Video Transcript: What Do Deacons Do?

Session 4 — What Do Deacons Do?

Opening: From Character to Duties

Bruce:
We’re back, session four. So we talked about the more important thing of the character emphasis. But now—what do deacons need to do?

When you look at Scripture, there is no particular job description that says, “This is what deacons are to do.” The implication is, you get the right people, and they will figure out what to do.

And so we’re going to look at some of the practical aspects of some churches, our experience, but looking at: What should a deacon be thinking about? What should a deacon be looking for within the church? Outside the church? What are those things that are the deacon-servanthood role that leads the church in the process of being deacon?

So that’s what we’re going to be looking at.

And just a word here: in this I’m following this book by Matt Smethurst. This is part of a series of books about the church and a variety of things. Anyway, in preparation for this class, I began reading this book again, and so know that the list comes from there.

But I do want to make a note before we begin his list, and that is that sometimes the role of deacon can get limited. Let’s put it that way—can get limited.

The Risk of Limiting the Role

Bruce:
The church I served in California showed that. We restructured the office of deacon, and that happened in my heart, saying, “We’ve got to do something.” Because I walked into the church one day and one of the deacons was on the floor in the sanctuary.

And in that sanctuary, originally we had pews. And it looked like this. And what he was doing was on the floor, trying to figure out—because we had added a hymnal to our repertoire of song choices—and he was looking at how he could put another rack under the pew.

And the role of deacon, in his understanding, was that deacons were in charge of the church property. And so anything that had to do with the church property—that’s what he thought was his responsibility.

And so we had a talk, and that’s when we decided, “We’ve got to change this.” Because you know, there are a lot of people within your church, I suspect, who can do building stuff, and some are very talented and very experienced.

We don’t get deacons for that. We get deacons to deal with people.

And so this is just to try to say: what can we do within the church and outside the church that those who have been chosen to be deacons can be setting their minds and hearts on? To try to get the idea of, “What would Jesus do?”

I guess that’s the question anytime we meet a need: What would Jesus do?

Abigail:
I think that’s such an important note. Because, you know, maybe you’re watching this, and you know that the deacon role in your church has kind of, maybe, sort of became traditionally this way. And it’s kind of, yeah, like you said, become limited and put in this certain box.

That is not what the role of deacon is.

Bruce:
So let us encourage you, at the beginning of this session, to say: we’re going to be looking not at that sort of thing—unless you’re doing it for somebody else.

A deacon may say, “Ah, there’s this need for this person over here. We’re going to fix something in their house.” That would be legitimate.

But taking care of the church building? Oh, Lord, please get some people who aren’t deacons to do that. Get fit in that area.

First Duty: Spot and Meet Tangible Needs

Bruce:
All right. Okay, so first of all, here is first duty of the deacon. This is what deacons should do: spot and meet tangible needs inside the church.

This is from James chapter two:

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. That happened back in Acts chapter six. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Abigail:
That’s a powerful passage. It’s one that definitely should make you feel that like—goof to the gut. You know? It’s like, it’s so easy to say great things, but if you’re not having action, then you have a huge symptom of a faith that is dead.

Bruce:
So everybody’s called to be a deacon. Everybody is. But there are the few who are going to lead the charge. And it starts by looking inside and saying, “What are the needs inside the church?”

Let’s just look at some possibilities of what that might be. Okay, we looked at widow connection. So widows and orphans. What does that look like for widows and orphans within your church? And what are the needs that have to be there?

Of course, supporting families with illness.

Abigail:
So many families in a church are going through that in some capacity. And support is so critical. That could become financial support for the two that we just read above, or even somewhere outside of those categories of illness, or, you know, being a widow or orphan. But financial support can be a huge part of that.

Bruce:
And usually there’s a budget within the church for that—Benevolent Fund. Most churches I know have that sort of fund that the deacons are responsible for using for those kind of things.

