To perfect, as far as the limits of a short essay will allow, our sketch of order, as respects the church, it is necessary to notice the deacon's as well as the bishop's office. The deacon, as the name imports, is the minister or servant of the congregation. He is the steward, the treasurer, the almoner of the church. The seven chosen and ordained in the congregation of Jerusalem were set over the business of supplying the tables of the poor saints and widows. They are a standing institution in the Christian house of God. It was anciently the custom to commit to the deacon's care the Lord's table, the bishop's table, and the tables of the poor. From all that; is said of their office in the Epistles, and of their qualifications, they must be regarded as were the deacons in the synagogues--the public servants Of the church in all things pertaining to its internal and external relations--in all matters of temporal concern.¹

      There ought to be a plurality of deacons in every church. As keepers of the treasury of the church, it is most satisfactory to him that [127] officiates to have a companion or companions in office; and on many occasions the duties are too oppressive for a single individual.

[A. C.]      

Source:

Alexander Campbell. "Deacon's Office." The Millennial Harbinger Extra 6 (October 1835): 507.

[MHA2 127-128]