QUOTE=Vonnie Dee;409882]Although I have not been "ordained" as a deaconess, I have been married to a deacon. Truth be told, most of the work assigned to deacons gets done by the women of the church. They arrange the schedule and cook the meals for people that are sick or have babies. They arrange child care for moms that find themselves single parents while there husbands travel on business. They often sit with the sick.
Again, I have not been "ordained" as a deaconess. However, was I in charge of these ministries? yes. Did I tell people what to do? Yes. Most of them were other women though because it was women's work. (Don't tell Gloria Steinem I said that
).[/QUOTE]
Good points and thanks for your service!
No doubt men and women were, are, and need to be involved in "diaconal" ministry. Phebe in Romans 16 is commended for her involvement in "diaconal" ministry as a servant as are many other men and women in various places in Scripture.
John Calvin believed that I Timothy 3 involved qualifications for the wives of
both Elders and Deacons- that is they had to be known for hospitalitity (e.g. diaconal ministry). That was because, he reasoned, the wife's character reflected back on the office of the husband.
In like matter, it would be reasonable biblically for the wife of a church officer to be involved in mercy ministry, even in an exemplary way.
Lots of menial tasks, done heartily for the glory of God. God is faithful to reward that.
This is not the same thing as the ordained, authoritative, elected office of Deacon which I understand is charged with the responsibility and oversight of mercy ("diaconal") ministry, among other funtions. It seems to me the Deacons are responsible to oversee, direct and dispose of mercy ministry to make sure it gets done in the church. That will involve many tasks, including the Board of Deacons involving men and women in the body of Christ extending mercy.
We might say the Elders have oversight authority, Deacons have administrative authority (over mercy ministry), and men and women who assist the Deacons have various amounts of task authority. It works like this in the business world, authority is at different levels, the board of directors is ultimately responsible, the executive officers administrate in accordance with the will of the board, and many managers and employees at lower level have task authority, but it is not the same (and is not accountable in the same way) and is not chosen in the same way as the board of directors or the chief executive officers.
An employee may have a responsibility to file three copies of each incoming order. The employee may have some authority. But if the order is never delivered, the customer will sue the company, ultimately the board of directors, maybe the chief administive officers to recover. They will not sue the employee, even though the employee did all the work in relation to the order.
It's even deeper than that because Scripture is explicit in male leadership for the offices of Elder and Deacon and sometimes, mentions the two offices together (Philippians 1:1), showing they are both authoritative. Not the same amounts of authority or exactly the same kind, but similarl.
What may come out of all this discussion is a greater valuation of the office of Deacon, of ordination of church officers, and of men and women's involvement in mercy (diaconal) ministry. And we do have a beautiful structure in the Church to do that and it is very important we do it for God's Honor and Glory.