Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Nov/68

Contributor - T. Hogerwaard

Title - In Preparation on The Merger Vote Part 2 : The Deacon

Topic - Reformed Church

a. The deacon according to Reformed tradition

It is well known that for Calvin the offices in the Church were four. The deacon, the elder, the minister and the doctor of the Church, to whom especially the teaching was entrusted. That fourth office appears in some editions of the Institutes, in others not, so Calvin seems to have been a bit hesitant about it. About elders and ministers we will write later, for today we will see what the deacon is in the Reformed tradition.

We have to say that although very fine things are said, for instance that each office has its own worth and that under no circumstance one office shall lord it over the others, yet the office of deacon has always been considered more or less second class in our reformed tradition. Where the elders meet separately as the session and the deacons have their own meeting, all matters spiritual are handled by the elders (that includes the ministers, the teaching elders); the deacons who "only" look after the interests of the needy have no responsibility for it. Yet, the care of the poor has always been extremely important in the eyes of the Lord, so it is strange that never a deacon was admitted to higher judicatories of the Church, which is not as it should be. Christ Himself in one place in the N.T. is called diaconos, the One Who serves, and we remember very well the Dominical Words that "the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his soul as a ransom for many". Not many men can beat me in my respect for the Reformed of Geneva, but it is fully in accordance with his whole attitude and teaching that we never take his words as the last words. In the contrary, Calvin himself again and again refers us back to the Scriptures, there we find the mind of the Lord and to know this mind is all important. Far too often one gets the impression at Church gatherings (Hamilton, 21 September, 1968) that as soon as it is known what Calvin said about a certain matter, that then you need not study the Scriptures any more! Calvin has spoken, the matter is settled! That is ossified orthodox thinking, not listening to the Scriptures in the tradition of Calvin! In our Church gatherings we suffer far too much from debate and heated debate while there is not enough knowledge, not enough study of the pertaining matters. Few ministers have read the excellent dissertation by Dr. G. Huls(*) "De dienst der vrouw in de kerk" (Onderzoek naar de plaats der vrouw in een presbyjeriaanse kerkorde). Translation under ('). This dissertation cuts a good many weighty arguments used against the service of women in the Church to pieces. The following sentences are taken from the English summary of Dr. Huls' book.

3. Also in the Early Church woman at first occupied a great place; in preaching, as a missionary, in the congregation as a teacher and prophetess, while she may have administered the sacraments. Added to this come the ministries of widows and deaconesses, the latter having prayed a much greater part in the East than in the West, though they existed here for centuries. At last, however, they are ousted from the official ministry of the Church by hierarchical - sacerdotal (that is priestly, T.H.) influences, connected with an increasing depreciating opinion about women.

4. The Reformation has not given back to woman her place in the ministry of the Church, equivalent to that of man, though Luther and Calvin made a timid beginning with this. Nor have later attempts yielded a permanent result. Outside the Church, in sects etc., woman occupies a far greater place.

5. At the moment the problem of the ministry of women in Church has come up for discussion nearly everywhere. The "Diakonissen" re-instituted by Fliedner seek communication with the Church, while in most countries discussions are being held about admitting women to all ministries, which has already taken place in some Churches. (Note T.H. that was in 1951, since then the great majority of the Reformed-Presbyterian Churches have admitted women to the of f ice of deacon, elder and minister)."

This was derived from part I. Now in part II of this English summary the writer goes on to explain why it is that women could never get their rightful place in the Church. To the deacon the same applies, that's why we have quoted this rather extensively. Dr. Huls continues:

1. "The objections against the ministry of woman are mainly derived from the character of the "office" in the Church. When, however, we consult the N.T. it appears that the only thing people can do in Church is 'serving' as every form of the Old Testament leitourgia (cultic priesthood) has been settled by Jesus Christ. All services rendered in the Church are founded on a charisma (is: gift of grace) which Christ (The Spirit) has distributed to a great multitude. The Church namely lives as the body of Christ and every member in it has a special function, for which it (he) first received such a charisma. So there is not any qualitative difference between the services, nor does this arise when some of these services are openly recognized e.g. by election, for the sake of order in the Church (Italics T.H.). Even though the exercising of certain charismata may be restricted (1 Cor. 14 : 27 ff.) it is of importance that in the N.T. not any charisma is denied to woman on principle.

