When there is no functioning deaconate within a church, the ministry of the deacons is done by the elders.  This is so because it is clear in scripture that the formation of the deaconate was a ‘spin off’ of the role of the elder.  Deacons were to handle the specialized ministries designed to meet temporal and spiritual needs of the people.  The deacons’ authority, in other words, was delegated to them from the elders.  This freed the elders to devote themselves more exclusively to the ministry of the Word and prayer.  However, the responsibility for meeting these needs remains the elders’ responsibility.  The elders see to it that the functioning of the deaconate is effectual and within the greater vision and call from God to the church.  In much the same way that the Elder stands in Christ’s place to minister as the under-shepherd to God’s people, the Deacon stands in Christ’s and the Elder’s place to minister as an ‘under-shepherd’s right hand’ to God’s people.

To these ends, the Book of Church Order requires the deaconate to be organized in to a Board, of which the Pastor is and advisory member.  The Board of Deacons is to elect a chairman and a secretary from among their number, and a treasurer to whom shall be entrusted the funds for the current expenses of the Church.  The Board is required to meet at least quarterly, and whenever requested to do so by the Session.  It will keep records of its proceedings and will submit its minutes to the Session.  At The City’s Gate, the Deaconate will generate and manage the Church’s budget for its current expenses by proposing an annual budget to Session, hearing Session’s directives and adjustments to it, reworking it as necessary to accommodate the Elders’ input, and using it to organize and record the Church’s expenses.  (In the PCA, the Session approves the Budget, not the Congregation or the Deaconate.) It is desirable that the Session and the Board of Deacons meet together once a quarter to confer on matters of common interest.

In addition to serving the needs at The City’s Gate, deacons can and ought to serve the greater needs of the larger body of Christ in their region.  Consequently, they are often the agency of the church that initiates co-operative efforts with other deaconates or existing ministries outside the church.  This includes sister PCA churches, private non-profit corporations, the Presbytery, and the General Assembly.  It is also encouraged that when other individuals or groups in the church form to initiate ministries, the deaconate be invited to serve in an advisory capacity to those groups or individuals.Because of the extensive nature of a well-rounded, pro-active deaconate, the Session, at the advice of the Deaconate, will appoint godly men and women of the congregation to assist the deacons in their ministry.