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A '''deacon''' ([[Greek]] ''diakonos'' a servant who waits on the table of his master) is a member of the [[cleric]]al order next below that of a [[priest]] in hierarchical Christian churches. In non-hierarchical churches, a deacon is a layman, one of a group (called the Board of Deacons) varying from one to five percent of the church membership, charged with the day-to-day management of the church and the occasional provision of church-member services. 

The term ''deacon'' and the office it represents has its origin in the earliest days of [[Christianity]]. The [[Bible]] itself specifically says:{{Bible quote|In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian 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, 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."|book=Acts|chap=6|verses=1-4|version=NIV}}

Thus originally, a deacon was ''not'' a preacher at all, but rather was a minister charged with being a church social worker, a treasurer, and a business functionary. It is known that deacons were, in the first several centuries of Christian Church history, key advisors to the bishops. That role has now mainly passed to the priests.

During the reign of the [[Emperor]] [[Constantine]], the [[Roman Catholic ChurchChristian]] Church established itself, with essentially the same legally. It had a hierarchy of priests clergy in some ways similar to that of the old polytheistic [[Rome|Roman]] state religion had had. The RCC developed a multitiered clerical order, with All of the [[Pope]] (essentially a renamed [[Pontifex Maximus]], hence levels of ordained ministers that the nickname "pontiff" often applied to various Christian churches of the papal office) at its headtime depended upon are, [[Archbishop]]s (literallyhowever, "lead overseers") next, then ordinary [[bishop]]s, then [[priest]]s, and finally the lowest rank identified in the order, to which the Church gave the name ''deacon''. From that day to this, in the Roman Catholic Church, a deacon is a [[seminaryNew Testament]]-trained individual and usually a type of apprentice to were functioning long before the pastor (called ''vicar'' in the [[Church time of England]] and ''rector'' in the Episcopal Church) of a parishConstantine.

== The Anabaptist movement ==In contrastthe Western section of the Roman Empire, the Church developed a multitiered order of ministers, with the [[AnabaptistPope]] movement disdained (essentially a renamed [[Pontifex Maximus]], hence the hierarchical structure of nickname "pontiff" often applied to the Roman Catholic Churchpapal office), at its head. In that movementThe Eastern Churches, a deacon remained what he was in Paul's day: a lay social worker, treasurer, and eventually a building-and-grounds manager (not actually a now called [[sextonEastern Orthodox]], who actually did not accept the physical labor claims to universal jurisdiction made by the Bishop of building and groundskeepingRome, but perhaps one who hired the sexton Pope. In 1054, the polarized views of East and gave him his day-to-day orders and instructions)West finally resulted in the a formal break between the two, a separation that exists until the present.

