The Diaconate and the Ministry of Mercy

1. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

   • The Reformed Deacon (podcast) Committee on Diaconal Ministries Open source Supplementary Orthodox Presbyterian Church

2. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

   • The Task of the Ministry of Mercy Peter Y. De Jong 12 pages Open source Doctrinal 1989. Free online
   • The Church Order of Dort, Arts. 25-26 (the office of deacons) Synod of Dort Open source Primary text 1619. Free online Art. 69 (text confirmed) admits beside the 150 Psalms the Ten Commandments, Lord's Prayer, Twelve Articles and the songs of Mary, Zacharias and Simeon; the Scottish line sings psalms only. Both are within the two confessional families. Keep both; teach exclusive psalmody as the Scottish position and Dort Art. 69 as...
   • Church Order of the Heritage Reformed Congregations (Redaction of 1914 of the Church Order of Dort) Heritage Reformed Congregations 68 pages Open source Primary text 2018 (last updated 15 Sept 2018). Free online
   • The Christian's Reasonable Service, vol. 2, ch. 28 (The Offices of Minister, Elder, and Deacon) Wilhelmus a Brakel (trans. Bartel Elshout) Open source Doctrinal 1700. Free online
   • Exposition of I Timothy 3:8-13 (1) George C. Lubbers Open source Supplementary 1962. Free online PRC subscribes to the Three Forms of Unity but denies the well-meant offer of the gospel and holds an unconditional-covenant position that other Reformed bodies reject (Canons of Dort III/IV.8 is read differently). Keep the two articles (on the deacon's qualifications and the Baptism Form), which do not touch those...
   • Genevan Ecclesiastical Ordinances (1541) John Calvin (trans. Potter and Greengrass) Open source Primary text 1541. Free online
   • Ordained Servant, March 2014: The Reformed Diaconate Nathan Trice and others (OPC) Open source Comparison Read as comparison 2014. Free online
   • ReformedDeacon.com: a curated library of readings on the Reformed office of deacon Tim Hopper (curator); authors include William Shishko (OPC) 66 readings Open source Supplementary Free online
   • Form of Presbyterial Church-Government (the deacons paragraph) Westminster Assembly short section Open source Primary text 1645. Free online
   • First Book of Discipline (1560), heads 6 and 8: Rents and Patrimony of the Kirk; Election of Elders and Deacons Scottish Reformers (Knox et al.) 2 heads Open source Primary text 1560. Free online
   • Second Book of Discipline (1578), chs. 8-9: Of the Deacons and their Office; Of the Patrimony of the Kirk Church of Scotland (Melville et al.) 2 chapters Open source Primary text 1578. Free online
   • A Treatise of Ruling Elders and Deacons, pt. 2 "Of Deacons" James Guthrie (Covenanter martyr) about 49 pages (TCP) Open source Doctrinal written before 1661; ed. Edinburgh 1690. Public domain
   • The Due Right of Presbyteries, pt. 1, ch. 7 "Of Deacons" (pp. 159-74; objection 11 on pp. 167-68) and "A More Special Consideration of Ruling Elders, Deacons and Widows" (pp. 144-59) Samuel Rutherford about 30 pp. assigned Open source Doctrinal 1644. Public domain
   • An Assertion of the Government of the Church of Scotland in the Points of Ruling-Elders (chs. 2, 7, 11) George Gillespie (Westminster divine) chs. 2 (pp. 8-10), 7 (p. 55), 11 (pp. 79-80) Open source Doctrinal 1641. Public domain
   • A Dispute against the English-Popish Ceremonies, ch. 8 digression 1 "Of the Vocation of Men of Ecclesiastical Order" (pp. 160-63) George Gillespie 4 pp. Open source Doctrinal 1637. Public domain
   • The Government and Order of the Church of Scotland, ch. 6 "Of the Deacons and their Office" (pp. 31-32) Alexander Henderson 94 scans (68 pp.) Open source Doctrinal 1641. Public domain
   • The Form of Prayers (Genevan Service Book): Of the Deacons and their Office and Election (pp. 47-48) English Congregation at Geneva (Knox, Calvin approved) 2 pp. Open source Primary text 1556. Public domain
