The founding of the office of Deacon in the early church
“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.‘”
“This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.”
“So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” Acts 6:1-7
A major factor in the growth of the early church was its ability to meet the needs of its widows and others by properly using deacons
From the very beginning, the church placed a heavy emphasis on meeting the “pressing needs” of widows, single moms, orphans and others within its membership (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35; Titus 3:14, etc.). In fact, one major factor in the rapid spread of Christianity during the first years of its existence was its ability to meet their pressing needs (Acts 2:47; Acts 6:7; Titus 3:14).
Today’s church has changed the focus of its deacons and sees the government as responsible for our widows
In our modern era the church has largely abdicated this responsibility to the government, which may be one reason why Christians are being increasingly marginalized in our culture.
Throughout the centuries the church has retained the office of deacon in its governance, but with significant changes in its focus.1 Often, besides looking after their widows, deacons frequently have the additional tasks of overseeing all church ministries, as well as church finances and building maintenance. These additional responsibilities can crowd out the original focus on widows.
Like the early church, the modern church needs to refocus its deacons on widows only
So I have a suggestion: restructure your church governance so that your deacons focus only on widows in your congregation (and any other members in your church with “pressing needs” such as widowers, single parents, and the disabled) with the goal being that your church is able to say along with the early church, “There is no needy person among us.”
Perhaps you could add additional elders who can overlook your church’s finances and ministries. Maybe you can even add an entirely new class of administrators you might call “trustees” who can manage the church facilities.
Whatever the case, it seems that the observable love the early church manifested towards its widows is lacking in today’s church. Restoring that original focus will go a long way to regaining a right to be heard.2
For more ideas on how to minister to widows, check out this article: A Comprehensive Church-Based Ministry to Widows.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
For the past nineteen years New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North American and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt their widowed and single parents in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free online training site called “Meeting to Meet Needs.”
Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church here.
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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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- See, for example, my reviews of “Caring for Widows,” by Brian Croft and Austin Walker and “The Ministry of a Baptist Deacon,” by Paul Chappell
- Learn how to use your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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