Reading different theological perspectives. Historical readings express their authors' perspectives, including Arminian and Reformed or Calvinist traditions. Inclusion does not make an author's position settled CTS doctrine. Read with Scripture and the assigned material. A supported answer from another evangelical perspective should be assessed on its reasoning, not penalized simply for differing from the author. If an automated score rejects such an answer, ask CTS for review.

Master’s Assigned Readings (all five)

M.Div. and Th.M. students read all five assigned selections and take their separate exam after activation. The test page states the current rule; valid earlier completions remain valid.

Optional Honors (choose three)

Honors is optional on every track. Certificate and Associate students may read three honors selections without a required-reading exam. Honors does not replace either master’s exam.

The Master's reading test: separate from the honors invitation below. Honors asks you to read any three of these digests; the Master's test covers all five. It has twenty fill-in-the-blank questions, four from each reading, drawn from forty; eighteen right passes. Each answer is marked right or wrong at once; correct answers and explanations are available after the attempt passes. You may try again after a short wait. The test is being introduced: its page says whether it is in force yet. Until then any student may take it, and a pass is kept in your record.

About this course. This course and its readings support a deacon family ministry plan — an approach used especially among Baptist churches, in which the deacons are each assigned a group of families to know, visit, and care for. The readings serve that plan directly; and because they are drawn from Scripture and from the classic works of the whole church rather than from any one tradition, they apply just as well wherever deacons serve. CTS is non-denominational: questions of church government on which faithful Christians differ are left open, and the readings hold to the shared biblical substance of the deacon's servant ministry and the care of families.

Honors option: Complete any three of the five readings below. These readings supplement the course and do not replace its units or examinations.

On this site: Each of the five readings is a Chapala Theological Seminary digest, written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French here on the site — every one opens directly from this page, with nothing to download. The digests are CTS-authored teaching that rests on Scripture (the book of Acts and the Pastoral Epistles) and on the great public-domain works of Richard Baxter, Jonathan Edwards, James W. Alexander, William Kingston, Brother Lawrence, and — read with discernment — Gorham Abbott; those classic works are freely available online for any who wish to read them in full.

Selected: 0 of 3

Reading 1 · The Servant Office

The Ministry of the Deacon

A CTS digest

The servant office, from its origin in Acts. The seven appointed to serve tables, freeing the apostles for the Word and prayer; a ministry of humble, practical service; the character it requires (1 Timothy 3:8–13 — dignified, honest, free from greed, tested); trustworthiness in handling the church's care; spiritual, not merely practical (Stephen and Philip); serving under and with pastoral leadership; and the servant-not-lord pattern of Christ, who took a towel and washed feet. Taught from Scripture, with government forms left open.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

The Ministry of the Deacon

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — the servant office: humble, trustworthy, spiritual service that cares for God's people and frees the Word to go forward, in cooperation with pastoral leadership

A CTS-authored study, anchored in Scripture (Acts 6; 1 Timothy 3:8–13; and the example of Christ the Servant), taught from Scripture without binding any church to one form of church order.

Deacon Family Ministry
The Servant Office
Acts 6 · 1 Timothy 3
Foundational

A word before you read. The office of deacon is one of the church's oldest and most precious ministries — a ministry of humble service. This reading traces it from its beginning in the book of Acts, through the character it requires in the Pastoral Epistles, to the servant heart it reflects. It is taught from Scripture, describing the shared biblical substance rather than binding any church to one form of government.

1.The Origin of the Deacon's Ministry

The ministry of the deacon has its roots in a very practical need that arose in the earliest days of the church. As the number of believers grew, a problem came up: in the daily distribution of food, some of the widows were being overlooked, and a complaint arose. The apostles saw the need, but they also saw that they could not do everything themselves. It would not be right, they said, for them to leave the ministry of the Word of God in order to serve tables. So they told the church to choose from among themselves seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom they would appoint over this business; and the apostles would give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. The church chose seven such men, and the apostles prayed and laid hands on them. And the result was good: the need was met, the Word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly. Here is the seed of the deacon's ministry. It is a ministry of practical service, meeting real needs among God's people, and freeing others to give themselves to the Word and to prayer. From the beginning it was seen not as a lesser or unimportant thing, but as a vital ministry, entrusted to men full of the Spirit and wisdom, for the good of the whole church.

2.A Ministry of Service

At the very heart of this office lies a single idea: service. The word we translate "deacon" simply means a servant, one who ministers to the needs of others. The deacon's ministry, then, is a ministry of service — caring for the practical needs of the church and its people. Where there are widows to be provided for, the sick to be visited, the poor to be helped, the hungry to be fed, and the material and bodily needs of the body to be met, there the deacon's ministry is at work. This is humble, hands-on labor, often unseen and unsung; it does not preach from the pulpit or lead from the front, but quietly serves where there is need. Yet it is precious to God, and vital to the health of the church. For a church is not only souls to be taught but people to be cared for, with real bodies and real needs; and the Lord would have His people loved and served in practical ways, not only instructed in words. So the church has always needed both the ministry of the Word and the ministry of service, and neither may be neglected. The deacon gives himself to the second of these — the loving, practical care of God's people — and in doing so serves Christ Himself.

