A summary of the biblical, historical, and practical role of deacons in the church.

Now presenting the 50th-anniversary edition of this best-selling classic in Judson Press's Work of the Church series! This Second Revised Edition of The Work of the Deacon & Deaconess features new and updated content, reflecting the evolving diversity of ministry in the diaconate. Fans will find time-honored material about the traditional roles of the deacon, as well as additional ideas for tailoring the deacon's work to the needs of a growing congregation and changing community. In particular, this second revised edition includes greater differentiation between the roles of deacon (male and female) and deaconess in churches that maintain a distinction in those ministries.

Do you know what it means to be a deacon? Is this office in the church still relevant today? Dr. Lonnie Davis Wesley believes that deacons have an important role to play, but that church traditions and failures in leadership and education have often made deacons ineffective, or given them tasks to which they are not called and for which they are not equipped. He goes back to the first deacons, chosen and set apart in Acts 6, for a model for the ministry of deacons in the modern church. In doing so, he finds that we need to re-learn and re-apply the lessons of scripture and history so that the church can be fully effective in ministry. The Seven: Taking a Closer Look at What It Means to Be a Deacon is a comprehensive guide to reforming and recharging your church’s deacon ministry. It includes guides to help you develop an education program to prepare deacons for ministry, and to aid your congregation in supporting that ministry. This book may be read by individuals, but it will find its greatest use as a tool for building a strong deacon ministry in any congregation.

After nineteen years in print and over 200,000 copies sold, Broadman & Holman is publishing an updated edition of Deacons: Servant Models in the Church. Henry Webb deals with every aspect of the roles and offices of deacons in the church, including the deacon's marriage, wife, children, family life, conduct, priorities, and other pertinent aspects of deacons as role models of servant leadership in the church.

Divided opinion on the topic of this book has caused controversy in Baptist history and life. Most Baptist individuals and churches have strongly opposed women deacons. Some Baptist associations have even disfellowshipped churches that have approved women deacons. And women in general have been suppressed by many recent actions of the Southern Baptist Convention, thereby affecting women deacons. However, thousands of Baptist churches include women in their deacon bodies and find that they make invaluable contributions. The book presents arguments on both sides of the topic, but lands squarely in support of women deacons.

A critical look at the diaconate in the Episcopal Church Times change, and the Order of Deacons in the Episcopal Church has not remained static. While the book seeks to update contemporary knowledge about deacons, it also shows how the diaconate may be well positioned to lead the church into change that cuts across governance, formation, and ministry. While the institutional church struggles with its structure and purpose, working to change its reality and perception, the book suggests that there are diaconal leaders who have been working all along for this kind of change. The book chronicles ways in which one church order has grown, matured, adapted, adjusted, and is as effective as it is because of its dynamic nature. It is hoped that other orders might learn from the importance of being adaptable, contextual, and baptismal, while highlighting the primary lens deacons look through as they seek to fulfill what the church has called them to do.

"The essays collected in this book aim to give the reader an overview of the theological and pastoral nature of the diaconate and thus to clarify the fundamental identity of the deacon, for those who are discerning such a call as aspirants and those who are already candidates for the office." --From Introduction.