Deacons Sentence Examples

The orders of the ministry are bishops, presbyters, deacons.

The bishop has acquired control of the sacraments, presbyters and deacons acting only under his orders; the episcopate appears as a unit, bishops being bound to respect one another's disciplinary decrees.

The elders are the first or oldest teachers of congregations, for which there is no regular bishop. They have charge of the meetings of such congregations, and participate in excommunication proceedings, besides which they preach, exhort, baptize, and may, when needed, take the offices of the deacons.

The tenth canon tolerates the marriages of deacons who previous to ordination had reserved the right to take a wife; the thirteenth forbids chorepiscopi to ordain presbyters or deacons; the eighteenth safeguards the right of the people in objecting to the appointment of a bishop whom they do not wish.

With the exception of the pallium, this was also the costume of the Roman deacons.

The word of God is to be freely and truthfully preached by the priests of the Lord, and by worthy deacons.

At first this local ministry was twofold, consisting of presbyters or bishops and deacons.

These are 46 presbyters, 7 deacons, 7 subdeacons, 42 acolytes, 52 exorcists and readers, together with doorkeepers.

Therein we are told that the threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons may be traced back to apostolic times, and in the final revision of 1662 a clause was added to the effect that no one is to be accounted " a lawful bishop, priest or deacon in the Church of England," unless he has had episcopal consecration or ordination.

The constant practice has been to reordain unconditionally Anglican priests and deacons.

Appoint therefore unto yourselves bishops and deacons, worthy of the Lord, men meek and uncovetous, and true and approved; for they also minister unto you the ministration of the prophets and teachers.

Election took the place of ordination, but even here the Lombards showed their difference from the Ultramontanes, and recognized only two orders, like the Cathari, while the northern body kept the old three orders of bishops, priests and deacons.

Each normal church had its own bishop or pastor, as well as its presbytery and body of deacons.

It advocated " the polity that our Saviour Jesus Christ hath established," with " pastors, superintendes, deacons "; so that " all true pastors have equal power and authority.

The fusion into one office of the functions of " elders " and " deacons " (still distinguished in the Savoy Declaration of 1658) was partly at least a symptom of the decay of the church-idea in its original fulness, a decay itself connected with the general decline in spiritual intensity which maiked 18th-century religion, after the overstrain of the preceding age.

The stole is worn immediately over the alb; by deacons, scarf-wise over the left shoulder, across the breast and back to the right side; by priests and bishops, dependent from the neck, the two ends falling over the breast.

In southern Italy, probably under Greek influence, and in Milan (where the custom still survives) the diaconal stole was put on over the dalmatic. Similarly in Spain and Gaul, anterior to the Carolingian age, the stole was worn by deacons over the alba or outer tunic.

The custom of giving the stole to priests and deacons at their ordination is of great antiquity.

The stole of the deacons is mentioned so early as the 4th and 5th centuries, the first instance being in the 22nd canon of the council of Laodicea, where it is mentioned specifically as the insignia of a deacon.

It is quite certain that from the 3rd century onward there existed in the Eastern Church an order of women, known as deaconesses, who filled a position analogous to that of deacons.

Ignatius bears witness to the presence in various Churches of Asia Minor of a single bishop in control, with whom are associated as his subordinates a number of elders and deacons.

While Jacob of Edessa is said to have ordained some 100,000 priests and deacons for his fellow-believers, in the 16th century the Jacobites of Syria were estimated at only 50,000 families.

Deacons and preachers make engagements seven or eight years in advance.

The moment of transition is clearly marked in the Didache, where the charismatic ministry of " apostles and prophets " is beginning to give place to permanent local officials of the Church, bishops, presbyters and deacons.

On the other hand, it was also in Asia Minor that there appeared along with Montanus those energetic prophetesses who charged the churches and their bishops and deacons with becoming secularized, and endeavoured to prevent Christianity from being naturalized in the world, and to bring the churches once more under the exclusive guidance of the Spirit and His charismata.

They appointed their first-fruits, having tested them by the Spirit, as bishops and deacons of those who should believe..

By the 13th century, with the final development of the ritual of the Mass, the chasuble became definitely fixed as the vestment of the celebrating priest; though to this day in the Roman Church relics of the earlier general use of the chasuble survive in the planeta plicata worn by deacons and subdeacons in Lent and Advent, and other penitential seasons.

The care taken in the selecting and ordaining of the seven deacons argues a religious character for the common meals, which they were to serve.

Their main duty was to look after the duty of the Hellenistic widows, but inasmuch as meats strangled or consecrated to idols were forbidden, it probably devolved on the deacons to take care that such were not introduced at these common meals.

Bishops and deacons hold a subordinate place in this document; but the contemporary Epistle of Clement of Rome attests that these bishops " had offered the gifts without blame and holily."

