Healthy churches need both faithful elders and faithful deacons. Scripture presents these two offices within one church, serving one congregation, under one Lord as they pursue one mission together.
But how should elders and deacons work together?
Scripture gives clear qualifications for both offices, but it does not provide a sample elders’ meeting agenda, a deacons’ job description, or an organizational chart showing exactly how the two offices should interact. That means churches need to apply biblical principles with wisdom.
What follows are some principles and practices I have learned through more than 30 years of governance experience, including 28 years serving as an elder in one church and, more recently, working with dozens of elder boards.
Church governance becomes unnecessarily complicated when elders and deacons drift into one another’s responsibilities, operate as two competing boards, or simply lack clarity about who is responsible for what.
When elders become absorbed in operational details, they can neglect prayer, doctrine, shepherding, and spiritual oversight. When deacons lack meaningful responsibility and authority, they can become little more than volunteers waiting for instructions. And when elders and deacons function as two separate leadership groups, uncertainty and even tension can develop over who is responsible for what.
A healthier relationship begins with a simple distinction:
Elders provide spiritual oversight, direction, and accountability. Deacons lead and carry out the ministries entrusted to them.
Elders Are Entrusted With Oversight
Scripture describes elders as shepherds and overseers. Their responsibility is not simply to manage an organization but to prayerfully oversee the spiritual health and direction of the congregation.
Elders are called to prayer, shepherding, doctrinal faithfulness, and oversight. They are responsible to comprehensively oversee the entire ministry of the church rather than simply advocate for individual ministries or respond to every practical concern.
Yet elders’ meetings can easily become consumed with ministry details. Calendars, facilities, volunteer schedules, program decisions, and individual concerns may all be important, but importance alone does not make something an elders’ responsibility.
Healthy church governance requires elders to distinguish oversight from operations.
When priorities, policies, reporting structures, and accountability are clear, elders do not need to continually insert themselves into the daily operation of ministry. They are freed to concentrate on prayer, doctrine, shepherding, leadership, and the long-term spiritual health and direction of the church.
But providing oversight does not mean elders should personally carry out everything they oversee. That is one reason the Lord has given deacons to the church.
Deacons Are Entrusted With Practical Ministry
Acts 6 provides an instructive picture. A serious practical problem had developed in the early church—widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
The apostles did not dismiss the concern as merely practical. Real people were being neglected, the unity of the church was threatened, and something needed to be done.
But the apostles also recognized that personally assuming responsibility for the distribution would pull them away from prayer and the ministry of the Word. Qualified, Spirit-filled servants were therefore entrusted with the responsibility.
That provides a helpful pattern.
Deacons are not junior elders, nor are they volunteers who complete miscellaneous tasks for the elders. They are spiritually qualified servants entrusted with meaningful ministry responsibility.
Depending on the church, deacons may lead areas such as benevolence, finances, hospitality, facilities, practical care, ministry coordination, or volunteer teams. Their service helps the church function effectively and care well for people.
The elders discern where God is leading the church and provide oversight. Deacons faithfully lead the areas of ministry entrusted to them. From that distinction come four principles that can help elders and deacons serve well together.
Principle 1: Clearly Distinguish Oversight From Ministry Responsibility
One of the greatest sources of tension between elders and deacons is unclear responsibility. If everyone is responsible, often no one is responsible.
Elders should be clear about the responsibilities that belong uniquely to their office. Doctrine, spiritual oversight, shepherding, and prayer cannot simply be delegated away. Elders remain responsible for the spiritual health and direction of the church.
At the same time, elders must recognize that overseeing a ministry does not require personally running it.
Consider the ministry of benevolence. The elders may establish the church’s convictions regarding generosity and care, determine appropriate financial boundaries, and hold the ministry accountable. But the elders do not need to assess every request for assistance or approve every grocery card.
Qualified deacons can be entrusted to lead a benevolence team that meets with people, evaluates needs, coordinates assistance, and recognizes when a situation requires pastoral involvement.
The elders retain oversight. The deacons carry the ministry responsibility.
The same principle can apply to facilities, finances, hospitality, practical care, volunteer coordination, and many other areas.
Healthy churches repeatedly ask a simple question: Who is responsible for this area of ministry?
Principle 2: Responsibility Must Be Accompanied by Appropriate Authority
Churches sometimes say they want strong deacons while creating structures that prevent deacons from actually leading.
If a deacon must return to the elders for every expenditure, volunteer decision, calendar adjustment, or ministry detail, responsibility has been delegated in name but not in practice.
Delegation requires trust.
Elders should define the ministry assignment, establish necessary boundaries, provide appropriate resources, clarify reporting expectations, and then allow qualified deacons to lead.
Healthy oversight prevents micromanagement. When authority, priorities, and accountability are clear, elders do not need to insert themselves into daily operations.
