of “compassion, witness, and service” may well meet with complexities, resistance, and fatigue. Honest discussion of these realities can be coupled with an appreciation for why Presbyterians ordain officers (BOO, G-2.04). The tradition of vow-taking is, at least in part, a recognition that ministry will not always be easy. Therefore, a commitment to promises and practices larger than ourselves will serve to keep ministries of compassion active and aligned in the congregation.

Will you teach charity?

That this ordination vow invokes the word “charity” might be off-putting to some. In popular usage, “charity” sometimes conveys notions of pity, condescension, or negative stereotypes about the kinds of persons who are in need. Indeed, Christian ministry to real persons can degrade into transactional benevolence when too much emphasis is placed on financial contributions or collected necessities. These “charitable” acts sometimes have the ironic effect of insulating a congregation from real persons and their particular stories of struggle and need. Furthermore, treating others as recipients of benevolence may well prevent deacons from seeing persons in need as peers who also possess skills, gifts, and assets that might well bring improvement to their own situation. Many good resources exist today on the matter of “toxic charity,” and exposure to these principles will be important.

But when “charity” is taken in its more ancient sense—as in “kindness and tolerance in judging others” and “love of humankind”—the term can be significantly rehabilitated for deacon-led ministry. In a congregational context, charity is essentially a synonym for “love of persons.” In this spirit, the training of deacons should focus on the development and maturation of people-skills, i.e. wisdom about loving well those church members, friends, neighbors, and strangers who are in need or distress, all in the manner of Jesus Christ. The practice of this wisdom should take precedence over too much emphasis on policies or procedures for ministry. The latter have their place in congregations, when necessary, but deacons have the opportunity to nurture wisdom about charity and therefore grow in the kind of collective discernment that no policy or procedure can replicate or enshrine. One must learn charity by giving it and receiving it.

As such, a key element in teaching charity is the practice of ministry two-by-two. New Testament passages such as Luke 10:1–11 provide space for reflection on the value of ministry as deacons in pairs. Advantages of this partnering model include: the emotional safety of having a peer alongside when venturing into unknown experiences; two pairs of eyes and ears for listening well and observing dynamics; the demonstration of Christian fellowship by the immediate formation of a small community for conversation, prayer, and reflection; and the deployment of a plurality of spiritual gifts, recognizing that some are more comfortable with conversation than tasks, and vice versa. Pastors are encouraged to model this two-by-two pattern for deacons by including them often in pastoral visitation.

Additionally, teaching charity in pairs can be extended beyond deacons to include members of the congregation. In one Presbyterian church where this is modeled, a deacon will often invite a pair of youth members to join her when making visits to local nursing homes. The deacon welcomes the help of partners in visitation, those visited welcome the different generations in their midst, and the youth experience an accessible form of Christian mission with the leadership of a wise deacon. In this and numerous other configurations, a two-by-two model allows for learning wise and compassionate charity through a basic action-and-reflection model.

A final aspect of teaching charity is the invitation to new deacons not to overuse meetings. Meetings are well known in Presbyterian circles and will always have a certain place in the organization and planning of deacon ministry. But new deacons can be warned to not mistake the deacon meeting for the deacon ministry. Unlike a Presbyterian session, whose primary (but certainly not exclusive) sacred task is to gather together for group discernment, the primary work of deacons is not in meetings but “within and beyond the congregation” to persons in need or distress. As such, deacons should only meet as a group as often as is necessary to organize and structure those vital ministries, lest a board of deacons inadvertently use meetings to insulate themselves from the harder but sacred work of engaging the world around them in faith, hope, and love. As with all matters, discernment is needed to keep deacon meetings and deacon ministry in proper perspective and proportion. Again, G-2.0201 should be lifted up as a rule for discernment.

For Reflection and Discussion:

How can the framework of charity being a “love of persons” transform your ministry and the way that you minister to those in need?

Will you urge concern?

In a meeting about recent ministry efforts, a Presbyterian deacon once sheepishly asked the group if it was okay that she brought a meal to a widower on her street, despite the fact that he was not a member of the congregation. This common example—crossing boundaries, encouraging and not disparaging unofficial ministry—draws attention to the deacon’s important role in “urging concern” among the congregation.