3.Freeing Others for the Word and Prayer

One of the great purposes of the deacon's ministry, plain in the account in Acts, is to free the church's shepherds to give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. The apostles knew they could not both carry the practical burdens of the church and devote themselves fully to preaching and prayer; something would suffer. So faithful servants were appointed to take up the practical care, that the apostles might be free for their own work. This is a great and often unnoticed service to the whole church. When trustworthy deacons carry the material burdens — the care of the needy, the handling of resources, the many practical matters that must be attended to — the pastors and elders are freed to feed the flock, to study and pray and teach, without being pulled in every direction. The deacon's work, in this way, makes the pastor's work possible, and both together serve the good of the body. Neither ministry is complete without the other. The one who serves tables and the one who serves the Word are fellow laborers, each essential, each honoring Christ; and the church flourishes when both are done faithfully and in harmony.

4.The Character the Office Requires

Because so much is entrusted to the deacon, Scripture is careful to describe the kind of person the office requires. Writing to Timothy, Paul sets down what deacons must be: they are to be reverent, or dignified, worthy of respect; not double-tongued, but sincere and honest in their speech, saying the same thing to all; not given to much wine; not greedy for dishonest gain; holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And, he adds, let them first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Their households too are to be well ordered, and those who share the work with them are to be faithful and worthy of trust. As with the overseer, notice where the weight falls: not chiefly on ability or cleverness, but on character — honesty, sincerity, freedom from greed, a clear conscience, a tested and proven life. The deacon handles holy trusts and tender needs, and so must be a person of integrity. The church does well, then, to look first at character when choosing its servants, and to test them before entrusting the office, that those who serve may be found faithful and blameless before God and the flock.

5.Trustworthiness in Handling the Church's Care

Among the marks of the deacon, trustworthiness stands out, and for good reason. The deacon's ministry often involves handling money and goods, and caring for the vulnerable — the widow, the poor, the sick, the stranger. These are sacred trusts, and they can be mishandled. So Scripture insists that deacons be free from greed, honest in all their dealings, and faithful with what is entrusted to them. The care of the needy is not to be treated carelessly, nor the church's resources handled loosely, nor the vulnerable neglected or exploited; all is to be done with integrity, openness, and love, as unto the Lord who sees. A deacon who is faithful in these things is a great blessing to the church, for the flock can trust that its gifts are rightly used and its needy truly cared for. And a deacon who is unfaithful — dishonest, greedy, or careless — does great harm, and dishonors both the office and the Lord. So the deacon holds his trust as a steward who must give account, handling the church's care with the same honesty and love that Christ Himself would show. In this faithfulness the office is honored and the flock is well served.

6.Spiritual, Not Merely Practical

It would be a mistake to think that, because the deacon's work is practical, it is therefore merely practical, and not a spiritual ministry. The seven chosen in Acts were not to be merely capable administrators; they were to be men full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom. The deacon's service, though it deals with tables and goods and bodily needs, is a spiritual ministry, done for the Lord and in the power of His Spirit. To feed the hungry, care for the widow, and serve the needy in Christ's name is holy work; it flows from the gospel and adorns it, showing the love of Christ in deed as well as in word. Indeed, one of the seven, Stephen, went on to bear powerful witness and to become the first martyr, and another, Philip, became a great evangelist; their service at tables was no barrier to deep spiritual usefulness, but part of lives wholly given to God. So the deacon does not serve as one doing mere secular chores, but as one ministering to Christ in His people. The humblest act of practical care, done in faith and love for the Lord, is spiritual service of the highest kind, and is seen and honored by God, who forgets no work of love done in His name.

7.Serving Under and With Pastoral Leadership

The deacon's ministry is not in competition with the pastoral leadership of the church, but works together with it. In the account in Acts, the seven served alongside the apostles, each with their own part: the apostles gave themselves to the Word and prayer, and the seven to the practical care, and together the whole work went forward. So it is meant to be. Deacons and pastors, or elders, are fellow servants of the same Lord and the same flock, laboring side by side for the good of the body — the one caring for practical and material needs, the other giving themselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer. This calls for humility, cooperation, and mutual honor on both sides. The deacon serves under and alongside the leadership God has set in the church, not seeking to rule or to displace, but to support and to serve; and wise pastors, in turn, honor and value the deacons and the vital ministry they carry. Churches order these matters in various ways, and Scripture does not bind us to one single arrangement; but the shared and plain substance is this: deacons and pastoral leaders are to work together in unity, each honoring the other, each doing their part, for the health of the whole church and the glory of Christ.

8.Servant, Not Lord

In all of this, the deacon's ministry is a living picture of the servant heart that Christ requires of everyone who serves in His church. The very name of the office — servant — sets the tone. The deacon does not lord it over others, nor use the office for status, power, or gain, but serves humbly, quietly, and lovingly, wherever there is need. And in this the deacon follows the Lord Himself, who came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many; who, being Lord and Master, took a towel and washed His disciples' feet, and told them to do as He had done. The greatness of the deacon's ministry is not the greatness of position, but the greatness of humble service after the pattern of Christ. And Scripture attaches a promise to it: those who serve well as deacons gain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith. So we see what the deacon's ministry is, from its beginning in Acts to this day: a humble, trustworthy, and spiritual service, meeting the needs of God's people, freeing the Word to go forward, carried out in cooperation with pastoral leadership, and offered in the spirit of the Servant Lord. It is a ministry any church should honor, and any servant should be glad to fulfill, for it is done unto Christ, who was Himself the greatest of all servants.

