Originally Proposed October 19, 2025, at a Regular Business Meeting
Updated November 9, 2025.
Updated November 9, 2025.
Proposed By-Law Changes Around Deacons
with Explanations
with Explanations
Objectives:
- Remove power from the deacon body that is not given or supported by scripture
- Remove behaviors that are contradictory to scripture
- Bring the pastors into the deacon processes
- Fix errors in the text
Legend:
text that has been removed is stricken through- Text that has been modified is in bold
Explanation of a suggested change is to the right and in italics
ARTICLE II. CHURCH OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
Section 2.01 Church Officers.
(b) Pastors.
III.
Pastoral Accountability
(A)
Pastors are responsible for leading the church to function as a New Testament church and must show evidence of a personal call of God to ministry. The Pastor is directly responsible to our Lord for matters of his character, position, oversight, and ministry, and is accountable to the congregation of First Baptist Church, Hondo. If a concern regarding performance or qualifications should arise within the congregation, the concern should be brought first to the Pastor (following the pattern of Matthew 18:15). If the concern is not resolved, then the matter should be brought to the other pastors at FBC Hondo for resolution if possible. If the matter remains unresolved then the member shall bring the concern to the congregation at a regular or specially called business meeting where the church will decide how to respond.
IV.
(A)
Vacancies. Pastors shall be chosen and called by the church whenever a vacancy occurs. The election shall take place at a meeting called for that purpose. At least one week’s public notice shall be given before a candidate for pastor shall be presented for consideration.
A pastor search committee of seven (7) members shall be elected by the church after prayerful consideration. Adequate time should be given to the process to help the church through the transition period.
This section has been moved down since logically, declaring an office vacant should be done after the pastor has been held accountable. There is still the provision for the deacons and personnel committee to unilaterally declare the office vacant in matters of crisis or gross misconduct.
(e) Deacons.
IV.
Role of Deacons. In keeping with the meaning of the work and practice in the New Testament, deacons are to be servants of the church. The Deacons are not a governing body, nor or they a powerless entity. Their mission is to serve the Lord by serving the congregation and the pastor(s) in performing the ministerial tasks of:
(A)
(B)
(C)
V.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(F)
(G)
VI.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(F)
(G)
(H)
(I)
(J)
(K)
This is the duty of every Christian
This is the duty of every Christian
Caring for the church’s members and others in the community by meeting physical needs so the pastor(s) can focus on meeting the spiritual needs of the church and the community.
This gets to the heart of the original need for deacons in Acts 6. Deacons were selected to fulfill a need in the church so the apostles could focus on meeting the spiritual needs. Later they were used to distribute letters (Rom 16:1). The same word is used in reference to a king’s attendants (Matt 22:13) (Please note, I am not suggesting the pastor is a king, I am just trying to show how the word/title “diakonos” is used in the New Testament).
"Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith." (Acts 6:1–7 ESV)
No mention is made in scripture of a deacon ever exercising counsel or oversight (see definition of “supervise”) of a pastor. Deacons are servants of the church in support of the congregation’s physical needs and the pastor(s)’ need to focus on spiritual matters. The intent of deacons is to take things off of the pastor(s)’ plates so that the pastor(s) can focus on the preaching of the word, prayer, and the over-all spiritual oversight and shepherding of the congregation. (See Acts 6)
The pattern laid out in scripture is for a Christian individual to go to another individual who has offended or sinned against them (Mt 18:15-17) , or there is anything between you (Mt 5:23-24), and deal with the matter directly. In this section, we have gone around the behavior commanded in scripture in favor of something else. This is a deviation from a command of God. There is no instance of a deacon representing a church member with a grievance of a pastor in scripture, though a deacon can certainly be one of the additional members taken when following the pattern laid out in Matthew 18.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." (Matthew 18:15–17 ESV)
"So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23–24 ESV)
Participating enthusiastically in the ministries and programs of the church which the individual deacon feels called by God. Deacons are to be ministry minded.
Conducting regular meetings. Such meetings can be called by the pastor(s) or the deacon body and cancelled by a majority vote of the deacon body. The pastor(s) are invited to all the deacon meetings but their attendance is not required.
Given that deacons were initially created at the request of the pastor(s) of the church in Acts 6 to solve an important ministry problem that would have taken time away from the pastor(s) prayer and preaching of the word (spiritual needs of the congregation), the pastor(s) should be able to call a deacon meeting to ask for the deacons to take care of particular needs of the congregation.
Qualifications of Deacons. The members of First Baptist Church Hondo, in light of interpretation of in submission to scripture, establish the following qualifications for deacons:
Peter compares following an interpretation versus following the word of God. The word of God should be the lamp to our feet that shines in a dark place, not our interpretation of the word of God.
"And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:19–21 ESV)
A deacon must be proven in the work of First Baptist Church Hondo for at least one year. He must be supportive of support its programs and give strength to its fellowship. See 1 Timothy 3:10; Acts 2:42; Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:25; Ephesians 4:12-13.
A deacon is not called to be supportive of, but to support the congregation. Deacons are expected to do the work of ministry, not just be supportive of that work. A spectator cheering on their team from the stands is supportive of their team. A player on the field is supporting the team. A groundskeeper maintaining the field is supporting the team.