The Book of Order’s foremost function for deacons makes it clear that such a ministry is never limited to the members of the congregation. Previous editions of the “Form of Government” even included the phrase “within and beyond the congregation” in the description of the ministry of deacons. Indeed, most deacons will soon find that the practice of charitable ministry for “anyone in distress” will take them on an adventure of new directions, new relationships, and new opportunities. “Those in need” and “the friendless” are rarely confined to congregations, and so deacon training should include exploration about the shape of ministry beyond the familiar boundaries of church membership.

Additionally, Christian ministry frequently happens without the prompting of ordained leadership. Given their calling to urge concern among the flock, deacons can celebrate ministry taking place in informal or unofficial ways, rather than making the institutional mistake of insisting that every effort of concern must be sanctioned, led, or supervised by an official body. When care is taking place without them, let the deacons rejoice! But let them be trained to then ask: Who is falling through the cracks of the congregation’s or community’s concern? Who is not being served in our current models of ministry or social support networks? The Book of Order makes this clear: “The existence of … ordered ministries in no way diminishes the importance of the commitment of all members to the total ministry of the church” (BOO, G-2.0102).

Will you direct the people’s help to the friendless and those in need?

As further evidence of the primary role deacons can play in a congregation, it should be noted that in recent revisions of the Book of Order the definition of the deacon moved from third to first place in the chapter on Ordered Ministry. This new placement, preceding the elder and the pastor, suggests that charitable concern and wise help should not be merely a tertiary focus or an afterthought once the needs of the church itself have been satisfied. Rather, the ministry of the deacons is in fact the leading edge of a congregation that is paying attention to persons, its neighborhood, and its community.

In one Presbyterian congregation in a declining industrial community with lots of challenges, the deacons of the church assigned one of their members to attend every meeting of the city council and the school board. The purpose of the visits was to listen deeply, to pray generously, and to report back to the deacons the hopes, needs, and hurts of the larger community. This is one excellent example of the many ways deacons can be trained to function as matchmakers for the congregation. On the one hand, deacons learn to pay attention to the actual needs of the community, articulating them carefully and wisely to the congregation, and then “matching” those needs with the treasure, time, and talents of church members. On the other hand, the flow of this work can also move in the other direction. Deacons in ministry will come to see in what ways the gifts and blessings of the larger community, including those who are in need, are being sent by God into the life of the congregation learning about the giving and receiving of true charity. As with all aspects of ministry, deacons should be coached at the start to practice patience, openness, and wisdom as these dynamics are discerned and developed.

Will you in your ministry try to show the love and justice of Jesus Christ?

No doubt aware of the servant pattern of Jesus in his ministry, early Christians chose the general Greek term diakonos to describe specifically a pattern of ministry in Jesus’ name marked by acts of service, humility, and mercy. As such, deacon training and subsequent ministry will always benefit from scriptural studies of instructive episodes in Jesus’ ministry. Passages such as Mark 2:1–12 and 8:1–9 provide insight for deacons wishing to examine the shape of Jesus’ love and justice, and how that same charitable love and wise justice might be practiced among “the poor, the hungry, the sick, the lost, the friendless, the oppressed, those burdened by unjust policies or structures, or anyone in distress” (BOO, G-2.0201).

For Reflection and Discussion:

Consider the ways in which the Gospel’s depict Christ’s ministry of compassion, witness, and service with individuals and communities.

Beyond your initial training to serve as a deacon, how might you keep these examples in the forefront of your ministries, reminding you of the “why” of service as a deacon?

About the writer

Ralph Hawkins serves as pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church in Macon, Georgia. Prior to this call, he served as the executive presbyter and stated clerk for the Presbytery of Shenango, which consists of forty-five congregations in western Pennsylvania. He served congregations in Georgia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania before arriving in Macon. His focus in pastoral ministry is “equipping the saints for the work of ministry,” including developing ruling elders and deacons for their leadership, nurturing cross-cultural mission partnerships, and mobilizing Presbyterians for local ministry in the neighborhoods around congregations. Ralph is a father to his teenage daughter, Ella, and in his spare time is an avid railroad enthusiast (hawkinsrails.net), an amateur photographer, a tent camper and canoer, and a computer geek squad for family and friends.

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