9.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. Do you see the ministry of practical service — caring for the needy, handling the church's care, freeing the Word to go forward — as the vital and spiritual ministry it truly is, and not a lesser thing? If you serve as a deacon, or in any work of practical care, do you serve with the character Scripture requires: honest, free from greed, trustworthy, and full of the Spirit? Do you serve humbly and in cooperation with those who lead in the Word, honoring them as they honor you? And in it all, do you serve not as a lord but as a servant, after the pattern of Christ, who took a towel and washed His disciples' feet?

Select

Reading 2 · Caring for the Needy

Caring for the Needy and Vulnerable

A CTS digest

The church's care for the poor, the widow, and the vulnerable. Shared and equitable care (Acts — none in want); special, discerning care for widows with family responsibility honored (1 Timothy 5); benevolence governed by genuine Christian love, not cold duty (Edwards, Charity and Its Fruits); love that sees and feels; care in deed and truth, not word only; wisdom and order in caring; and all offered as unto Christ, out of the grace we have freely received.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

Caring for the Needy and Vulnerable

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — the church's care for the poor, the widow, and the vulnerable: shared, discerning, and above all governed by genuine Christian love

A CTS-authored study, anchored in Scripture (Acts 2, 4, and 6; 1 Timothy 5; 1 Corinthians 13) and in the classic public-domain counsel of Jonathan Edwards's Charity and Its Fruits.

Deacon Family Ministry
Caring for the Needy
Acts · 1 Timothy 5 · Edwards
Love, Not Mere Duty

A word before you read. Caring for the poor, the widow, and the vulnerable has always been a mark of Christ's church. This reading considers how that care is to be done — shared and fair, wise and discerning, and above all governed not by cold duty but by genuine Christian love, which sees Christ Himself in the least of these.

1.The Church's Care for the Needy

From its very beginning, the church of Christ has cared for its poor and needy. In the earliest days, we read that the believers were of one heart, and that they shared with one another so freely that there was not anyone among them who lacked. They had a deep and practical concern for those in need in their midst, and they did not turn away from the poor, the hungry, or the helpless, but cared for them as part of their common life in Christ. This was no small or optional matter. The care of the needy is woven all through Scripture as a mark of God's true people. The Lord Himself is the defender of the poor, the widow, and the fatherless, and He calls His people to reflect His heart. The gospel that saves us also softens us toward those in need; the grace we have received teaches us to give. So a church that neglects its poor and vulnerable has forgotten something essential to what it means to be the church. To care for the needy is not an extra added on to the Christian life, but a natural fruit of the gospel and a plain command of our Lord, and it has marked His people from the very first.

2.Shared Care and Equitable Distribution

The way the early church cared for its needy is worth pausing over. The believers, we are told, shared their goods generously; those who had lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds, and distribution was made to each as anyone had need. The aim was clear: that no one among them should be in want. This was not a forced sharing imposed from above, nor a system that abolished all property, but a voluntary, love-driven generosity that flowed from hearts changed by the gospel. And it was to be done fairly. When, later, some of the widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution, the church acted at once to correct it, appointing faithful men to see that the care was given rightly and to all. So the church's care for the needy is to be both generous and equitable — reaching those who truly need it, without partiality or neglect, attentive to the real needs of all its members. We seek, as they did, that none among God's people should be left in want while others have plenty, and that the church's care be distributed wisely and fairly, so that it reaches those for whom it is meant.

3.Special Care for Widows

Scripture gives particular attention to the care of widows, who in that world were among the most vulnerable of all, often left without any means of support when their husbands died. Paul gives Timothy careful and tender instruction about them. Honor widows, he says, who are truly widows — that is, those who are genuinely alone and in need, without family to provide for them. Such women, left desolate, the church is to support and care for. But he adds an important word: where a widow has children or grandchildren, let these first learn to care for their own family and to repay their parents, for this is good and pleasing in the sight of God. And if any believer has widows in their family, let them care for them, so that the church is not burdened, and may care for those who are truly alone. Here is careful, discerning care. The church's help is directed to those who genuinely have no other support, while the God-given responsibility of families to care for their own is honored. In this way the truly needy are not overlooked, and the care of the church is not spread so thin that it fails those who most need it.

4.Benevolence Governed by Love, Not Mere Duty

Now we come to the heart of the matter. All this care for the needy must be governed by one thing above all: genuine Christian love. Jonathan Edwards, in his rich work drawn from the great chapter on love, made this wonderfully plain. He showed that all our giving and serving, however generous, is worth nothing in God's sight without love. The apostle himself says that though we give all our goods to feed the poor, if we have not love, it profits us nothing. This is a searching truth. It is possible to give to the needy out of cold duty, or grudging obligation, or a desire to be seen, or merely to discharge a task — and such giving, however useful to the one who receives it, is not the charity Scripture commends. The care that God delights in is not a program dutifully carried out, but love in action: real, warm, Christlike love for the needy person. Edwards taught that true charity is first a disposition of the heart, a genuine love that seeks and delights in the good of others. So the church's benevolence must never become a mere routine, a box to be ticked, or a duty grimly discharged. It must be love — the overflow of hearts that have known the love of Christ, poured out toward those in need.

