Terminology
“Deacon”
is an English translation of the Greek word diakonos. Generically,
this term refers to one who serves, and the word is used with this
sense repeatedly throughout the NT (e.g., Matt. 20:26; 23:11; Mark
9:35; 10:43). Matthew 22:13 speaks specifically of those who serve by
doing the bidding of a king. John 2:9 refers to the servants who draw
the water at the wedding in Cana. Various other passages use diakonos
in a religious context with reference to ministers or those who serve
God or Christ in some way (Rom. 13:4; 2 Cor. 6:4; Eph. 6:21;
Col. 1:7; 1 Tim. 4:6). This broad usage of the term to indicate
general service, including table service, is also quite common in the
secular Greek literature of the first century.
As
the early church grew and developed, the word diakonos came to
designate the specific church office of deacon. Although often cited,
Acts 6 is inconclusive regarding the office of deacon. The noun
diakonos does not appear in this text, but the related verb form
diakoneō (“to wait on” [Acts 6:2]) is used in
reference to the ministry of distributing food. Some interpreters
find in this the precursor or establishment of the diaconate, but
others argue that the use of diakoneō to speak of table service
need not imply that the role of deacon had developed at this early
stage of the church. Only two passages in the NT, Phil. 1:1 and
1 Tim. 3:8–12, clearly use diakonos in the sense of an
established church office, and here the NIV rightly translates it as
“deacon.”
The
Office of Deacon
Paul’s
address to the believers in Philippi is unique within the Pauline
corpus in its singling out of two church offices. While directing his
words to the saints at Philippi, Paul specifically makes mention of
the “overseers” (Gk. episkopos) and deacons in their
midst (Phil. 1:1). This greeting provides evidence of the existence
of such ecclesiastical structure from the early AD 60s at the latest.
The
most detailed information in the NT related to the office of deacon
occurs in 1 Tim. 3:8–12. Immediately following a
discussion of “overseers” (Gk. episkopos) in 1 Tim.
3:1–7, this text shifts its focus to the office of deacon and
provides a description of the requirements for the one occupying the
role. The one fit to serve as a deacon should have a character worthy
of respect, and the passage calls for the demonstration of this
character in the areas of drink, money (v. 8), and family
(v. 12). A deacon should display a commitment to Christian truth
(v. 9), and a candidate should be tested before officially being
allowed to serve in this office (v. 10).
Deaconesses
in the Early Church
Significant
discussion surrounds the issue of whether the NT limits the role of
deacon to men or whether it provides evidence of women serving as
deacons, frequently designated with the feminized term “deaconess.”
At issue is the translation of gynaikes in 1 Tim. 3:11. The NIV
renders it as “women”; also within its range of meaning
are the translations “wives” (ESV) and “women
deacons.” The context of the passage must dictate whether the
qualifications listed in 1 Tim. 3:11 apply to the wives of those
men who wish to be deacons or whether they are the standard for those
women who themselves desire to serve in the office of deacon. On the
one hand, the subsequent clear address of a male deacon as needing to
be “faithful to his wife” (1 Tim. 3:12) makes a
reference to female deacons in 1 Tim. 3:11 an illogical
interruption. However, those who see in 1 Tim. 3:11 a reference
to female deacons cite the use of diakonos to describe Phoebe in Rom.
16:1 as evidence that she served as a deaconess of the church in
Cenchrea. Alternatively, Rom. 16:1 may be speaking only of Phoebe’s
great service to the church in that locale without implying that she
occupied an official church office.
Whether
or not 1 Tim. 3:11 and Rom. 16:1 have in mind the role of
deaconess, it is clear that an order of deaconesses existed in the
church after the first century. The most significant early evidence
includes the Didaskalia Apostolorum (Syria, early third century AD),
which describes the female deacon in the Eastern church as one who
ministered by assisting women with their baptism, provided
instruction to the recently baptized women, visited women who were
ill, and provided service for women in need. The fourth-century
Syrian Apostolic Constitutions affirms their function in similar
activities and identifies additional duties, including maintaining
the separation of the sexes during worship. It also describes their
ordination by means of the laying on of hands and prayer.
