Category Archives: Deacons

Female deacons I am not very interested in the question of whether women may wear the deacon title, because I’d rather not bother with the title. Granting “deacon” as an honorific title only gets in the way of humble, servant-hearted volunteer … Continue reading →

Defining the office: better hermeneutic I remember receiving a call from a candidate for a ministerial position at my church. He asked why we didn’t have the deacons listed on our website. I asked why he cared. He explained that … Continue reading →

Later church history In the early church, we find further support for deacons being teachers. The Didache (100-125 AD) says that deacons “are to be honored, “for they too carry out the ministry of prophets and teachers” (Did. 15.1). Later … Continue reading →

Deacon as church office/re-translating Acts 6:1-6 So what does mean with regard to the office of deacon? Well, we should not think of them so much as servants but as representatives, agents, or even attendants. That is, they serve at … Continue reading →

John N. Collins and the meaning of diakonos A couple of years ago, in a comment, Mike Cope referred me to Diakonia: Re-Interpreting the Ancient Sources (1990) ($38.95 at Amazon) by John N. Collins. In this book, Collins comprehensively surveys secular and … Continue reading →