5.Love That Sees and Feels

Genuine love toward the needy is never distant or impersonal; it sees the person and is moved by their need. When our Lord looked on the multitudes, we are told, He was moved with compassion for them, for they were weary and scattered like sheep without a shepherd; His love was not a cold principle but a warm, feeling compassion. So it is to be with us. Edwards taught that true charity is a real love that feels for others and delights in their good; it does not merely calculate and dispense, but sees the poor and the suffering as fellow human beings made in God's image, and is moved with genuine care for them. This means we do not care for the needy from a safe distance, or treat them as cases to be processed, but come near to them, see them as persons, feel something of their need, and love them as Christ loves. The widow, the poor, the sick, the stranger — each is a soul dear to God, and each is to be met not with a pity that looks down, but with a love that comes alongside. Such love dignifies the one it helps; it is the love that Christ Himself showed to the least and the lowest, and that He calls us to show as well.

6.Care in Deed and in Truth

This genuine love is not content with words; it shows itself in action. Scripture presses the point sharply: if anyone has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart of compassion from him, how does the love of God dwell in him? And it draws the lesson: let us not love in word or in tongue only, but in deed and in truth. Warm feelings and kind words, however good, are not enough if we have the means to help and do not; genuine love opens its hand. So the care of the needy puts love into practical action — food for the hungry, clothing for the poor, shelter for the homeless, presence for the lonely, help for the helpless, whatever the true need requires. This is the very work the deacon's ministry exists to carry out, and to which the whole church is called. It is not enough to feel for the poor, or to speak kindly of them; love that is real reaches into pockets and homes and hands, and meets real needs in tangible ways. Love in deed and in truth is the love that Scripture commends, and the love the needy actually need.

7.Wisdom and Order in Caring

Love for the needy is to be joined with wisdom and good order, that the care may truly help and not harm. The early church did not leave its benevolence to chance, but appointed faithful men to see that the distribution was done well, fairly, and honestly. So the church's care for the needy should be organized, transparent, and wise. It should be attentive to real need, careful that help reaches those it is meant for, and honest in the handling of what is given. Wisdom also means helping in ways that truly help. Scripture itself teaches a balance here: it is full of compassion for those in genuine need, yet it also says that if anyone is unwilling to work, neither should he eat — guarding against a false kindness that would foster idleness in those who are able to work. So we care generously for those who truly cannot help themselves, while encouraging and helping others toward honest labor where they are able. All of this is done with love as the governing motive and wisdom as the faithful guide, so that the church's care is both warm-hearted and well-ordered, reaching the truly needy in ways that lift them up rather than keep them down.

8.Caring as Unto Christ

There remains the deepest motive and the highest dignity of all this care. When we care for the needy, we are, in truth, caring for Christ Himself. He told us that whatever we did for the least of His brethren — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the imprisoned — we did for Him; and that not even a cup of cold water given in His name will be forgotten. What dignity this gives to the humblest act of mercy! To help a poor widow, to feed a hungry child, to sit with the lonely, is to serve the Lord of glory. And this care flows, at its root, from grace. We give because we have first received; the mercy we show to the needy is the overflow of the mercy Christ has shown to us, and the riches we share are given out of the riches of His grace toward us. We were poor, and He made us rich; we were helpless, and He helped us; and now, freely having received, we freely give. So the church's care for the needy and vulnerable is shared and fair, discerning and wise, and above all governed by genuine Christian love — love in deed and in truth, offered as unto Christ, out of the grace we ourselves have received from Him.

9.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. Does your care for the needy — the poor, the widow, the vulnerable — flow from genuine Christian love, or has it become mere duty, routine, or obligation? Do you see the needy as persons dear to God, and come near to them with compassion, rather than helping from a distance? Does your love show itself not in kind words only but in deed and in truth, meeting real needs in real ways? And do you care for the least as unto Christ Himself, out of the grace you have freely received, remembering that whatever you do for the least of His brethren, you do for Him?

Select

Reading 3 · Knowing & Visiting

Knowing and Visiting the Flock

A CTS digest

Care that comes to people where they live (Baxter, The Reformed Pastor). Knowing the flock by name, as the Good Shepherd does; the danger of caring only for the mass; Baxter's house-to-house practice; visiting the sick, sorrowing, and lonely as a mark of true religion; attentiveness to each particular household — the very heart of an assigned-families plan; care as spiritual ministry, not mere logistics; organized yet always personal; and the shepherd's heart of love behind every visit.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

Knowing and Visiting the Flock

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — care that comes to people where they live: personal, attentive to each household, and spiritual, after the pattern of the Shepherd who knows His own by name

A CTS-authored study, anchored in Scripture (John 10; Acts 20; James 1) and in the classic public-domain counsel of Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor.

Deacon Family Ministry
Knowing & Visiting
Baxter · The Reformed Pastor
Care as Spiritual Ministry

A word before you read. It is not enough to care for the church only as a crowd. Those who serve God's people are called to know them personally — their names, their families, their needs, their souls — and to come to them where they live. This reading, drawing on Richard Baxter's example, considers how the deacon and the whole church care for the flock by truly knowing and visiting it, household by household, as a spiritual ministry of love.

