Foreword

John G. Lorimer (1804-68) was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland and an active minister during the Ten Years’ Conflict in the Church of Scotland, which culminated in the Disruption of 1843. From that time until his death he was minister of the Free Church in St David’s, Glasgow. As such he was closely aligned with more recognizable men like Thomas Chalmers, James Begg, and William Cunningham. In addition to being a faithful parish minister, Lorimer was a productive author, studying closely the events and concerns within the Church of Scotland. For instance, he published The Statistics of Scottish Moderatism (1843) wherein he chronicled the downgrade in the Church of Scotland and criticized those who remained in the mother church after the Disruption.

​Perhaps his most useful practical works for the church today remain his works on the offices of the church: The Eldership of the Church of Scotland (1841) and The Deaconship (1842). In the latter, he offered a clear exposition of the spiritual office that the King of the Church gave to meet the temporal needs of the household of faith, the church. In this wonderful treatise he traced out the history of the office in the early church, providing OT background, before examining the decline of the office, which plagued his beloved church in his days. One of the most fruitful aspects of the book has to do with his explanation of the reasons for the near-extinction of the office in its biblical form. The rationales he offers for the demise of the office seem to revisit the church from time to time and so deserve our study, so as to avoid such a travesty.

​Lorimer also details the Scottish renaissance of the office of deacon through the labors of men like his contemporary Thomas Chalmers. Tracing out the necessity and importance of the deaconship for the welfare of the church, Lorimer urges the recognition, ordination, and utilization of qualified men for the “stirring up of the saints for mutual love and good works in the church” (Heb 10:24).

​This little book also sets forth practical good the office can accomplish when rightly distinguished from the office of elder and fully honored through the recognition of and ordination of biblically qualified men. In this area, his work is reminiscent of Samuel Miller’s work on the eldership, especially in his chapter on the distinction between elders and deacons. Although the historical contexts in which Miller and Lorimer wrote are somewhat different, the astute reader will soon realize the abiding benefit this little book can be for the church today due to its historical and biblical faithfulness. With all this in mind, it is a worthy study for students, elders and deacons who love the church as Christ’s beloved bride and wish to serve her faithfully.