And that’s financial support as well. Sometimes families—a person loses their job. And now what? Now there are some safety nets here in the United States. I don’t know about where you are, but there are some safety nets where people would lose their job here. But not always is it adequate. Needs.

So how do you do that? And there are a variety of ways.

I mean, if you don’t have a budget—I just saw somebody did a crowdfunding thing for a need for a family that was experiencing extended illness. And they had to be—you know, we’re up in the Grand Haven, Michigan, Spring Lake area. But this guy had to be at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for a period of a month. And the family members were there to support this person during that time.

And so, you know, here came this crowdfunding thing to say, “Would you give to support their living expenses down there for the family? Insurance would do the rest for his care as far as he’s in the hospital. But the family is ready to be down there and be, yeah, right.”

Abigail:
It was a pretty significant fund. They were trying to raise $5,000 for this—for the rest of what the family wasn’t covered for. That wasn’t very large.

Bruce:
So I don’t know what would happen in this kind of situation if it were my family. I know that there would be people—through deacons at heart—but there’d be people in the church as well that would come alongside and meet.

And I know the church that I was recently in—I did an interim in a church—and they had a broad ministry within their community. You know, they had to find the boundaries. This was an inner-city church, and so they defined the boundaries. But they took requests from all sorts of people, and they visited and cared for all sorts of people within that community who had financial needs because they just couldn’t make it from month to month.

Counseling and Care Ministries

Bruce:
Yeah—counseling ministry. Wow. I mean, again, what a need in so many different areas. That could be grief or loss. Maybe someone is going through a divorce. Maybe they’re dealing with something else.

But that opportunity for the church to come alongside them and encourage them with the love and comfort of Christ—that’s such a vital way that a deacon could really be heading that up in their community and inside the church.

And again, these are the kinds of things that cause the church to grow.

I’ll share: the last church I served actively, one of the things we started was GriefShare. It’s a program, I think it’s a 15-week program. We got some people who went and got the training to be leaders in that, and we began to offer it in the community. Funeral directors throughout the community referred people to us who had lost loved ones. And as a result of being there, we had some people become part of our church.

Abigail:
Oh wow. Such a blessing. People saying, “This is exactly what I needed. This is the community of believers I want to be a part of.” Right?

Bruce:
Absolutely. DivorceCare was another one—similar program, from the same publisher. About 15 weeks, designed for people who are divorced. They even had a part for the kids—children of divorce.

That was one of our major growth engines. What’s bringing people in? What’s opening doors for the gospel? Needs like these.

And I remember one woman I talked to—tears in her eyes—she said, “Thank you.” At her last church they were harassing her because she was divorced. Her husband had been abusive, and that church kept pressuring her to go back to him.

Then she visited our church, and she said she was shocked: “You’re announcing a program for divorced people. I couldn’t believe it.”

That’s what happens when you look inside: What are the needs inside the church? What are the needs in the community?

Abigail:
Impactful. It’s such a strength. And we just see the model from Jesus again and again—his ministry was finding tangible needs and completely going all-in on loving and caring.

Practical Service: Servants With Appropriate Tools

Bruce:
Right. Yeah. So, powerful stuff.

The last church I served also had a mission to disabled people. There was a group in the church who were very handy with tools and wood. They went to the city and said, “We’ll build any handicapped ramp needed in this city.”

And eventually, they expanded to the whole county. They called themselves SWAT: Servants With Appropriate Tools.

They would go and build a ramp. And while the ramp was being built, one man—who had the gift of evangelism—would sit with the family and visit with them, sharing the love of Christ.

It started when someone inside the church needed a ramp. He had become disabled while battling cancer. The deacons said, “We’ll do this.” And then they expanded it to others in the community.

That’s true servant-hearted ministry.

Looking Outside the Church

Bruce:
So inside the church, deacons are looking for needs. But that often leads outside the church.

