I used the "and/or" in the title because I know of a number of Churches that have both.
This should not be a contentious thread, as I'm only asking opinions and anecdotal 'evidence'.
If you state an opinion, bonus points for scriptural backup.
I've always been in Churches that utilized deacons, and not elders.
I always (as a youngster, anyway) thought "elders" was a weird thing that only "high church" had.
Lately, I've seen a number of churches that have BOTH deacons and elders.
I've also seen some variance in the way a church will deploy deacons and/or elders.
In some, the deacons do the "servant" stuff as outlined in the Bible (imagine that) and the elders do the spiritual leadership stuff.
In some, the deacons serve "as a board", pretty much controlling everything, including finances (I mis-typed fiances ), buildings and grounds, etc.
The last few Churches where I've served, there really seemed to be a sense among the deacons that "we're here to serve, not to boss".
Baptist churches (my myopic experience) often have deacons who "boss", and don't so much serve.
What say you?
This should not be a contentious thread, as I'm only asking opinions and anecdotal 'evidence'.
If you state an opinion, bonus points for scriptural backup.
I've always been in Churches that utilized deacons, and not elders.
I always (as a youngster, anyway) thought "elders" was a weird thing that only "high church" had.
Lately, I've seen a number of churches that have BOTH deacons and elders.
I've also seen some variance in the way a church will deploy deacons and/or elders.
In some, the deacons do the "servant" stuff as outlined in the Bible (imagine that) and the elders do the spiritual leadership stuff.
In some, the deacons serve "as a board", pretty much controlling everything, including finances (I mis-typed fiances ), buildings and grounds, etc.
The last few Churches where I've served, there really seemed to be a sense among the deacons that "we're here to serve, not to boss".
Baptist churches (my myopic experience) often have deacons who "boss", and don't so much serve.
What say you?
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