Do you have deacons in your Protestant sect?

[stbruno]

As a Catholic deacon, I know that some churchs have deacons. So I am curious, what does a deacon mean in your church?
What is his/her role? What kind of training do they have? Is it a permanent position or transient position? Are you selected by your congregation or is it a calling from God?

Thanks for your replies.

 

[allischalmers]

Many states reguire churches to have deacons or trustees. In some churches deacons act as trustees or trustee also act as deacons. Their role is spiritual guidence of the congregation.

 

[Mystic_Warrior]

As a Catholic deacon, I know that some churchs have deacons. So I am curious, what does a deacon mean in your church?
What is his/her role? What kind of training do they have? Is it a permanent position or transient position? Are you selected by your congregation or is it a calling from God?

Thanks for your replies.

For congregationalists, deacons are like the “board of trustees” for churches. They oversee financial matters, select pastors and lead the faithful. This is typical for smaller congregations. The bigger churches have committees upon committees upon committees that do these things.

Deacons are basically the leaders and decision makers who work hand in hand with the pastor in leading the church. I almost liken it to the President and Congress. Maybe a poor analogy, but the best one I can come up with to get the point across. It depends on the church’s by-laws as to how the individual churches are ran, what the deacons authority is, etc.

As far as training - there really is none academically. It’s a spiritual matter, not an academic one. It is a temporary position, and in my own experience, done on either an annual or bi-annual basis. The congregation votes for who they want to represent the church. And the person must feel called to do so. They can refuse it, although highly unlikely.

Peace…

MW

 

[jblake]

stbruno:

What is his/her role? What kind of training do they have? Is it a permanent position or transient position? Are you selected by your congregation or is it a calling from God?

It all depends upon which specific church one is talking about.

I’ve seen churches that:

• appoint deacons for a fixed term;
• elect deacons for a fixed term;
• appoint them for a lifetime position;
• elect them for a lifetime position;

Specific duties depend on the specific congregation;

• The serve as the equivalent of the board of directors;
• They only handle business needs of the church;
• They only handles secular needs of the church;
  *They handle everything but the business and secular needs of the church;
• They handle anything and everything;
• Their only function is to fire, and hire the pastor;
• Their function is to preach every week, and Bible Study every Wednesday;

Perquisites for the position depend upon the specific congregation, of the specific church. It can range from none at all, to a minimum of an MBA and DDiv (Theology).

Training can range from none at all, to formal graduate level classes.
I’ve heard of a church who fired a deacon, because his granddaughter died. Their logic was that the deacon obviously failed the requirements of Titus 1, and thus to retain him would be “unbiblical”.

xan

jonathon

 

[chris_molter]

When I was an Episcopalian, we did have Deacons (male and female). We also had laypeople perform the function of “Subdeacon” during the Eucharist.

 

[stbruno]

Thank you for your replies. I always wanted to understand their role/