James 1 says: “Look after orphans and widows in their distress, and keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

In the first century, widows and orphans had no safety nets. If family didn’t step in, they ended up begging on the streets.

So when deacons step in, they’re often looking outward.

I’ll give you one example—though the end story is complicated. The Crystal Cathedral in California. Robert Schuller became famous for this phrase: “Find a need and fill it.” That’s how he grew his church—from a drive-in theater start, to a congregation of thousands.

Now, I’m not holding up everything he did as a model, but the principle is sound. Find the needs in your community, and fill them.

Examples of Meeting Community Needs

Bruce:
So what might that look like today? At one of my churches, here’s what our deacons focused on:

• Beds for children who didn’t have beds.
• Desks during COVID so kids could do schoolwork at home.
• Food trucks to help families in need.
• Car ministry—helping people get transportation so they could hold a job.

Abigail:
I think especially today, families as a whole need strengthening. I heard a message recently about kids spending seven to nine hours a day on social media. The recommended amount is no more than two hours. So this is triple—quadruple what’s healthy. That’s creating brokenness in kids and families.

Bruce:
Yes. And in a similar way, think of the elderly. Scams are rampant. Reports say if you own a smartphone, you’re probably getting six scam attempts a week. And many people—especially older folks—are losing their savings, their homes.

What if the church offered training to help them recognize scams? What if deacons organized support to protect the vulnerable? That’s meeting needs.

And another need: families of children with disabilities. In my county, statistics showed that only 7% of such families attended church. Why? Because most churches weren’t equipped to care for their children.

So we created a ministry with one-on-one volunteers, sensory-friendly classrooms, and support for parents. It became our most effective growth engine.

I’ll never forget communion one Sunday. A father took the bread and cup, then grabbed my hand and said, “Pastor Bruce, this is the first day my entire family has been in church since my child was born.” He was in tears.

That’s what happens when deacons look for needs and meet them.

Abigail:
It shows the love and unity of Christ in action.

Protecting and Promoting Unity

Bruce:
Another major role of deacons: protect and promote unity.

Remember Acts 6—the first deacons were set apart because division was threatening the church. Meeting needs prevents murmuring and keeps the body healthy.

But I’ll share an ugly story to show the opposite. In one church, a man actually campaigned to be elected elder with the stated goal of getting rid of the pastor. That’s what happens when murmuring festers.

Abigail:
Yeah, and that’s the danger of murmuring. It creeps in, divides, and can disguise itself as something good, but really it’s destructive.

Bruce:
Exactly. Deacons should never fuel murmuring. They should be the ones who listen, calm, and redirect: “How can we solve this together, instead of stirring division?”

Supporting and Serving Pastors

Bruce:
Another role of deacons is to support the ministry of pastors and elders.

Pastors are in crisis. Even before the pandemic, 65% reported burnout. After the pandemic, 42% said they were considering leaving full-time ministry altogether.

Abigail:
That doesn’t surprise me. I grew up in a pastor’s family. I saw the stress firsthand. One thing my dad modeled was delegation. He knew when to hand things off. That helped him avoid burnout. And that’s exactly what Acts 6 teaches: deacons free pastors to focus on prayer and the Word.

Bruce:
Yes. I’ll share one personal story. During a tough building project, I was under intense criticism. I told my council chair, “If this continues, I’ll be gone within a year.”

At the next elders’ meeting, he stood up and said, “We know things have been hard. Tonight, we recommission you as our pastors. You are not to handle this negativity anymore. Two elders will take it on. If you get a nasty letter, don’t open it—give it to them. If you get an anonymous call, redirect it.”

That moment saved me from leaving ministry. One man’s servant heart made the difference.

Closing

Bruce:
So what do deacons do? They:

• Meet tangible needs inside the church.
• Reach outside into the community.
• Protect and promote unity.
• Support and serve pastors and elders.

Abigail:
And that’s powerful. Stay tuned for our next session as we continue looking at this office of deacon and the way it strengthens the church.