1.Knowing the Flock by Name

The care of God's people begins with knowing them. Our Lord, the Good Shepherd, tells us that He knows His own sheep and is known by them, and that He calls His own sheep by name. He does not know His flock only as a nameless crowd, but each one personally, individually, by name. And those who care for His people are to share something of this shepherd's knowledge. It is not enough to know the church only in the mass — as a congregation to be preached to, a group to be counted, a crowd to be served in general. Those who would truly care must come to know the people personally: their names, their families, their circumstances, their needs, and the state of their souls. Richard Baxter, whose The Reformed Pastor has stirred the church for centuries, pressed with great earnestness that a faithful pastor should know every member of his flock, and not be a stranger to any of them. So the first step in caring for God's people, whether as pastor or as deacon, is simply to know them — to move beyond the crowd to the persons, and to learn who they are, so that they may be truly cared for and not left as strangers in the midst of the church.

2.The Danger of Caring Only for the Mass

There is a real danger that the care of the church becomes impersonal — that we tend to the crowd and the programs while never truly knowing the individual souls and households. It is possible to preach faithfully to a whole congregation, to run the church's ministries well, and yet to leave particular people unknown, unwatched, and uncared for. Baxter saw this danger clearly in his own day. He came to believe that many souls were being neglected, and some even lost, precisely because no one knew them personally or watched over them one by one; the public preaching, however good, was not reaching them where they lived. The prophet Ezekiel had long before rebuked shepherds who fed themselves but did not seek the lost, strengthen the weak, or bind up the broken among the flock. Public ministry to the whole, then, however important, is not enough by itself; there must also be the personal care of the particular soul and the particular home. We must not let organized ministry become a substitute for knowing people, nor allow the individual to be lost in the crowd. Every soul matters to God, and so every soul must be known and cared for.

3.Baxter's Practice: Personal, House-to-House Care

Baxter did not merely urge this personal care; he gave himself to it. In The Reformed Pastor, he described his own labor of visiting and teaching the families of his flock personally, going from house to house, sitting down with each family, instructing them, hearing their needs, and caring for their souls one by one. It was demanding work, and it cost him much time and effort; but he found that this personal, house-to-house ministry did more good than his public preaching alone. Souls that had sat unmoved under his sermons for years were reached when he came to them personally and dealt with them face to face. Here is a pattern worth learning. Care that truly helps is often the care that comes to people where they are — that knows their particular circumstances, sits with them in their own homes, and attends to each family and each soul in turn. This is not something only a pastor can do; the deacon and the caring members of the church share in this same work, coming personally to the households of the flock, knowing them, and serving them where they live. The apostle Paul himself said that he had taught the people not only publicly but from house to house.

4.Visiting the Flock

Central to this personal care is the simple, ancient practice of visiting. To visit is to come to people in their own homes and lives — especially the sick, the sorrowing, the struggling, the lonely, the elderly, the new, and all who cannot easily come to the church. Scripture holds up such visiting as a mark of true religion: to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction is part of the pure and undefiled worship that God accepts. Our Lord Himself is the great example, for He did not remain far off, but came down to us where we were, entering into our world and our need. So those who care for the flock go to the people, rather than waiting for the people to come to them. A visit brings the care and the presence of Christ's love to someone in their own place; it says, you are not forgotten, you are known, you are cared for. For the sick and the shut-in, the grieving and the isolated, such a visit can be a great comfort and help. This is a central part of the deacon's ministry and the whole church's care: to go, to be present, and to bring the love of Christ to people where they live.

5.Attentive to Particular Households

Faithful care is attentive to the particular household, for each family has its own circumstances, needs, joys, and struggles. Baxter dealt with the families of his parish as families, coming to know each home in its own situation. So we do not treat every household the same, or offer a single answer to every need; rather, we come to know and care for each family in its own particular circumstances. There is the young family with little children, needing encouragement and help; the widow's quiet home, needing company and support; the household strained by a struggling marriage, needing patience and prayer; the family in poverty or sickness, needing practical care; the home where faith is weak or troubled, needing gentle spiritual help. Each is different, and each is to be met with care suited to its own need. This attentiveness to particular households lies close to the very heart of a ministry to families, for it treats each home not as one more case but as a real family, known and loved for who they are. The deacon and the caring church, then, give personal attention to the particular household, learning its circumstances and serving it in its own need.

6.Care as Spiritual Ministry, Not Mere Logistics

It is vital to see that this knowing and visiting is not merely social or administrative work, but a spiritual ministry. Baxter's visits were never mere friendly calls or the arranging of practical matters only; they were aimed at the good of the soul. He came to instruct in the faith, to encourage the weak, to warn the wandering, to comfort the sorrowing, to pray with the family, and to point them all to Christ. So the care of the flock is not merely logistics — not only the organizing of help, the delivery of goods, or the checking of a list — but the ministry of Christ's love to the whole person, body and soul. The deacon who brings food to a struggling family may also bring a word of encouragement and a prayer; the member who visits the sick brings not only help but the comfort of Christ. We do not separate the practical from the spiritual, as though caring for the body were one thing and caring for the soul another; in true Christian care they belong together. Every visit, every act of care, is an opportunity to minister the love and truth of Christ to a soul. So we care for people not as cases to be managed, but as souls to be loved and served in Christ's name.

7.Organized, Yet Personal

To care for a whole flock in this personal way, some order and organization are needed, so that no one is missed. A single person cannot know and visit everyone; the work must be shared among many, planned, and followed up, so that every household and soul is truly watched over. Baxter organized his entire parish for personal visitation, dividing the work so that all could be reached. So the caring church plans its care wisely — sharing the work, as we have seen, among deacons and members, keeping track of who is being cared for, and making sure that none fall through the cracks. Yet here is the important thing: the organization must always serve the personal, spiritual care, and never replace it. Lists, plans, and systems are good servants but poor masters; they exist so that real people may be truly known and loved, not so that care may become cold and mechanical. So we hold the two together: enough order that no one is neglected, and enough warmth that everyone is personally known and spiritually cared for. Well-organized care and personal, loving care are not enemies; wisely joined, they ensure that the whole flock is faithfully tended.

