One of the most persistent problems among God’s people throughout the ages is disunity and its expressions: strife, conflict, and discord. When Abram and Lot’s flocks grew so large that the land could no longer support them both, conflict arose between their servants. The Israelites were a murmuring, grumbling, and complaining group who feared they did not have enough to eat or drink. Their murmuring exposed their lack of unity. In his epistle to the Philippians, Paul calls out by name Euodia and Syntyche, two members of the church, who could not agree in ministry. That same struggle for unity continues to surface today among God’s people.

A Connection between Unity and Compassion

A closer look at disunity seems to connect it, at least at times, to a lack of compassion and mercy. When Jesus told the disciples to feed the five thousand, they balked. They were not united with Jesus in his desire to provide for the hungry crowd. Their lack of compassion for the crowd caused a rift with their Master.

Division is even more explicit in Acts 6, where the Hellenist Jews raised a complaint regarding widows being neglected. There was a split—a significant and even racial rupture in the church. Some were receiving more than others. Physical needs, even among Christians, can easily become a source of division.

So, what was the solution? Was this a theological problem, or a lack of mercy? Poor theology can certainly cause division. But in Acts 6, the path to unity came through mercy and compassion. By God’s grace and the leading of the Spirit, the apostles recognized the need and appointed seven men as deacons to oversee this ministry. As the widows’ needs were met, their complaints ceased, and unity was restored.

Cornelis Van Dam writes in The Deacon: The Biblical Roots and the Ministry of Mercy Today that deacons should be motivated by “protecting the communal joy” of Christ’s church. By restoring joy to the neglected widows, the first deacons restored unity to the congregation. The people could once again focus on the apostles’ preaching and teaching.

“No One . . . May Live Uncomforted”

Two thousand years after the events in Acts 6, the deacons of the OPC are called to “show forth the compassion of Christ in a manifold ministry of mercy toward the saints and strangers on behalf of the church” (Book of Church Order, chapter 11). We join with the deacons in Acts 6, caring for the saints and bringing peace to the widows and unity to the whole church. As our brothers in the Canadian Reformed Church state in their liturgy for the ordination of deacons, “No one in the congregation of Christ may live uncomforted under the pressure of sickness, loneliness, and poverty.” The ills of a fallen world and the resulting anxiety, fear, and discouragement can draw saints away from the unity and fellowship of the body. Deacons serve to pull them back.

In a 1903 article titled “The Deacon” in the Union Seminary Magazine, Southern Presbyterian minister R. C. Reed wrote: “To avoid friction between members, to promote happy pastorates, and to develop the grace of liberality, nothing is more important than a good deacon.” From the church’s earliest days through today, deacons are one of God’s key instruments of restoring unity through the compassion demonstrated toward the body of Christ.

Reed characterized a good deacon as “one who can be patient, who can smile at unreasonable people, and speak a soft word to turn away wrath, one who is willing to give time and take trouble on himself, and make himself ‘all things to all men’ in order to promote the interests of his Master’s cause.” Not every complaint rises to the level of the disparity in Acts 6. Deacons often hear a variety of complaints, from air conditioning temperature to the color of the church’s refrigerator. Yet how they respond shapes the tone and unity of the congregation. A deacon’s guiding principle can be, as Reed advised, to “smile at unreasonable people” and to “speak a soft word to turn away wrath.” With wisdom and gentleness, a deacon can turn complaints into contentment, fostering unity.

Modeling Unity in Presbyterian government

Deacons also set an example of submission to the session. Though a distinct office in the church, the deacons serve “under the supervision and authority of the session” (Book of Church Order, chapter 11). The congregation watches its leaders. Deacons, through their words and actions, can either undermine unity through grumbling and dishonor, or strengthen it through respectful cooperation with the session God has put over them. This cooperation extends through the unique relationship the congregation has with each office.

Matters of the elders, such as discipline, can be discouraging for congregants, even when they are not directly involved. Deacons, as compassionate leaders, can encourage the church to allow the session to do its work “with joy and not with groaning” (Heb. 13:17). Their words and example can bring the peace of Christ where tensions threaten unity.

Deacons also unify congregations through their support and close relationship with their pastors. As R. C. Reed writes, “A good deacon is the pastor’s most valuable ally.” By its vigilant care for the pastor and his family, and by offering wise counsel, deacons promote the pastor’s joy in Christ—one that strengthens the unity of the body. However, the deacon’s heart for pastors is not confined to the walls of a single congregation. Because of the connectional nature of presbyterianism, this same compassion is extended to every minister within the regional church. Each of our presbyteries has a diaconal committee, made up in part, by deacons, that provides mercy ministry to ministers without calls as well as to retired pastors who may feel disconnected from congregational life.

Beyond our regional church, our denomination, through the efforts of the OPC’s Committee on Diaconal Ministries (CDM), has discovered opportunities to build interdenominational unity through diaconal labor. The CDM’s administrator, David Nakhla, serves as convenor of the diaconal committee of the International Conference of Reformed Churches, of which the OPC is a member church. Through this ecumenical work, David has had the opportunity to minister to and learn from our sister denominations around the world about their diaconal work. These efforts contribute toward a unity of denominations in mutual service in Christ’s church.

The diaconate is far more than writing checks or ensuring heat in a cold church building. Deacons have a unique and high calling to be examples and leaders of unity by ministering the grace of our Savior to the congregation through compassionate deeds and discerning words.

Timothy Hopper and Christopher Cashen are members of the Committee on Diaconal Ministries. New Horizons, May 2026.