From Nov 21,2017…….
For those who have followed my ministry in Bay County over the last 10 years and longer, I am continuing my pursuit of deacon ordination through a non-UMC route. I am studying under an Ordained Deacon Ministry program by Christian Leadership Institute. The work I have completed over the last 9 years through the UMC has been reviewed and accepted by CLI. The goal of CLI is to train revival leaders for local ministries across the globe. CLI has a unique approach to educating ministry leaders of all kinds and a philosophy which is very much in keeping with my own regarding the need for ministry leaders to be unencumbered by debt that obligates them to the authority of anyone other than Christ. Below is an overview of what a “deacon” is and does. There are many people I know who do the work of a deacon but, because of their place of service or their particular role, the ordination credentialing is not important to them. Because of the role to which I am called in counseling and teaching and in a place of ministry where government agencies have some authority over my ability to carry out my calling, and because of the desire to provide the best available accountability and protection to those I serve, ordination credentialing is a good and appropriate goal.
What is a “deacon”?
Strong’s Concordance #1249: diakonos (pronounced dee-ak’-on-os) probably from an obsolete diako (to run on errands; compare 1377); an attendant, i.e. (genitive case) a waiter (at table or in other menial duties); specially, a Christian teacher and pastor (technically, a deacon or deaconess):–deacon, minister, servant, steward
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon diakonos
1) one who executes the commands of another, especially of a master, a servant, attendant, minister
1a) the servant of a king
1b) a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use
1c) a waiter, one who serves food and drink
Part of Speech: noun masculine or feminine
Relation: probably from an obsolete diako (to run on errands, compare G1377)
Citing in TDNT: 2:88, 152
Usage: This word is used 30 times in New Testament:
Matthew 20:26: “among you, let him be your minister;”
Matthew 22:13: “the king to the servants, Bind him hand and”
Matthew 23:11: “among you shall be your servant.”
Mark 9:35: “last of all, and servant of all.”
Mark 10:43: “among you, shall be your minister:”
John 2:5: “mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you,”
John 2:9: “it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;)”
John 12:26: “there shall also my servant be: if any man”
Romans 13:4: “For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But”
Romans 13:4: “in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath”
Romans 15:8: “that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God,”
Romans 16:1: “our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at”
1 Corinthians 3:5: “who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed,”
2 Corinthians 3:6: “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not”
2 Corinthians 6:4: “things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience,”
2 Corinthians 11:15: “great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness;”
2 Corinthians 11:15: “ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be”
2 Corinthians 11:23: “Are they ministers of Christ? I (speak as a fool) I am more; in”
Galatians 2:17: “sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.”
Ephesians 3:7: “Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace”
Ephesians 6:21: “a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known”
Philippians 1:1: “with the bishops and deacons:”
Colossians 1:7: “for you a faithful minister of Christ;”
Colossians 1:23: “I Paul am made a minister;”
Colossians 1:25: “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God”
Colossians 4:7: “who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellow servant in”
1 Thessalonians 3:2: “our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow laborer”
1 Timothy 3:8: “Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much”
1 Timothy 3:12: ” Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and”
1 Timothy 4:6: “If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ,”
“Deacon” was established and instituted as a clergy role in Acts 6:1-6 where we read of the frustration of some members of the early church for not having their needs attended to. Because the church had grown so large, the twelve apostles were not able to handle all the physical needs of the body and proclaim the word. They knew that if they neglected the ministry of the word the church would suffer. Deacons were selected by the church and affirmed and ordained by the Apostles. The first selected were: Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas.
Romans 16:1- Phoebe, deacon. Minister sent by Paul. Carried the letter to the Romans, representing Paul’s ministry. She was commended to them.
1 Timothy 3:8, 11- defining leaders in the church. Women were ordained as deacons from the time of the Apostles and for 5 centuries. Later traditions in the church ended the practice during the patriarchal development of the Catholic church. It was later resumed and continues broadly today.
Ephesians 3:6-7- Paul describes his own ministry in terms of a deacon and we see him repeatedly going to the Apostles to make requests and report his work.
Pliny the Younger (cited in a book on women’s ordination in the early church by Kevin Maddigan and Carole Osiek) writes about the torture of 2 female deacons in an attempt to get information from them in persecuting Christians.