Think of organization as a suit of clothes. One-size-fits-all is definitely not true for deacon ministry. No one organizational structure is suitable for every deacon ministry. But this is also true for ready-to-wear or off-the-rack.

 

It might be nice simply to go to the rack and select the proper size and style to fit. Just select the options from an A, B, or C plan for organization—give us your size, we’ll give you a structure to fit. That just is not going to happen in most places. This has been somewhat the style in the past. Organization was often simply selected off-the-rack—you were given several organizational structures and you were told to chose the one that fit your size. If you had 1-12 deacons, you chose model “A”, if you had 13-25, you chose model “B” and so forth. It would be nice if it were that simple. Truth is—deacon ministry is not simple—it is complex.

 

The Deacon Family Ministry Plan has been a good attempt at moving deacons from a purely administrative/business orientation to a ministry orientation, but it is still a one-size-fits-all model for ministry. This approach to deacon ministry neglects the unique giftedness of each deacon, each deacon body, and even each church. Regardless of gifts, deacons are expected to perform the same ministry.

 

Attempts are sometimes made to duplicate the shapes and styles of deacon ministry from one church to another. A leader or leaders in one church see what another church is doing and tries to follow the same patterns of organization and ministry. This same-as-another approach is one of the surest and quickest ways to stifle creativity and effectiveness in deacon ministry.

 

Every church’s deacon ministry has to be tailor-made. Deacon ministry will vary from church to church and even from community to community because of the variations of the deacons’ spiritual gifts and the needs of the church and community. While certain general characteristics will always exist in deacon ministry (as with human beings—a certain physical conformation will exist), each will have unique characteristics. For a suit to fit well, it must be made to conform not just to the general form of a person but to the specific variations and dimensions of an individual. For deacon ministry to be most effective, it must be tailored to each specific situation.

 

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