And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have so answered, those who are called by us deacons distribute to each of those present, for them to partake of the bread (and wine) 8 and water, for which thanks have been given, and they carry portions away to those who are not present.

In the West the high altar was moved to the east end (the presbyterium) with a space before it for the assisting deacons and subdeacons (the chancel proper) railed off as a spot peculiarly holy (now usually called the sanctuary); between this and the nave, where the laity were, was the choir, with seats for the clergy on either side.

The old Roman clergy, the deacons and priests of the church at Rome (presbyteri incardinati, cardinales) formed the pope's council, and when necessary his tribunal; to them were usually added the bishops of the neighbourhood.

The number of cardinals was fixed at seventy - six bishops, fifty priests and fourteen deacons.

According to the general supposition, the negotiations which led to the excommunication of Arius and his followers among the presbyters and deacons took place in 318 or 319, but there are good reasons for assigning the outbreak of the controversy to the time following the overthrow of Licinius by Constantine, i.e.

It insists on the erection of fonts; on distinction of grades among the ordained clergy; on not postponing baptism too long; on bishops and priests alone, and not deacons, being allowed to baptize and lay hands on or confirm the baptized; on avoiding communion with Arians; on the use of unleavened bread in the Sacrament, &c. We learn from it that the bishop of Basen and Bagrevand was an Arian at that time.

There were also deacons, half-deacons and readers.

If this be so, it was probably given to the Roman deacons to distinguish them from the other clergy and to mark their special relations to the pope.

However this may be, the dalmatic remained for centuries the vestment distinctive of the pope and his deacons, and - according at least to the view held at Rome - could be worn by other clergy only by special concession of the pope.

Thus Pope Symmachus (498-514) granted the right to wear it to the deacons of Bishop Caesarius of Arles; and so late as 757 Pope Stephen II.

In the Eastern churches the only vestment that has any true analogy with the dalmatic or liturgical upper tunic is the sakkos, the tunic worn by deacons and subdeacons over their everyday clothes being the equivalent of the Western alb.

They alone can administer the rite of confirmation, ordain priests and deacons, and exercise a certain dispensing power.

The senior members of the community, by virtue of their age and experience, watched over the conduct and guided the action of the younger and less experienced portion of the Church, though they held no official position and were not appointed for any particular work like the bishops and deacons.

The first trace of this is to be found in the Epistles of Ignatius which prove that by the year 115 "the three orders" as they were afterwards called - bishop, presbyters and deacons - already existed, not indeed universally, but in a large proportion of the churches.

The presbyters occupied an intermediate position between the bishop and the deacons.

The Didache knows nothing of the presbyters; bishops and deacons are mentioned, but there is no reference to the second order.

The letter just mentioned is the only indisputably contemporary document concerning him and was addressed to Dionysius and Maximus, respectively bishops of Rome and Alexandria, by seventy bishops, priests and deacons, who attended a synod at Antioch in 269 and deposed Paul.

Deacons, as in Armenia, marry before taking priests' orders.

In 441 a synod of sixteen bishops was held at Orange under the presidency of St Hilary of Arles, which adopted thirty canons touching the reconciliation of penitents and heretics; the ecclesiastical right of asylum, diocesan prerogatives of bishops, spiritual privileges of the defective or demoniac, the deportment of catechumens at worship, and clerical celibacy (forbidding married men to be ordained as deacons, and digamists to be advanced beyond the sub-diaconate).

They were parish ministers and subject like their brethren to church courts; their added function was to plant churches, and place ministers, elders and deacons where required.

The fourth office is that of the deacons, who have to do with 1 " Tulchan," a calf-skin filled with straw, supposed to induce the cow to give milk freely; hence a term of contempt for one who is used as a dummy for the advantage of another.

James Sharp, Fairfoul, James Hamilton (1610-1674) and Robert Leighton were the new bishops; Sharp and Leighton having to be ordained as deacons, then as priests, before the consecration, and the party travelling to Scotland in state, though Leighton left them before crossing the border.

The modern Greek custom is "(a) that most candidates for Holy Orders are dismissed from the episcopal seminaries shortly before being ordained deacons, in order that they may marry (their partners being in fact mostly daughters of clergymen), and after their marriage, return to the seminaries in order to take the higher orders; (b) that, as priests, they still continue the marriages thus contracted, but may not remarry on the death of their wife; and (c) that the Greek bishops, who may not continue their married life, are commonly not chosen out of the ranks of the married secular clergy, but from among the monks."

Meanwhile, as has been said above, the custom of open marriage among clergy in holy orders (priests, deacons and subdeacons) was gradually stamped out.

Specially appointed persons are necessary in the service of the Church, and they form a threefold order, distinct jure divino from other Christians, of Bishops, Priests and Deacons.

Bishops must be unmarried, and Priests And Deacons Must Not Contract A Second Marriage.

