deacon

deacon, the rank in the Christian ministry next below the presbyter (priest) and bishop. The institution of the diaconate is traditionally seen in the ordination of the ‘seven men of honest report’ by the imposition of hands for the service of the poor and the distribution of alms (Acts 6: 1–6), though the word is not found there. Where it occurs in the NT in a technical sense (Phil. 1: 1, 1 Tim. 3: 8) it is in conjunction with ‘bishop’; deacons seem to be assistants to the bishops. In the Pastoral Epistles the deacons are a separate class of Church officials, charged chiefly with material duties. They first appear in the third place after bishops and presbyters in the Letters of St Ignatius. In the patristic age, when the office was normally held for life, their functions varied from place to place. Although deacons were (and still are) barred from celebrating the Eucharist or giving absolution, they commonly read or chanted the Epistle and *Gospel, assisted in the distribution of the consecrated elements to the people, and directed the prayers of the laity. In the W. their liturgical functions were curtailed in 595, but their responsibility for collecting and distributing the alms gave them importance, and the archdeacon, the chief deacon in a given place, became the bishop's principal administrative officer. Their influence diminished in the Middle Ages and in most W. episcopal Churches the diaconate has become only a stage in preparation for the priesthood. The Second *Vatican Council (1962–5), however, envisaged the possibility of restoring a permanent diaconate (which has been retained in the E. Church), and in some countries RC bishops have ordained older married men as deacons, though young men ordained deacon are still bound to *celibacy. At the Reformation the C of E retained the order of deacon. In 1986 it was made open to *women, as was already the case in some other Provinces of the Anglican Communion.

In many Protestant Churches the name is applied to holders of an office in the ministry. In the Lutheran Church the word denotes an assistant parochial minister, even though in full Lutheran orders. J. Calvin recognized two classes of deacons, those who administered the alms and those who cared for the sick and poor; these remain the functions of deacons in Presbyterianism. In the Baptist and Congregational Churches deacons assist the pastor and distribute the elements at the Communion. See also following entry.