2. Calvin did not break radically enough with the deformation of these ideas in the R.C. clerical conception, because he restricted the number of ministries to 4 (or 3) and also isolated them too much from the services instructed to everyone, so that in the entirety of the Church they became too independent. In this respect he appears to have been influenced by his time and the requirements of practice in Geneva. Consequently too many institutional elements have forced their way into the Presbyterian Churches at the cost of the organic functioning of the Church as the Body of Christ, which i.a. is expressed in a severe restriction of the number of ministries, which besides, have been disjoined from the priesthood of all believers and whose character of "service" is risked, also because they are all connected with the "governing", whereas nearly all other services are defined as "ordines minores".

b. The deacon according to the New Testament

First we have to read carefully the chapters 6, 7 and 8 of the Book of Acts. Chapter 6 shows clearly that deacons were elected because the apostles had to limit themselves to the task of prayer and to the ministry of the Word. Seven men were chosen to look after the interests of the Greek speaking widows of the congregation. So, if we only had this piece of Scripture we would think - that from now on the 7 deacons would act as deacons in our sense: collecting money and handing it out to those who needed it. But we read nothing of the kind! On the contrary: About Stephen, one of the seven deacons we read that he was a great preacher and theologian and that the Jews could not stand up in the discussion against him! "Stephen and Paul are the two great radicals in the N.T. (Dr. 0. Noordmans (**).) with Philip it is the same; when he goes to Samaria it is not to collect money but to preach! And when the Spirit sends him to the Ethiopian, again it is not to ask for money but to explain the Scriptures! He was one of the first great missionaries of the early Church and when later on Paul was converted, he always stayed with Philip, with whom he had so much in common. Philip had four unmarried daughters, who all had received the gift of prophesy, the highest charisma that the Spirit has to give! So we see that the N.T., picture of the deacon is totally different from that in the Reformed tradition. Dr. 0. Noordmans (page 242 of his book (**) has this to say: "It seems to me that it is most probable that here (Acts 6) a certain separation in the first congregation has taken place, because it meant a division of the apostolate. The seven men would have functioned then as a group of Greek speaking apostles. Indeed, with less authority than the twelve but also in the first place with a commission to teach and to preach. The relief that the apostles received consisted in the fact that the entire care for the Greek speaking part of the congregation was taken from their shoulders" (Blacks T.H.). "We notice that for the choice of these seven men the condition is made that they be full of "Spirit and wisdom". That is a different condition than the one laid down when another Jewish apostle was to be elected (Acts 1 : 22). This man had to be a witness of the resurrection of the Lord. When these seven men are elected, we do not hear anything about that. In case they too are apostles, their apostleship is of a different nature which is not in conflict with the position of the Twelve. They will be apostles by the grace of, the Holy Spirit. Let us say to be entirely clear that we see here already the apostolate of Paul." When we consider this, we see at once how limited and restricted the office of deacon in our Reformed tradition is, compared with the different climate of the N.T. And let us be very clear about it, not the circumstances in Geneva in the sixteenth, century, are for us norm and yardstick but the Scriptures and the Scriptures only.

c. Conclusion

One of the strong arguments used by those who are opposed to the merger of the R.C.A. and the Southern Presbyterians is, that the office of deacon will disappear and that must not happen under any circumstance! This fear is unfounded. It will be so, if the new Church comes into existence that for the first time in the 400 years' history of the Reformed and Presbyterian Churches the work of the deacons will be fully honoured and recognized the work will remain the same and will even grow in importance but the M, en to whom in a very special sense the ministry of love is entrusted will be fully recognized as elders, will be able to go as delegates to the presbytery (classis), Synod or General Assembly where their voice should be heard. This may be a slight deviation from the practise of 400 years, it is more in accordance with the N.T. and for me: that is the only and only thing that counts. So this argument against merger will not hold water for one moment; it is purely historical and formal.

Moreover, may I use this opportunity to express my deepest conviction about offices in the Church? In my opinion there is only one "office" and that is: "to be an older brother to all the other Christians". That applies to the bishop, the minister, the elder and the deacon as well as to the doctor of the Church;. That is exactly what the word presbyter (elder) expresses. Not only for the centuries (4 only) which have passed since the Reformation, but for all the centuries of His Church Christ has said it plainly and unmistakably. clear: "One is your Master, the Christ, and you are all brothers." Christ came to serve, He expects the same from those who are "in Christ". It would be a good thing if all those called to fulfill a function in the Church (whatever that may be) kept in mind the theme of the old Hanseatic League (in Dutch: Hansa): "Navigare necesse est, vivere non necesse est." (To sail the seas is a necessity, to live is not.) Dr. Hendrik Kramer, in his dissertation, changed that for the Christians into: "Servire necesse est, vivere non necesse est" (To serve is required, not to live). "Do you understand," He asked, "what I have done for you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Then if I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash another's feet. I have set you an example: you are to do as I have done for you. In very truth I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger than the one who sent him. You know this, happy are you it you act upon it."

That's what our Lord said:. the final Word.

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