The deacons have functions in the Eucharist and about the altar which point to an early date; they have also much administrative work of an important kind, and especial provisions are made for the care of the sick and the dead, and the burial of those who perish by shipwreck.

They speak of the ordination of bishops (the so-called Clementine Liturgy is that which is directed to be used at the consecration of a bishop, cc. 5-15), of presbyters, deacons, deaconesses, subdeacons and lectors, and then pass on to confessors, virgins, widows and exorcists; after which follows a series of canons on various subjects, and liturgical formulae.

There is no precise arrangement; but the subjects, following a general introduction, are the bishop and his duties, penance, the administration of the offerings, the settlement of disputes, the divine service, the order of widows, deacons and deaconesses, the poor, behaviour in persecution, and so forth.

Deacons are also admitted to a deciding voice in every diocese but New Jersey, where they may speak but not vote.

This innovation was not introduced without a struggle, ecclesiastical dignity being regarded as inconsistent with the higher spiritual life, but, before the close of the 5th century, at least in the East, abbots seem almost universally to have become deacons, if not presbyters.

Baptisms were usually conferred at Easter and in the season of Pentecost which ensued, and by the bishop or by priests and deacons commissioned by him.

Deacons anointed the males, deaconesses the females.

Later canons continued this restriction; and although in outlying parts of Christendom deacons claimed the right, the official churches accorded it to presbyters alone and none but bishops could perform the confirmation or seal.

The seven deacons were so ordained.

The inclusion of deacons in the "three orders" which were regarded as essential to the existence of a true Church sharply distinguished them from the lower ranks of the ministry, and gave them a status and position of importance in the ancient Church.

In the apostolic age the duties of deacons were naturally vague and undefined.

With the growth of the episcopate, however, the deacons became the immediate ministers of the bishop. Their duties included the supervision of Church property, the management of Church finances, the visitation of the sick, the distribution of alms and the care of widows and orphans.

They were also required to watch over the souls of the flock and report to the bishop the cases of those who had sinned or were in need of spiritual help. "You deacons," says the Apostolical Constitutions (4th century), "ought to keep watch over all who need watching or are in distress, and let the bishop know."

With the growth of hospitals and other charitable institutions, however, the functions of deacons became considerably curtailed.

Deacons may conduct any of the ordinary services in the church, but are not permitted to pronounce the absolution or consecrate the elements for the Eucharist.

There is no general rule as to the number of deacons, though the traditionary number of seven is often kept, nor as to the frequency of election, each church making its own arrangements in this respect.

The deacons superintend the financial affairs of the church, co-operate with the minister in the various branches of his work, assist in the visitation of the sick, attend to the church property and generally supervise the activities of the church.

With them are to be joined for the government of the church certain pious, grave and holy men as a senate in each church; and to others, as deacons, is to be entrusted the care of the poor.

The same statutes will also serve as rules for the rights of passage of deacons or conventual chaplain, whatever their age on reception.

Only two of the men are mentioned elsewhere in Scripture (Stephen and Philip ), but they are nowhere called deacons.

Bishops and deacons have succeeded to bishops and deacons appointed by the Apostles (44 ).

He was assisted by two permanent deacons of the Aberdeen Diocese, the Revs.

Within a few years, in some countries, the first new permanent deacons were ordained.

Ten new priests and nine new deacons will be ordained, the largest such service for a long time.

It may be talking about requirements on the wives of deacons, and it may be talking about requirements on the female deacons.

The Orthodox Church is discussing the possibility of restoring the order of women deacons, who once ministered in the early church.

There is enough harvesting to be done for an increased number of priests and deacons and for an active laity.

In 1576 William, with the support of Holland, Zeeland and their allies, put forth forty articles, by which doctors, elders and deacons were recognized, and church discipline given to the elders, subject to appeal to the magistrate and by which the Church was placed in absolute dependence on the state.

The uppermost stage was reserved for the deacon who sang the gospel (facing the congregation); for promulgating episcopal edicts; reciting the names inscribed on the diptychs (see Diptych); announcing fasts, vigils and feasts; reading ecclesiastical letters or acts of the martyrs celebrated on that day; announcing new miracles for popular edification, professions by new converts or recantations by heretics; and (for priests and deacons) preaching sermons, - bishops as a general rule preaching from their own throne.

The consequence is, that the village priests, being too much occupied with their parochial duties, cannot give more than casual or perfunctory attention to the schools, and the numerous pupils either exist on paper only, or are handed over to half-educated cantors, deacons.

The other subjects are Marriage (yabaK aoyos), Continence, the Duties of Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons and Widows, Prophecy, the Soul, the Transmigration of the Soul and the Devil, Angels, the Origin of the World, First Principles and the Divinity of the Logos, Allegorical Interpretations of Statements made with regard to God's anger and similar affections, the Unity of the Church, and the Resurrection.

