Deacons, Updated Edition: Servant Models in the Church

by Henry Webb

Henry Webb deals with every aspect of the roles and offices of deacons in the church, including the deacon's marriage, wife, children, family life, conduct, priorities, and other pertinent aspects of deacons as role models of servant leadership in the church. Over thirty years in print and well over 200,000 copies sold.

Genres: Leadership, Ecclesiology, Church

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Kevin Bessey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic overview for deacon qualifications, characteristics, and responsibilities. I've been a deacon for 7 years and wish that I would have read through this book when I was first ordained. Ideally I'd like to share this book in a small group setting with other deacons and also re-visit this book every couple of years to be refreshed and encouraged for the responsibilities that I've been called to.

Pros: excellent outline and details for the deacon's role in the church, family, and community.
Cons: none really.
Bottom line: highly recommended for any new or old deacon alike.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a somewhat dated, but excellent primer on deacon ministry and service. Dealing mostly with selection, criteria and training of deacons, Henry Webb also spends a significant amount of space dealing with deacon ministry milestones and meaning. For those just beginning to serve as a deacon, the new pastor looking into the installation of deacons, or as a reminder to the church of the vital role of deacons in the local church, this little book should be on every Baptist pastor's shelf.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a mixed bag for the most part. The book includes some good tips for serving as a deacon in a church context, but the author doesn't seem to deal adequately with passages that talk about elders within the church (he mentions the word elder once, in the singular, as an equivalent to pastor--the NT typically refers to elders in the plural, and their role doesn't seem to be equivalent to our modern conception of senior pastor). Instead, he seems to assume that deacons handle the role that elders handle in the NT. I appreciate his critique of the board of directors model that many churches use for deacons, and his insistence that deacons serve the needs of the church and its members and community, but he seems to confuse the role of deacons as spiritual leaders of the church with the role afforded to elders in the NT. Its a decent book all in all, but I would have liked to see him address the role of elders/how deacons differ from elders in the church/how he would support his construction of the role of deacons.

[Sheila Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone serving as a deacon within the Methodist church. It shows how the modern concept opposes the traditional roles and how to get back to the proper way of performing the office of deacon.