Many Christian churches today choose members to serve as deacons. The word in the New Testament refers to “helpers,” church officials who are not pastors but who look after other church matters.
In 1 Timothy 3, the apostle Paul describes the sort of men who could be deacons, focusing on their moral habits.
But the concept of Christian deacons goes back to Acts 6, which shows the Christians choosing seven men to lead in the charitable distribution of food, leaving the apostles free to preach and teach.
Their job was important, because the Christians presented the men “before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them” (v. 6).
The “laying on of hands” signified spiritual importance. One of the seven was the famous Stephen, who was stoned to death, become the first Christian martyr.
The word deacon comes from the Greek word diakonos, meaning “servant.”
