It doesn't say in Acts 7 these men were deacons. But they had to be qualified spiritually, I assume same as deacons. They were put in charge which sounds like leadership. And the apostles laid their hands on them which implies they were given an office. And then I don't see them actually doing the hands-on table work. Stephen preaches, gets stoned, Philip envangelizes. I swore there was a verse in the bible that had the word "Deaconess" but my PC search doesn't show it to me. Am I senile or spelled it wrong? I see Phoebe Rom 16:1 described as a servant of the church at Cenchrea. -daa --- <j.kennedy403@...> wrote: Dear Julian I first need to ascertain what it is that you mean by the word Deacon. 1. Is it the position of Deacon? 2. Is it the Baptist useage as a Deacon being a Church leader? 3. Is it simply a servant - one who waits on tables? John it is the official position of a deacon as exemplified by the seven who were chosen to wait on the material needs in the early church and the qualifications for which we read of in Timothy and Titus. Julian Sincerly, Julian website:http://geocities.com/J_J_K52 -- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to <soundofgrace-unsubscribe@...> To view our online archive go to our web page at http://www.associate.com/groups/soundofgrace