Deacons role in church

[Angelface2011]

Trying to learn what role a deacon plays in church? Can they actually tell a pastor they want him to resign?

 

[IFB X-Files]

Trying to learn what role a deacon plays in church? Can they actually tell a pastor they want him to resign?

Depends on the church.

Depends on the church constitution and by-laws.

FYI, anyone can tell their pastor they want him to resign.  Doesn't mean he will.

 

[prophet]

Scriptural role of Deacons?

Distribute all collected goods/monies to the needs of the Saints.

Apostate Modern Christianity's "Deacon"?

Whatever the apostate "church" they are part of decides they should do.

Earnestly Contend

 

[Walt]

Trying to learn what role a deacon plays in church? Can they actually tell a pastor they want him to resign?

This is a very broad question.  Scripturally, deacons were created when the need arose -- there were more things to do than what the pastors could get to, so deacons were appointed to do those things.  The specific example in Acts 6 is taking care of the widows, but I don't think that their roles are limited that specifically.  The word "deacon" just means "servant".  This is the Scriptural role...

In modern Baptist churches, the deacons tend to have some kind of authority; they act as a kind of go-between between the pastor and people.  While I don't think that this is Scriptural, and tends to make the pastor think he is "above" the common people, this practice is still common.  Also, depending upon the rules of the church (the constitution and by-laws), some deacons do have authority.  Because of their recommendations, the deacons are often considered leaders.  In fact, if I discovered that the pastor of a church cross-town were immoral, I would try to communicate that fact  to the deacons of the church.

Regarding the pastor resigning: as another has pointed out, anyone can express an opinion that the pastor should resign.  Do you mean actually throw the pastor out?  Usually not; the pastor would have to be voted out by the church congregation.  The deacons could bring that recommendation.

 

[cpizzle]

The role of the Deacons is to run the Administrative side of the church so the pastor can give himself to evangelism and prayer.  The apostles refused to be "bothered" by administrative duties in the book of Acts and selected Deacons to orderly "manage" the rapidly growing church.

The pastor serves at the pleasure of the congregation and is the spiritual leader.  He seeks influence...not authority!!!!!

Deacon's handle finances, facilities, ordering of services, and pretty much everything else.  The pastor gets and opinion and the deacons can choose to seek his guidance, but they are the primary decision makers.

BTW....I am a pastor

 

[rsc2a]

The last two responses have pretty much summed it up. "Deacon" in many churches is just a different way of saying "elder", except "deacons" are not expected to generally perform pulpit service. That's for the MOG.

 

[bgwilkinson]

The role of the Deacons is to run the Administrative side of the church so the pastor can give himself to evangelism and prayer.  The apostles refused to be "bothered" by administrative duties in the book of Acts and selected Deacons to orderly "manage" the rapidly growing church.

The pastor serves at the pleasure of the congregation and is the spiritual leader.  He seeks influence...not authority!!!!!

Deacon's handle finances, facilities, ordering of services, and pretty much everything else.  The pastor gets and opinion and the deacons can choose to seek his guidance, but they are the primary decision makers.

BTW....I am a pastor

Yes, the deacons were selected to administer the worldly assets of the congregation allowing the apostles to give themselves to the work of the ministry.

How unlike many today were the pastor is the CEO guilting the congregation into doing the work of the ministry.

 

[praise_yeshua]

The early apostles forgot their place and made a mistake in the church at Jerusalem....

It is a horrible mistake to make these men appointed to service to be deacons. They were not. If they were then we have some very poor examples of deacons today.

Jesus plainly told his followers that they should be servants. They soon gave up serving to be served.

 

[Angelface2011]

Thank you! I didn't think they had the authority to tell him he had to resign.......it just recently happened at the church we had been attending.....

 

[Fresh Air]

The deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper. And the pastor rather than the deacon should define how he wants to use that offer of help.

 

[Binaca Chugger]

Thank you! I didn't think they had the authority to tell him he had to resign.......it just recently happened at the church we had been attending.....

Sometimes, a group of people in the church need to tell a pastor to resign.  A church is a body, not simply a head.

 

[praise_yeshua]

The deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper. And the pastor rather than the deacon should define how he wants to use that offer of help.

Scripture for that?

 

[Fresh Air]

The deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper. And the pastor rather than the deacon should define how he wants to use that offer of help.

Scripture for that?

Yes. The word "deacon" in the original language comes from a root word that means to run an errand. It was used to describe the equivalent in our day of a waiter. It is specifically defined as a servant. Ergo, the deacon's role should primarily be one of being a servant.

Whom is he to serve? Obviously, the Lord, but in which specific way? By serving the bishop/pastor of the church. His job is to free him up of whatever is weighing him down. What weighs one man down may be different than what weighs another man down. For instance, I cannot do construction work to save my life. Consequently, most of the repairs made on our buildings are done by others in the church, including my deacons. OTOH, I know some pastors who love to do construction work. For them it is actually an enjoyable break from their other duties. It makes zero sense to mandate in which specific capacity a deacon helps his pastor b/c pastor's gifts and abilities are all different. Instead, the church and the deacon and the pastor need to understand that the deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper.

As you can see I pull that from the original language term for deacon and Acts 6.

 

[Matthew1323]

The deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper. And the pastor rather than the deacon should define how he wants to use that offer of help.

Scripture for that?

Yes. The word "deacon" in the original language comes from a root word that means to run an errand. It was used to describe the equivalent in our day of a waiter. It is specifically defined as a servant. Ergo, the deacon's role should primarily be one of being a servant.