Every deacon should be able to answer questions such as:
- What ministry have I been entrusted with?
- What decisions can I make?
- What resources are available to me?
- What requires elder approval?
- What should I report regularly?
- When should I immediately involve an elder?
Creating a clear purpose statement and terms of reference for each ministry can be enormously helpful.
In the early years of our church, we did not have purpose statements or terms of reference for many of our ministries. Over time, I came to see how important they are.
Consider a midweek children’s ministry. If its purpose is to provide a safe, gospel-centred environment where children can hear the gospel, have fun, and invite their friends, that purpose will shape its priorities. If the ministry is also expected to reach neighbourhood children and develop relationships with their parents, its goals and strategy will need to look different.
Determining the purpose, responsibility, and authority of each ministry creates clarity—and clarity releases people to serve. But this also protects elders.
When every decision ultimately returns to the elders, the elders become an operational bottleneck. Their agendas expand, meetings lengthen, and prayer, shepherding, doctrine, leadership development, and meaningful oversight diminish.
Good delegation is therefore not merely an organizational strategy. It helps both elders and deacons fulfill their biblical responsibilities.
Principle 3: Communication and Accountability Must Flow Both Ways
Delegation does not mean separation.
Deacons should not simply receive instructions from elders and disappear to perform their tasks. Nor should elders delegate responsibility and then remain disconnected from what is happening.
Communication needs to flow both ways.
Because deacons are often deeply involved in the practical ministry of the church, they may see things elders do not immediately see.
A deacon overseeing benevolence may recognize a growing pattern of financial hardship among young families. A facilities deacon may discover a significant safety concern. A ministry leader may discern that volunteers are becoming exhausted. Someone involved in practical care may identify a pastoral issue that requires an elder’s attention.
Faithful deacons can provide elders with valuable insight into the life of the congregation.
At the same time, deacons need to understand the direction and priorities the elders believe the church should pursue. Without that communication, practical ministries can slowly become disconnected from the church’s broader mission.
Accountability is equally important.
Churches should be clear about who is responsible, what they are responsible to accomplish, and when they should report back. Governance is strengthened when every significant responsibility has a clear champion rather than being left to an undefined group.
Periodic gatherings of elders and deacons together can also strengthen the relationship.
At times our elders and deacons met twice a year, once for an evening and once for a full Saturday. At other times, we gathered more frequently through what we called a Strategic Direction Committee. The precise structure matters less than finding a healthy rhythm for your church.
Gathering together reminds elders and deacons that they are not separate teams protecting competing interests. They serve one Lord, one congregation, and one mission.
Principle 4: Elders Must Shepherd Their Deacons
There is another dimension of oversight that can easily be overlooked: elders are responsible to care for the people carrying these ministry responsibilities.
Deacons often serve in demanding circumstances. Those involved in benevolence, crisis response, finances, facilities, or member care can carry significant practical and emotional burdens.
Delegation should never mean abandonment.
Elders should pray for their deacons, equip them, encourage them, provide wisdom when difficult situations arise, ensure they have appropriate resources, and watch that ministry responsibilities do not become unsustainable.
Healthy deacons support elders, and healthy elders strengthen deacons. The relationship should be characterized by trust, prayer, mutual respect, and genuine affection—not merely policies, job descriptions, and reporting structures.
Church governance takes place within a spiritual family. Elders and deacons are not merely directors and managers. They are members of God’s family serving God’s family. The church is not merely an organization; it is the people of God, called to glorify Christ, disciple believers, care for one another, and proclaim the gospel.
Distinct Responsibilities, One Ministry
The distinction between elders and deacons should never imply a hierarchy of spiritual importance.
Practical ministry is spiritual ministry.
A meal delivered to a grieving family, a benevolence request handled with compassion, accurate financial records, a safe building, or thoughtful care for volunteers can all demonstrate the compassion, generosity, order, and care of Christ.
Likewise, elders must resist becoming detached governors whose primary responsibility is attending meetings and approving decisions. Elders are shepherds who live among the congregation, pray for and with people, teach God’s Word, guard sound doctrine, and discern the direction of the church.
The relationship between elders and deacons can therefore be summarized simply:
Elders prayerfully oversee the church’s spiritual direction, doctrine, shepherding, and overall ministry. Deacons faithfully lead and carry out entrusted areas of ministry within that direction.
Elders should give qualified deacons clear responsibility, meaningful authority, pastoral support, and healthy accountability. Deacons should use that trust to serve Christ and his church faithfully.
When this relationship functions well, elders are freed to pray, shepherd, teach, discern, and oversee, and deacons are freed to lead, organize, care, solve problems, and mobilize others for ministry.
And the entire church is strengthened as both offices faithfully carry out the responsibilities Christ has entrusted to them.
For further reading, see Dwayne Cline’s other governance articles:
6 Responsibilities for the Elders of Every Church
