The Responsibilities Of A Deacon

What are the responsibilities of a deacon?

A deacon should attend every church function and should be in the church body whenever the doors of the church are opened.

This includes Sunday morning and evening services as well as Wednesday night services, prayer meetings or study classes. A deacon is a servant or ambassador of charity to help or continue the work of the Bishop or pastor.

A deacon needs to know who his charges are and he needs to get to know them both spiritually and personally. In order to do so a Deacon must be in the body of Christ whenever he can to get to know not only his charges but others as well. This is particularly true in a small church congregation where the membership is small.

If you have a deacon who is assigned to you and your family and he only attends Sunday morning services that can be a bad influence on you especially if you are a new believer.

If you are not a new believer it may allow Satan to come in and negatively affect your beliefs.

For example some may say...

“My deacon is only here on Sunday morning so he must not like the church very well” or they may say “My Deacon only comes to church on some Sundays and I never see him when I attend evening services or go to Wednesday night bible study. So I will just start going on Sunday morning when I want to”

There is an old adage that goes:

Those that attend Sunday morning services love the word, those that attend Sunday night services love the church and those that attend midweek services love the Lord.

With this in mind it is only natural that you want a Deacon to love the Lord.

Deacons should show love and compassion just as Jesus Christ did and this is true not only for the living but for the dead. If a family member in a Deacons charge dies whenever possible a deacon and his wife should attend the visitation and services if they can.

If the visitation or burial is in another state or too far away a personal visit, a telephone call, a letter of card of encouragement or even sending flowers is expected. It doesn’t matter if the deceased is saved or not or one spouse was saved and a member of your church in your charge and the other is not a Deacon should feel compelled to at least make an appearance and assist with the arrangements if asked to do so in the case of the elderly or those that are alone now.

Among the responsibilities of a deacon, they should also when called or asked to do so offer their services to those in their charge.

If an elderly man or woman cannot do something like drive to church a deacon should at least offer to pick them up. If a widow needs to have a man do something for her such as fix something he should offer to help gladly. Deacons should be attentive and listen to those in their charge.

This is true for those in his change that are timid or shy. Most people will not come right out and ask anyone for help or ask their Deacon directly to do something like replace their garbage disposal. However they may mention it in passing hoping that the Deacon will pick up on it and this is where a Deacon must be attentive to the needs of others.

In acts of kindness a Deacon shows that he loves others and is willing to assist others in all of their spiritual and personal needs.

Brother Charles here comes to mind. One winter evening one of his charges called him because she knew that he was a plumber. She called him just to ask him a question about her parent’s hot water heater and he told her give me their address and I will stop by on my way home from work at about 5:30 tomorrow and see what I can find. When he arrived his charge was there with them and he quickly found out that the hot water heater was not working because it needed replacing. He offered to get a new one from the warehouse where he worked and deliver and install if for them the next day even though they were non active members of another church. When he was done all he asked for was the price of the hot water heater listed on his invoice and said a quick prayer and left.

Two weeks later he was reintroduced to her parents at the Sunday morning service and sat and spoke to them along with her and her husband. That was more than a year ago and since that day her parents are now active members of our church and are here for every service.

Brother Charles went beyond the responsibilities of a deacon, and here was an inspiration and a witness for God and in his actions he showed his love and kindness for his fellow man and is a great Deacon because of it.

A deacon and his wife must be of one accord and she should be with him whenever the need arises when performing his duties as a Deacon.

A Deacon's wife is also his witness and protection when it comes to instances when a deacon is administering to a woman. When a Deacon - or any man for that matter - enters a lone woman’s home by himself and after a time leaves accusations can be raised.

However if a deacon has his wife with him he has his witness. The same can be said if a Deacon needs to drive a woman in his charge somewhere. If the Deacons wife cannot be with him then the woman should be in the back seat and not in the front with him to avoid any gossip or accusations.

In James 3:5, we read that the “Tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts”.

The Deacons wife must be a believer as well and offer him support and encouragement when needed.

This is particularly true in cases where a Deacon is ministering to a man and woman in his charge in matters of faith, love or commitment if they are experiencing hardships. The Deacons children must be well behaved and believers if they are older. This is particularly true in cases where a Deacon is ministering to a family in situations where children or siblings are being ministered to.

To be a great Deacon they must be thought of in the same light as the Bishop or pastor since Deacons are an extension of the Sheppard of the flock and function like him in a smaller group.

A deacon should be all that Paul told Timothy they should be and more. They should true born again Christians and should be worthy of respect.

The responsibilities of a Deacon do not make them better than other Christians, but they are compelled to serve and called by God to do so.

No one wants to have a deacon who is not as spiritually sound as them because that allows them to think of their deacon in a negative light.