A deacon must have a good reputation in the community and in the church, being generally respected for an ethical and moral life, as defined by scripture. See Acts 6:3; 1 Timothy 3:8.
A deacon must not be given to much wine but must listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit in all Christian freedoms and liberties and must not be a drunkard. See 1 Timothy 3:8; Ephesians 5:18.
A deacon must know and have deep convictions for the truths in scripture. See 1 Timothy 3:9; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20.
A deacon must believe in the sacredness of the marriage relationship as an institution ordained by God to exist between a man and a woman for life. Divorce is a sin, except in the cases of marital unfaithfulness. Therefore, not all divorces are equal. A deacon who is married must be a faithful husband. There have been many faithful husbands who have been divorced, and, in the context of the New Testament, the church seeks to speak redemptively. Divorce, therefore, is not in and of itself, an automatic disqualification for service as a deacon. See 1 Timothy 3:12; Matthew 5:32.
A deacon must strive to lead his family in a Christ-like manner, setting an example for his household in word and deed. See Ephesians 5:21-6:4; 1 Timothy 3:12-13.
Election and Ordination of Deacons.
The church body shall elect deacons as needed.
When the church decides to elect new deacons, a nominating list shall be formed with the names of every man over the age of 21 who has been a member for at least one year.
Prior to the list being circulated to the church membership, the pastor shall remind the congregation of the biblical teachings on deaconship, and a reasonable period of time shall be set aside to allow such individuals to contact the church office and request the removal of their name from the nominating list.
At a regular or specially called business meeting, church members shall cast a vote for their choice of deacons by ballot. Such vote will be made by circling the names of the individuals up to the number of deacons the church has determined to add.
The deacon body will count the ballots and determine who the church has nominated for deaconship. This list of nominees shall be discussed with the pastor(s). During the remaining vetting process, any member of the congregation can speak up regarding any concerns with any of the deacon nominees. In this way, everyone’s voice is heard every step of the way.
As a congregationalist church, our voice should matter throughout the process, not just anonymously at the beginning when we individually nominate and at the end when we accept the nominees approved by the deacons and pastor(s)
The nominees will visit with the pastor(s) and the deacon body. The pastor(s) and Members of the deacons shall go over the church’s qualifications for becoming a deacon and the role of a deacon with the nominees. Any nominees that do not meet the qualifications of being a deacon shall be removed from consideration. Additionally, a nominee will have the opportunity to withdraw his name privately at any time if he feels God leading him to do so. Additionally, any concerns with any of the nominees that
have been shared by the congregation will be discussed and considered. Therefore, not all nominees selected by the congregation may come forth for ordination.
have been shared by the congregation will be discussed and considered. Therefore, not all nominees selected by the congregation may come forth for ordination.
There is no pattern laid out in scripture for vetting deacons that have been nominated by the church. I think the closest thing we get to this process is in Acts 6 where the disciples instructed the church to select 7 men from among themselves. However, we are also given qualifications of a deacon in the NT, so there should be a process for removing nominees that do not meet the qualifications. Where formerly only the deacons were included, now the pastor(s) have been included in the vetting process of the nominees. The pastor(s) should know the members of the church and should be able to voice any concerns over any of the nominees made by the church. Given the pastor’s relationship with the members of the congregation, he may have insight into a member’s character or behavior that would impact the member’s eligibility to be a deacon. Given the sensitive nature of that confidential relationship, the pastor may not share all of the reasons a particular candidate is ineligible with the deacon body or the church.
The deacon body will present the nominees to the church for ordination at a business meeting to be voted on by the members of the church present at such meeting.
The church will have an ordination service for the newly elected deacons by the laying on of hands.
Those who have been ordained as deacons in other churches must wait at least one year before being eligible to join the deacon body at First Baptist Church Hondo. Any invitation to a deacon ordained by another church shall be at the prayerful discernment of the deacon body who will, in turn, make a recommendation to the church for inclusion into the deacon body at a business meeting to be voted on by the members of the church present at such meeting.
The church body may require a deacon to resign. If the deacon fails to maintain the biblical qualifications or fails in his role, the church may take action to remove a deacon. The same principles and process used to terminate a pastor shall be used to remove a deacon.
Becoming a deacon is not necessarily a lifetime appointment. If at any point in their service a deacon no longer feels the call to be a deacon, cannot fulfill the obligations of being a deacon (see section 2.01(e)(i) above), or simply doesn’t want to be a deacon anymore, he may remove himself from the deacon body. An announcement will be made at the next business meeting held by the church.
There is no process in scripture for removing oneself from being a deacon, but given the nature of the role, there may come a time when a person can no longer fulfill the duties of that role. Maybe the need just doesn’t exist anymore (like the case of the unfair distribution of bread). Maybe the deacon is in a different life stage and doesn’t have the time to dedicate to the office anymore. Given the physical nature of the job, maybe the deacon is unable to meet the physical demand. Currently our process is for the deacon to go “inactive”, but an “inactive” servant isn’t serving and isn’t a servant. An “inactive” attendant is not attending and is not an attendant. An inactive minister is not ministering and is not a minister. Additionally, in our bylaws there is no process for an “inactive” deacon to become “Active” again.