Why do we have a deacon board? What about Elders?

At my home church we have deacons and trustees. We have made changes to the deacon board and I had a lot of questions about these changes. These question centered around, is a “deacon board” biblical, what is a deacon, why don't we have elders? Researching the issue I found that deacon means “to serve”. Deacon came to denote any service in the church. The deacon board in my church doesn't just serve, they are the spiritual leaders of the church. So why are they called deacons? According to the biblical definition they are elders, overseers, pastors plus deacons. What would happen if we had a elders board instead of a deacon board? Then we would get the elder (leaders) that the bible describes.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 (English Standard Version) 1The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Now this being my first post where I have given my opinion I wanted to bring in a more seasoned Christian so below is a small chunk of text from “Answering the Key Questions About Elders” by John MacArthur.

Twentieth-century American evangelicalism, with its heritage of democratic values and long history of congregational church government, tended to view the concept of elder rule with suspicion. Some are still vocal in characterizing it as a new and subversive concept that threatens the very life of the church. Yet I find when I speak with pastors and other church leaders from all over the world, the most frequently asked questions I get are about elders. At our semiannual Shepherds' Conferences, the most popular seminars invariably are those that deal with the issue of elders. Pastors want to know what elder rule is, and if government by elders genuinely strengthens the church, how they can implement it in their churches.

Proper biblical government by elders does strengthen the church, and the biblical norm for church leadership is a plurality of God-ordained elders. Furthermore, it is the only pattern for church leadership given in the New Testament. Nowhere in Scripture do we find a local assembly ruled by majority opinion, or by one pastor.

I am confident that a return to the biblical pattern of leadership would do much to revitalize the contemporary church. Thus whatever can be done to clear up some of the confusion and dispel the misconceptions about elder rule is worthwhile. I have written this article as an overview of the biblical data on elders. My hope is that it will serve both as an introduction to those unfamiliar with the concept of elders, and as a reminder to the rest of us to establish ourselves in the truth.

For the full article “Answering the Key Questions About Elders” by John MacArthur click here