Deacon Training - Recommended Resources?

The Public Square
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Hey all I’m looking for some resource recommendations. We installed our first deacons almost two years ago and believe their primary focus should be helping to organize mercy ministry for practical needs in the church.

We’ve been using Strauch’s book on Deacons (subtitle: “Minster of Mercy”) as the backbone of our deacon training. I got on Amazon the other day to order some more since, praise God, we have some more Deacon candidates. But it looks like there’s an updated version that’s called Paul’s Vision for the Deacons: Assisting the Elders with the Care of God’s Church. Looking at the TOC and first few pages, it looks like he’s changed it from a mercy-driven ministry that assists the pastors (which I agree with based on an assumption that the men in Acts 6 are proto-deacons) to an “assistant to the pastor” ministry (without the necessary mercy component).

Are there any resources anyone would recommend for deacon training? I’ll probably pick up the updated Strauch book just to check out.

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@dougummel would be a great resource for this question. I know he has had our deacons board read a number of different books.

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I know we use more than this book but it’s helpful in thinking through how to help those in need.

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I would recommend Rushdoony’s “In His Service” to elders wanting their diaconate to have a short history of the rise and fall of Christian charity and position their men for long-term community impact. Here’s a chapter to give you a taste of what I mean: https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/the-diaconate-charity-and-welfarism

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Thanks, Dave. We actually went through this book too during our last training and probably will again.

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Hello Jay. Sorry that it has been a bit since this question got posed and Lucas tagged me on it. Yes, the book that Dave Abu-Sara recommended above is one that is required reading for all of our new deacons. That is the only required reading that we have, but I have recommended the deacons read some primer on Robert’s Rules of Order before they come on so that they have a moderate understanding of how meetings run structurally. Then we have a “Deacon’s Constitution” (what we call our bylaws for the deacon’s board) that we actually walk them through and explain various aspects of during our deacon’s training in addition to them being read aloud in a stated meeting once a year to remind all of us of how we operate and the guidelines we have established for ourselves.

I would be happy to send a copy of those to you if it would be helpful. Feel free to reach out. dougummel at the g email.

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Thank you guys for the post! Was helpful!

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I ended up getting a book by Cornelis Van Dam that’s been pretty good so far.

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Does any one know of any good books on deacons or books that would be good to use for deacon training?

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@dougummel would be a good resource here.

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@JosephSpurgeon just asked this question on a new topic and I brought it in here since it’s the same question. Seems like enough time has passed that maybe some people have some more to add.

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The Van Dam book turned out to be really good.

The Deaconship: A Treatise on the Biblical Office is on my wishlist but I haven’t read it.

Revisiting this topic I’m reminded I should have hit up @dougummel for those docs he has.

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I’d love to see the deacons constitution, @dougummel.

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Edwards’s sermon on Christian Charity is very helpful. Reading through it with the deacons might be a good exercise. The eleven objections at the end are the payoff. Edwards-ChristianCharity.pdf (243.4 KB)

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Dear All,

You can’t edit (for obvious reasons) but here is a link to our “Deacon’s Constitution” Please feel free to plagiarize, steal, copy, take sections, etc. If I may be of help explaining anything or talking through the thinking behind anything, please let me know.

615-497-7239

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