Independents acknowledge the two orders of presbyters and deacons, and differ from the Calvinistic presbyterians chiefly in this, that with them the church is complete in each single congregation, which is subject to no control of presbytery or synod.

Its Connexional Book Room, opened in 1891, yields an annual profit of from £1600 to £ 2000, the profits being devoted to help the colleges and to establish Sunday school libraries, etc. Its chapels in 1907 numbered 1641 (with accommodation for 488,080), manses 229; its churches numbered 1428, ministers 921, unordained preachers 318, deacons 6179; its Sunday Schools 1731, teachers 27,895, scholars 193,460, communicants 189,164, total collections for religious purposes £300,912.

These were the bishop and the deacons, the former for higher, the latter for inferior services"; (c) a patriarchal organization based upon the natural deference of the younger to the older members of the Church.

The eldest princess followed him, and the priests and deacons and some servants also went in at the door.

The Apostles foresaw feuds, and provided for a succession of bishops and deacons; such, therefore cannot be removed at pleasure.

The deacons decided to put him on a yearlong instruction course to teach him basic Christian truths.

If your church doesn't have a senior citizens' group, talk to a couple of your friends, the elders and/or deacons of your church, and other interested parties to see if you can get one started.

It is worn by bishops, priests, deacons and subdeacons under the other eucharistic vestments, either at Mass or at functions connected with it.

By deacons and lectors it is worn ungirdled in all the rites.

Its material may be linen, wool, cotton or silk; but silk only is the rule for deacons.

There are deacons in Presbyterianism inferior in rank to presbyters, their duties being regarded as non-spiritual.

With the sanction and under the guidance of the Apostles, officers called elders and deacons were appointed in every newly-formed church.'

The elders were different from the deacons, but there is no indication that any one elder was of higher rank than the others.

When an apostle was about to be chosen as successor to Judas, the people were invited to take part in the election;"and when deacons were about to be appointed the Apostles asked the people to make the choice.

It is worthy of notice that there is no account at all of the first appointment of elders as there is of deacons.

The consistoire or session consisted of the minister, elders and deacons (the latter without a vote), and was over the congregation.

Deacons, in addition to having charge of the poor and sick, might catechize, and occasionally offer public prayer or read a written sermon.

Up to 1565 the national synod consisted of a minister with one or two elders or deacons from every church; after that date, to avoid overcrowding, its numbers were restricted to representatives from each provincial synod.

On questions of discipline elders and deacons might vote; on doctrinal questions only as many of these as there were ministers.

The church officers (generally unpaid) comprise bishops (or ministers), elders, teachers, deacons (or visiting brethren) and deaconesses - chiefly aged women who are permitted at times to take leading parts in church services.

The bishops are chosen from the teachers; they are itinerant, conduct marriage and funeral services, and are present at communions, at ordinations, when deacons are chosen or elected, and at trials for the excommunication of members.

The deacons have general oversight of the material affairs of the congregation, and are especially charged with the care of poor widows and their children.

Originally the archdeacon was, as the name implies, the chief of the deacons attached to the bishop's cathedral, his duty being, besides preaching, to supervise the deacons and their work, i.e.

The subdeacons, no doubt, became a necessity when the deacons, whose number was limited to seven in memory of their original institution, were no longer equal to their duties in the " regions " of the imperial city, and left their lower work, such as preparation of the sacred vessels, to their subordinates.

The Anglican Church is content with the threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons, but in recent times the bishops have appointed lay-readers, licensed to read prayers and preach in buildings which are not consecrated.

The special care of the poor is committed to deacons.

Certainly the stage of development is an early one, as is shown, e.g., by the prominence of prophets, and the need that was felt for the vindication of the position of the bishops and deacons (there is no mention at all of presbyters); moreover, there is no reference to a canon of Scripture (though the written Gospel is expressly mentioned) or to a creed.

Organized nursing does not appear to have formed any part of medical treatment, except in so far as the deacons of the church attended on the poor, until the 4th century of the Christian era.

Deaconesses, upon entering their office, were ordained much in the same way as deacons, but the ordination conveyed no sacerdotal powers or authority.

Where there were one bishop and a number of presbyters and deacons in a church, the presbyters constituted the bishop's council, and the deacons his assistants in the management of the finances and charities and in the conduct of the services.

The authority of the pulpit of any individual church is in the hands of the deacons; they ask the pastor to supply so many Sundays a year - from twelve to forty, as the case may be - and they then fill the remainder with any preacher they choose.

The pastor is paid for his pastoral work, and receives his Sunday fee just as a stranger does; his Sundays from home he fills up at the request of deacons of other churches, and it is a breach of connexional etiquette for a minister to apply for engagements, no matter how many unfilled Sundays he may have.