8.The Shepherd's Heart Behind the Visit

What makes all this care fruitful is the heart behind it. Knowing and visiting the flock, done merely as a duty or a task, will accomplish little; but done out of genuine love, it becomes a means of great blessing. Baxter labored so tirelessly for the souls in his care because he truly loved them, and longed for their good. And behind every faithful shepherd stands the Good Shepherd Himself, who knows His sheep by name, who seeks the one that wanders until He finds it, and who laid down His life for the flock. It is His heart that we are to share — a love for each person as one precious to Christ, bought with His blood. So we come to know and visit the flock not grudgingly, but gladly; not as a chore, but as an act of love; seeing in each household and each soul someone dear to the Lord. Let us gather it together: to know the flock by name, to visit them where they live, to attend to each particular household, to care for body and soul together as a spiritual ministry, organized in love yet always personal — this is how the deacon and the whole church truly care for God's people, after the pattern of the Shepherd who knows His own, and who gave Himself for them.

9.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. Do you know the people God has given you to care for personally — their names, their families, their needs — or only as a crowd? Do you go to them where they live, visiting the sick, the sorrowing, the lonely, and those who cannot come to you? Do you give attention to each particular household in its own circumstances, and care for body and soul together, as a spiritual ministry and not mere logistics? And does your knowing and visiting flow from a genuine love for each soul as precious to Christ, after the heart of the Good Shepherd who knows His own by name?

Select

Reading 4 · Family Worship

Ministering to the Home: Family Worship

A CTS digest

Seeking God together in the home (Alexander, Thoughts on Family Worship; Baxter; Brother Lawrence). The home as a place of worship; what family worship simply is — Scripture, prayer, praise; a gracious, joyful gift, not a legalistic burden; kept simple and unforced, with no fixed form bound on anyone; the blessing it brings; God's presence in ordinary household life (Brother Lawrence among the pots and pans); a gentle word for homes where it is hard — grace, not guilt; and Christ at the center of the home.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

Ministering to the Home: Family Worship

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — seeking God together in the home through Scripture, prayer, and praise: a gracious, joyful practice, and a life lived in His presence

A CTS-authored study, anchored in Scripture (Joshua 24; Deuteronomy 6; Colossians 3) and in the classic public-domain counsel of James W. Alexander's Thoughts on Family Worship, Richard Baxter's A Christian Directory, and Brother Lawrence's The Practice of the Presence of God.

Deacon Family Ministry
Family Worship
Alexander · Baxter · Bro. Lawrence
Grace, Not Legalism

A word before you read. God is to be worshiped not only in the gathered church but in the home. This reading commends the simple practice of family worship — a household seeking God together in Scripture, prayer, and praise — and the living of ordinary home life in His presence. It offers this not as a heavy rule to be dreaded, but as a gracious and joyful gift; and it speaks gently to homes where such worship is hard.

1.The Home as a Place of Worship

God is to be worshiped not only when His people gather as a church, but also in the home, day by day. From the earliest times, godly households have sought and served God together. Joshua declared for his household, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," making the worship and service of God the settled purpose of his home. The Lord commanded His people to keep His words in their hearts and to teach them diligently to their children, speaking of them when they sat in their house, when they walked by the way, and when they lay down and rose up — the whole life of the home was to be filled with the knowledge of God. James W. Alexander, a warm-hearted pastor, wrote a book he called Thoughts on Family Worship to encourage households in just this practice. The home, then, is meant to be a kind of little sanctuary — a place where a family seeks God together, where His Word is honored, and where He is known and loved. This is a high and beautiful calling for every Christian household: that under its roof God should be worshiped, and that its ordinary life should be lived before His face, day after day.

2.What Family Worship Is

What is this family worship? At its simplest, it is a household gathering to seek God together — reading His Word, praying to Him, and offering Him praise. It need not be long or elaborate. A family may open the Scriptures and read a portion together; they may pray, giving thanks, confessing, and bringing their needs before God; and they may sing His praise, or simply lift their hearts to Him. Alexander described family worship as just such a simple, regular practice: the household coming together before God, hearing from Him in His Word and speaking to Him in prayer. It is not a complicated religious ceremony, nor something only ministers can lead; any believing parent or head of a household can gather the family to read a little of the Bible, to pray, and to praise. The three simple parts — Scripture, prayer, and praise — are the heart of it, and they can be woven into the ordinary rhythm of the home: at a meal, at the start or close of the day, or whenever suits the family best. The essence is simply this: a family turning together, regularly, to seek and worship God.

3.A Gracious Practice, Not a Legalistic Burden

Here a very important word must be said, for it colors everything. Family worship is a gift and a joy, not a heavy legal burden to be dreaded, nor a rule whose breaking condemns. It is meant to flow from a heart that loves God and delights to seek Him as a family — not from fear, or grim obligation, or a sense that one is piling up merit or escaping guilt. We must be careful never to turn this gracious practice into a cold, rigid duty, or a source of shame and pressure. When family worship becomes a grim ritual done merely because one must, or a law by which a family measures and condemns itself, it has lost its very heart. For the gospel sets us free to come to God gladly, as children to a loving Father, not fearfully, as slaves under a taskmaster. So family worship is to be entered not as a burden laid on the conscience, but as a glad and welcome time of seeking God together — warm, unforced, and full of grace. It is one of the good gifts of God to the Christian home, to be received and enjoyed as such, and never made into a legalistic chain. Grace, not law, is the true spirit of it.