Whom is he to serve? Obviously, the Lord, but in which specific way? By serving the bishop/pastor of the church. His job is to free him up of whatever is weighing him down. What weighs one man down may be different than what weighs another man down. For instance, I cannot do construction work to save my life. Consequently, most of the repairs made on our buildings are done by others in the church, including my deacons. OTOH, I know some pastors who love to do construction work. For them it is actually an enjoyable break from their other duties. It makes zero sense to mandate in which specific capacity a deacon helps his pastor b/c pastor's gifts and abilities are all different. Instead, the church and the deacon and the pastor need to understand that the deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper.

As you can see I pull that from the original language term for deacon and Acts 6.

I don't know if there is a place for your well thought out common sense approach on this forum! 

 

[BALAAM]

The deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper. And the pastor rather than the deacon should define how he wants to use that offer of help.

Scripture for that?

Yes. The word "deacon" in the original language comes from a root word that means to run an errand. It was used to describe the equivalent in our day of a waiter. It is specifically defined as a servant. Ergo, the deacon's role should primarily be one of being a servant.

Whom is he to serve? Obviously, the Lord, but in which specific way? By serving the bishop/pastor of the church. His job is to free him up of whatever is weighing him down. What weighs one man down may be different than what weighs another man down. For instance, I cannot do construction work to save my life. Consequently, most of the repairs made on our buildings are done by others in the church, including my deacons. OTOH, I know some pastors who love to do construction work. For them it is actually an enjoyable break from their other duties. It makes zero sense to mandate in which specific capacity a deacon helps his pastor b/c pastor's gifts and abilities are all different. Instead, the church and the deacon and the pastor need to understand that the deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper.

As you can see I pull that from the original language term for deacon and Acts 6.

Now Tom, you know you need to nail this down. Which bishop/pastor? If you have 12 people and 6 of them are pastors/bishops, which one is he to serve?  LOL

 

[Fresh Air]

[
Now Tom, you know you need to nail this down. Which bishop/pastor? If you have 12 people and 6 of them are pastors/bishops, which one is he to serve?  LOL

By all means, me.

 

[Binaca Chugger]

The deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper. And the pastor rather than the deacon should define how he wants to use that offer of help.

Scripture for that?

Yes. The word "deacon" in the original language comes from a root word that means to run an errand. It was used to describe the equivalent in our day of a waiter. It is specifically defined as a servant. Ergo, the deacon's role should primarily be one of being a servant.

Whom is he to serve? Obviously, the Lord, but in which specific way? By serving the bishop/pastor of the church. His job is to free him up of whatever is weighing him down. What weighs one man down may be different than what weighs another man down. For instance, I cannot do construction work to save my life. Consequently, most of the repairs made on our buildings are done by others in the church, including my deacons. OTOH, I know some pastors who love to do construction work. For them it is actually an enjoyable break from their other duties. It makes zero sense to mandate in which specific capacity a deacon helps his pastor b/c pastor's gifts and abilities are all different. Instead, the church and the deacon and the pastor need to understand that the deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper.

As you can see I pull that from the original language term for deacon and Acts 6.

Whoah, there.  Time to pull in the reins a little bit.  What you are saying could be taken a couple of different ways.  The deacon is not the subservient slave of the pastor.  I have seen that happen in many churches.  The result is catastrophic.  The deacon is to help meet the needs of the people of the church.  This need may be physical or spiritual.  When there is correction in direction of the church that needs to take place, the deacons are a good source to speak to the pastor.  They have been ordained by the church for the watch-care of the church membership and are evangelists and disciplers.  Thus, the deacons would be a good representation of the church to speak to the pastor about some error.  Please do not reduce the role of deacon to simply delivering bags of canned food.

 

[baptisthac]

Trying to learn what role a deacon plays in church? Can they actually tell a pastor they want him to resign?

Anyone can tell the pastor they want him to resign.  In most IFB churches it takes a vote of the people to make a pastor leave.  If deacons (or anyone else) tell the pastor they think he should resign, I believe he has 3 choices:  realize there are some things he needs to change and do it, ignore what is being said and keep doing things the same, or realize that the best thing for him and/or the church is his resignation.
I know that sometimes deacons get blamed when a pastor resigns.  Perhaps this is sometimes true.  There are other times that deacons respectfully bring real issues to a pastor.  The pastor may get counsel and realizes that it is time to move on.  This cannot be blamed on the deacons. 

 

[Walt]

The deacon's role is to be the pastor's helper. And the pastor rather than the deacon should define how he wants to use that offer of help.

I think that if the  men in Acts 6 were deacons, then there are many more deacons in  churches than are acknowledged.  How about the men who run the sound system?  Or maintain the church's web page?  Or clean the church?  All these, it seems to me, are identical to the situation in Acts 6 -- things that the pastor could do, but it would take time away from prayer and the Word. I know that these positions are not considered "deacons", but in light of Acts 6, it seems to me that such people are more like the people in Acts 6 than the ones called "deacons" in many churches today.

 

[RAIDER]

Whoah, there.  Time to pull in the reins a little bit.  What you are saying could be taken a couple of different ways.  The deacon is not the subservient slave of the pastor.  I have seen that happen in many churches.  The result is catastrophic.  The deacon is to help meet the needs of the people of the church.  This need may be physical or spiritual. When there is correction in direction of the church that needs to take place, the deacons are a good source to speak to the pastor.  They have been ordained by the church for the watch-care of the church membership and are evangelists and disciplers. Thus, the deacons would be a good representation of the church to speak to the pastor about some error.  Please do not reduce the role of deacon to simply delivering bags of canned food.

Very well said!