Report of the Subcommittee Diaconal Ministries

Summary

The PCA’s Fifth General Assembly appointed this subcommittee of a teaching elder, a ruling elder, and three deacons to study the diaconal principles and ministries of the NAPARC churches, particularly the OPC and CRC; the report went to the Sixth General Assembly in 1978. Its first section identifies six unsettled issues, among them the scope of the diaconate, whether mercy goes first to believers or to outsiders, the tie between mercy ministry and evangelism, and the diaconate’s authority relative to the session.

A second section describes working ministries from the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee down to local congregations, and a third reports a survey of every PCA church (most respondents rated the deacon’s work as essential and honorable as the elder’s).

The committee calls its work exploratory rather than evaluative and commends its questions to sessions and diaconates for further study.

Excerpt

From Scripture, the most effective diaconal ministries are built as the deacons serve as leaders, managers, trainers, and motivators of members of the congregation as they grow in their works of service. This delicate interplay has important implications for the development of works of mercy on the local church, presbytery, and assembly level: ministries are developed most effectively as there is a combination of “grass roots” activity and effective official leadership. Neither will be as effective as it could be without the other.

Report of the Subcommittee Diaconal Ministries

Where to read it

Related readings