4.Kept Simple, Warm, and Unforced

Because family worship is a gracious gift and not a rigid law, it is best kept simple, warm, and suited to the family. It should not be so long or heavy that it wearies everyone and becomes a thing to be endured; better a few minutes entered gladly and kept up regularly than a long, stiff ritual that all come to dread. Both Alexander and Baxter, in his Christian Directory, counseled making family worship manageable and pleasant, fitted to the household — short enough for little children, warm rather than formal, adapted to the family's own life and rhythm. A young family with small children will do it differently from a household of grown believers; and that is well, for no single fixed form is bound upon anyone. Each home may find the shape that fits it — a Scripture and a prayer at breakfast, a song and a Bible story at bedtime, a simple time of reading and prayer whenever suits. What matters is not a prescribed pattern but the reality: that the family regularly and gladly seeks God together. Kept simple, warm, and unforced, family worship becomes a joy the household looks forward to, rather than a chore it comes to resent.

5.The Blessing It Brings

Though family worship is not done to earn anything from God — for His favor is given freely in Christ — it is nonetheless a channel of great blessing to a household. It draws the family together around God, giving the home a shared center and a common life in Him. It teaches children the Scriptures and the way of prayer from their earliest years, so that they grow up knowing the Word and hearing God's name honored under their own roof. It brings God into the daily life of the home, so that He is not a stranger there but the honored Guest and Head of the house. And it is a means by which God's grace flows to parents and children alike, strengthening faith, softening hearts, and knitting the family together in love. Alexander wrote warmly of the many blessings that come to a household that seeks God together, and of the lasting good it does, especially to the children. So family worship, though never a way of buying God's favor, is a rich means of grace and a great blessing — a good and joyful practice whose fruit, in a home, ripens over many years, and often into the next generation.

6.The Presence of God in Ordinary Household Life

Worship in the home, however, is not confined to the set times of family worship; God may be known and loved in the whole ordinary life of the household. Brother Lawrence, a humble man of a former age who spent his days working in a monastery kitchen, learned to practice the presence of God in the most ordinary tasks. Amid the pots and pans, the cooking and the cleaning, he did the smallest things for the love of God, and enjoyed a sweet sense of God's nearness even in the most common work. He found that God was as truly present in the kitchen as in the chapel, and that the humblest chore, done for love of Him, became a kind of worship. This is a beautiful truth for every home. The whole life of a household — its work and meals, its washing and cooking and caring, its ordinary moments — can be lived in the presence of God and offered up to Him. A mother caring for her children, a father at his labor, the daily tasks of the home, all may be done as unto the Lord, in loving awareness of His presence. So worship is not only the gathered time of Scripture and prayer, but a whole life lived with God, in which even the most ordinary household duty becomes holy when it is done for love of Him.

7.When Family Worship Is Hard

An honest and gentle word is needed here, for family worship is not always easy, and no family should be crushed by guilt over its struggles. Households are often busy, tired, and pulled in many directions; children can be restless and distracted; and some days the attempt seems to fall apart entirely. In some homes, only one member believes, and worship together is difficult or impossible; in others, hard circumstances make any regular practice a real struggle. None of this is a cause for despair or condemnation. God is gracious and patient, and He does not measure a family by a flawless record. He welcomes the honest, humble effort of a household that seeks Him, however imperfectly; He sees the heart, and He is pleased with even the smallest and weakest attempt to draw near. It is far better to begin small, and stumble, and keep gently trying, than to give up because one cannot do it perfectly. And where a believer stands almost alone in an unbelieving home, God meets even that solitary seeking with grace. So let no one be burdened with shame over family worship. Let it be attempted in the spirit of grace, not guilt — begun humbly, kept up gently, and entrusted, with all its imperfections, to a kind and understanding God.

8.Christ at the Center of the Home

All of this has one great aim: that Christ should be at the center of the home. Family worship, and the living of ordinary home life in God's presence, are means to this end — a household that seeks Christ together, loves Him, honors His Word, and lives day by day in awareness of Him. This is not a law to be feared, but a gift of grace to be gladly received and enjoyed; a home with Christ at its center is a blessed home, whatever its outward circumstances. The deacon and the church do well to encourage and help families in this — not by laying heavy burdens on them, but by gently and joyfully commending the good practice of seeking God at home, and by supporting households, especially the struggling, to make Christ the honored Head of the house. Let us gather it together: the home is meant to be a place of worship; family worship is a simple, gracious, and joyful seeking of God together in Scripture, prayer, and praise; God is truly present in the ordinary life of the home; and where such worship is hard, His grace abounds. All of it aims at a household living with Christ at its center — to His glory, and to the deep and lasting joy of the family that seeks Him.

9.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. Is your home a place where God is worshiped and sought — not perfectly, but truly — in Scripture, prayer, and praise? Do you receive family worship as a gracious and joyful gift, rather than a heavy legal burden or a source of guilt? Do you seek to live the ordinary life of your household — its work and meals and daily tasks — in the presence of God, as Brother Lawrence did? And if such worship is hard in your home, will you begin small, in the spirit of grace and not guilt, trusting a kind God who welcomes even the smallest seeking, and desiring above all to have Christ at the center of your home?

