Editor's Introduction

In 2015, several years after being ordained as a deacon in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, I started ReformedDeacon.com as a bibliography of reading materials on reformed diaconal ministry. This was motivated by my own desire to grow in wisdom and skill as I served in the ministry of mercy in Christ’s church. At the time, I was familiar with only a handful of writings on diaconal ministry, most from my own denomination’s magazine for church officers, Ordained Servant. Now, the bibliography contains fifty sound references on all aspects of the diaconate.

One of the most edifying discoveries in compiling this website has been reading works on diaconal ministries from an earlier time. For example, R.C. Reed’s excellent article “The Deacon” from 1903, Thomas Peck’s Notes on the “Deacon’s Office” from 1892, and this work first published in 1842 and expanded in 1861. Lorimer has the benefit of being not only from a different time but from a different place: Victorian Scotland in the height of the Disruption. Thus, Lorimer helps us escape from chronological snobbery (as C.S. Lewis put it) and reevaluate the implicit assumptions and typical practices of modern diaconal ministry.

This volume provides a comprehensive overview of diaconal ministry from the nature and importance of the office, its divine authority, its history in the church, the biblical qualifications and duties of the deacon, and the practice of the diaconate in the Free Church of Scotland. A breadth of appendices are included that range from obscure (an argument of why the statistics on crime in Scotland are not as dire as has been reported) to invaluable (an interview with a veteran deacon in Glasgow about his ministry among the poor from 1819 to 1837).

Lorimer particularly impresses several items on me. First, Lorimer reminds us of the perpetual risk of the church neglecting or corrupting the biblical offices. He details the corruption of the diaconal office in the early church and its recovery in the Reformation. Despite the revival of the diaconate in the 16th and 17th century, he explains how the Church of Scotland in the 18th and 19th century let the office fall into disuse and care of the poor fall on elders. For Lorimer as with Scripture, the office of the deacon rightly practiced in the church is of grave importance. He argues that the tasks of the office must not fall on the elders of the church, the civil magistrate, or the congregation as a whole, but, as God ordained, the primary work of mercy ministry is to fall on qualified men called to the office.

Second, Scripture outlines weighty qualifications for this office, and “without these the office degenerates into a mere name.” Moreover, these qualifications are largely qualifications of character, not of skill. Lorimer’s exposition of 1 Timothy 3 in Chapter VII is brief yet rich; all deacons and church members should reflect upon it.

Third, I am encouraged by Lorimer’s explanation of the benefits of a properly functioning diaconate to the pastor. “It would at once relieve, and strength, and encourage him.” The pastor can feel, “amid all his own difficulty and discouragement, he is not standing alone–that others are alive to his circumstances, and sympathize with him, and are forward to aid him–and that he can have their advice and cooperation in many matters which are otherwise fitted to distract and to burden to him.” May all pastors be able to so speak of their own deacons!

Finally, Lorimer challenges several of my own assumptions. It is often heard in our reformed churches that the diaconate is not a stepping stone to the eldership. Yet this book outlines compelling reasons why we should not hastily make that claim. Likewise, some of the diaconal practices discussed, such as operation of a savings bank, loan fund, and rudimentary insurance program, may seem an overreach to deacons of the 21st century, particularly in affluent countries. Lorimer encourages me to reevaluate my own assumptions about the scope of diaconal ministry and consider how I can best serve the people God has given to me.

This manuscript follows the second edition of Lorimer’s work, published in 1861 by W.R. McPhun. Except in minor instance of punctuation, I did not revise Lorimer’s language or spelling. If you uncover any typos (or otherwise have feedback), I invite you to contact me at tdhopper@gmail.com.

In closing, I would like to thank two fellow deacons, Peter Tola and Jeremy Shipp, for carefully proofreading the manuscript and identifying a number of my transcription mistakes, Dr. C. N. Willborn for writing a forward for this edition, and my beloved wife Maggie for bearing with me as I spent many hours preparing this for publication.

I dedicate this republication (if an editor may take that liberty) to my pastor Rev. Irfon Hughes who taught me to love books by saints long forgotten.