== Deacons and vestrymen today ==These two parallel understandings of the office of deacon persist today. The There were [[Church of EnglandArchbishop]]s (literally, under "lead overseers"), who led the leadership Church in the most important cities of King the Empire, then ordinary [[Henry VIIIbishop]]s, retained all then [[priest]]s, and finally the hierarchical forms of lowest order, the deacons. From that day to now, in the Roman Catholic and certain other churches, a deacon is usually a [[seminary]]-trained individual and a type of apprentice to the pastor (called ''vicar'' or ''rector'' in the [[Church from which it had broken awayof England]] and other Anglican churches).  == The Protestant churches==In the [[Lutheran Church]], the dominant church of the [[Reformation]] equivalent in continental northern [[Europe]], some only of that structure was retained little . Bishops in Apostolic Succession remained in Lutheran Scandinavia.  In the [[Reformed]] and [[Presbyterian]] churches--representing the second largest branch of the continental Reformation after the Lutherans--deacons were retained as ministers performing much the same role as in the more traditionally hierarchical churches. Reformed Theology holds that the ministry is not a singular office, but that there is a multiplicity of clergy. Teachers, Deacons, Trustees, and Pastors, are all ordained, although only the pastor is customarily addressed as "Reverend." In contrast, the [[Anabaptist]] movement disdained the hierarchical structureof the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Church. In that movement, a deacon remained a lay social worker, treasurer, and eventually a building-and-grounds manager (not actually a [[sexton]], who actually did the physical labor of building and groundskeeping, but perhaps one who hired the sexton and gave him his day-to-day orders and instructions). The modern [[Baptist Church]] retains ''no'' such structurenone of the historic hierarchy, because considering the pastor alone to be a clergyman. == Deacons today ==These two different understandings of the office of deacon persist today. The [[Church of England]] retained most of the hierarchical system known to the Roman Catholic Church from which it never had itbroken away. It did not, of course, retain the position of Pope or Cardinal (the bishops who elect the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church). If an Anglican deacon is expected to be in that position for only six months to a year prior to being ordained a priest, he is styled a "transitional" deacon. If that is not the church's expectation, he is termed a "perpetual" deacon. Thus only the hierarchical churches continue to have the extended apprenticeship program for priests that Apostolic position known as the "diaconate has come to mean in those churches," i. Yet both kinds e. the order of church deacons. Yet all these churches recognize the need for a function the functions performed by deacons, whether the particular church body considers them to be ordained clergy or laymen.

In the Baptist Churchchurches, such men are still called deacons and perform the same function that deacons in the early church once performed. Typically a pastor, or a committee of long-standing members answering to the pastor, will nominate deacons who shall take office upon confirmation by election of the membership. Some churches might hold multiple rounds of deacon elections, with the first election serving as a sort of informal nominating convention in which a member may "nominate" anyone he wishes. The usual term of office of a deacon is three years, and a deacon would at the end of that time not be re-eligible for another yearThey remain laymen.

In hierarchical Some churchesmight hold multiple rounds of deacon elections, including with the [[Anglican Communion]] (and first election serving as a sort of informal nominating convention in [[America]]which a member may "nominate" anyone he wishes. The usual term of office of a deacon is three years, and a deacon would at the end of that time not be re-eligible for another year. In the [[Episcopal ChurchAnglican]])churches, these lay ministries persistboards of control exist, though under a different name: --the '''vestry'''. An individual belonging to the vestry is called a '''vestryman''' (or a vestry-woman). The vestry typically has a '''senior warden''' as its head and often a '''junior warden''' as deputy to the senior warden. They play a role, with the bishop of the diocese, in calling pastors and, if need be, deacons. Somewhat different terminology is used in the other hierarchical churches.

In both Deacons in non-hierarchical churches, perform the function is duties that vestrymen in the sameAnglican churches perform. Deacons (or vestrymen) They generally handle all the "business" functions of the church. These may include:

=== Pastoral vacancy ===In a non-hierarchical church, whenever the office of pastor falls vacantRoman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and Reformed churches, where the Board of Deacons deacon is primarily responsible for filling that vacancy. They may do so directly, by advertising the vacant position ordained and inviting interested applicants for interviews, in therefore is not a manner similar to that in which a board of directors at a joint-stock corporation might select a new president/chief executive officer. Or they may seat a special ''search committee'' to which they then delegate this responsibility. In either caselayman, the function of deacons have the sole power of "impeachment" of a pastorhas become mainly liturgical, i.e. Pastors are often subject helping to removal from pastoral office on impeachment for, conduct public worship services and conviction of, apostasy, embezzlement, or other conduct to the prejudice administration of their office or mission. Such removal occurs rarely and is often the culmination of long-standing discordsacraments. In hierarchical Deacons in these churchesdo, pastoral (or rectoral) vacancies andhowever, when necessary, pastoral discipline are matters for the local bishop continue to handle. But in rare cases, vestries have forced help and counsel the resignations of rectors parish's poor and insisted that the bishops send replacementssick, as in antiquity.

[[Category:ChristianityChristian Group Structuring]]