   • Discipline of the Reformed Churches of France (1559), chs. 3-4: Of Elders and Deacons; Of the Deaconship (in Quick, Synodicon in Gallia reformata) French Reformed Churches pp. xxvii-xxix Open source Primary text 1559 (Quick ed. 1692). Public domain
   • A Brief and Pithy Sum of the Christian Faith, ch. 5.30 "The Office of Deacons and the Distribution of the Goods of the Church" Theodore Beza short section Open source Primary text 1565 (English). Public domain
   • The Tenth Tract "Of the Office of Deacons" in The Rest of the Second Reply against Whitgift Thomas Cartwright pp. 89-115 (27 pp.) Open source Primary text 1577. Public domain
   • Institutions of Christian Religion, 42nd Place "Of the Ministry" (elders and deacons, pp. 544-47) William Bucanus 4 pp. Open source Primary text 1606 (English). Public domain
   • The Abridgment of Christian Divinitie, ch. 26 "The External Administration of the Church" Johannes Wollebius; trans. Ross 1 chapter (hub: Beardslee p. 143) Open source Primary text 1660 (Ross). Public domain
   • The Diaconate (Southern Presbyterian Review) John L. Girardeau 33 pp. Open source Doctrinal 1879. Free online
   • The Diaconate Again John L. Girardeau 37 pp. Open source Doctrinal 1881. Free online
   • The Importance of the Office of Deacon John L. Girardeau 29 pp. Open source Doctrinal 1881. Free online
   • The Female Deacon and the Sentimental Overflow of Synod (The Reformed Presbyterian and Covenanter, Oct. 1888, pp. 357-59) D. S. Faris (RPCNA pastor) 3 pp. in a 499-scan volume Open source Doctrinal 1888. Public domain
   • A Historical and Biblical Examination of Women Deacons Brian Schwertley 88 pp. Open source Supplementary n.d. (written as an RPCNA minister). Free online
   • Historical Digest on Women and the Diaconate David Merkel (RPCNA) 68 pp. Open source Doctrinal 2022. Free online
   • Women and the Diaconate: an Examination of Scripture, History, Ordination and Authority David Merkel, Chris Villi, Bob Concoby (RPCNA) 42 pp. Open source Doctrinal 2022. Free online
   • Justification of Ordained Office of Deacon Restricted to Qualified Males (Reformed Faith and Practice) Robert J. Cara (RTS; ARP) article Open source Doctrinal 2020. Free online
   • Herman Bavinck on Women in the Church (Synod of Middelburg 1581 and deaconesses) Wes Bredenhof blog article Open source Supplementary 2021. Free online
   • Theoretical-Practical Theology, vol. 5, bk. 7 ch. 2 sec. 22 "Deacons" (pp. 270-71) Petrus van Mastricht (RHB) 2 pp. Supplementary No link: find it in a library or bookstore. Purchase (optional)
   • The Concise Marrow of Theology, locus 27 secs. 10 and 18 (pp. 194, 197), trans. Carmichael (RHB) Johann H. Heidegger 2 pp. Supplementary No link: find it in a library or bookstore. 2019. Purchase (optional)
   • Reformed Dogmatics, ch. 27 secs. 39 and 41 (pp. 680-82) Heinrich Heppe 3 pp. Open source Supplementary Wipf 2007. Borrow only (lending library)
   • The Sixth Law: Poor Relief (On the Reign of Christ, bk. 2 ch. 14), in Melanchthon and Bucer (Library of Christian Classics 19) Martin Bucer; trans. Pauck pp. 306-15 (10 pp.) Open source Supplementary 1969 ed. (text 1550). Borrow only (lending library)
   • Deacons: free historic Reformed works (Rutherford, Guthrie, Gillespie, Henderson, van Mastricht, Girardeau) Reformed Books Online (index) annotated hub page (further reading) Open source Supplementary Free online

   Total: 584 pages

3. Assignment Write a research paper of 10-20 pages on a topic drawn from the lectures and readings of this course. Argue from Scripture, the Westminster Standards (1647 text) and the Three Forms of Unity, cite the primary sources you read, and state the points on which the sources differ.

   Open the assignment

Every lecture and reading carries its role. "Under review" means the teacher's subscription to the Westminster Standards or the Three Forms of Unity is not yet established; "Read as comparison" means the material teaches the 1788 American text of WCF 20.4, 23 or 31 or of Larger Catechism Q.109, which the school reads beside the 1647 text. Nothing has been removed.