Select

Reading 5 · Christian Households

Building Christian Households Through Love and Example

A CTS digest

The capstone (Kingston, The Christian Home; Edwards; Abbott read critically). Homes built by love, not harsh authority; the power of example over command; strengthening marriages through Christlike sacrificial love; raising children in grace and gentleness, careful not to provoke or discourage them; a home marked by grace, not score-keeping; the household's witness joined to the church's ministry of care; and the whole course crowned on Christ, the Servant Lord and the sure Foundation on whom every true home stands.

CTS DIGESTRead the full digest — opens right here

The Chapala Theological Seminary digest — an original summary written by CTS, available in English, Spanish and French, readable offline. This is the CTS digest, not the full original source text.

Building Christian Households Through Love and Example

A Chapala Theological Seminary reading — the capstone: strengthening marriages, parents, and children by love, grace, and example rather than harsh authority, on the sure foundation of Christ

A CTS-authored capstone study, anchored in Scripture (Ephesians 5–6; Colossians 3; Matthew 7) and in the classic public-domain counsel of William Kingston's The Christian Home, Jonathan Edwards's Charity and Its Fruits, and (read with discernment) Gorham Abbott's The Family at Home.

Deacon Family Ministry
Christian Households
Kingston · Edwards · Abbott
Capstone

A word before you read. This closing reading asks how strong Christian households are built — and answers, not chiefly by rules or harsh authority, but by love, grace, and example, on the foundation of Christ. It gathers the whole course, joining the deacon's ministry of care to the building of homes, and points marriages, parents, and children to the love of Christ that alone makes a house a Christian home.

1.The Christian Household

God has designed the family to be more than a group of people living under one roof; He means the Christian home to be a place where He is honored and where love reigns — a little community of grace. The home is one of God's good gifts, and when it is shaped by the gospel it becomes a place of great blessing, both to those who dwell in it and to the world around it. William Kingston, in a book he called The Christian Home, sought to help believers build such homes. What makes a home truly Christian is not merely that it is orderly, or respectable, or well-managed, but that it is filled with the love and grace of Christ. We have already seen that the home is meant to be a place of worship, where a family seeks God together. Now we ask how such a home is built up and strengthened — how marriages, parents, and children may be knit together into a household that honors Christ. And the answer, as we shall see, lies not chiefly in rules or authority, but in love, in grace, and in example, all resting on Christ Himself. This is the crown of a ministry to families: to help build homes that are truly Christian.

2.Built by Love, Not Merely Authority

A truly Christian home is built and held together, first of all, not by authority, rules, or force, but by love. Jonathan Edwards taught that love is the fountain from which all the other graces flow; and this is nowhere more true than in the home. A household governed by cold authority alone, or held together by harsh command and fear, is not the home God desires, however outwardly orderly it may appear. Now, order and loving guidance certainly have their place in a family, and children need direction. But we must be careful here. Some voices of the past, in their concern for family order, stressed authority and government so heavily that the home could become a place of stern rule. Gorham Abbott's older writing on the family, for instance, though containing much that is earnest and useful, reflects a time that leaned hard on strict authority; and we do well to read such counsel with discernment, taking the wisdom while leaving behind anything harsh or domineering. For the home God desires is built not by heavy-handed control but by love — warm, patient, self-giving love, after the pattern of Christ, who leads His people not as a harsh master but as a loving Lord. Love, not force, is what truly builds and holds a Christian home together.

3.The Power of Example

More powerful than any words or rules in shaping a home is the quiet force of example. Children and family members learn far more from what they see lived out before them than from what they are merely told. A parent may give many instructions, but it is the life the parent actually lives — the love, the honesty, the patience, the faith, or the lack of these — that shapes the children most deeply. This is a searching truth for all who would build a Christian home. Those who would raise godly children must themselves walk with God; those who would teach love and kindness must themselves show it; those who would pass on faith must themselves live it. It is of little use to command what we do not practice, for children see the difference at once. So a Christian home is built, in great part, by parents and elders living out before the family the very faith, love, and character they hope to pass on. The example of a mother's patience, a father's tenderness, a household's daily kindness and honesty, teaches more than a hundred lectures. To build a Christian home, then, we must first seek to be, ourselves, what we wish our homes to become; for we teach most powerfully by what we are.

4.Strengthening Marriages

The foundation of a household is very often the marriage at its heart, and so strong Christian homes are built upon marriages marked by love, faithfulness, honor, and mutual self-giving. Scripture sets before husbands and wives a high and beautiful calling. Husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church — that is, sacrificially, tenderly, giving themselves for her good, never harshly or domineeringly, but with the self-forgetting love that Christ showed in laying down His life. Husbands and wives alike are to honor, cherish, and bear with one another, in patience, kindness, and forgiveness. A marriage held together by such Christlike love, mutual respect, and grace becomes the strong and stable foundation on which a Christian home is built. Where the marriage is marked by love and honor, the whole household is blessed; where it is cold, harsh, or divided, the home suffers. So the strengthening of marriages is central to the building of Christian homes. Husbands and wives who love one another as Christ has loved them, who forgive as they have been forgiven, and who honor one another in the ordinary things of daily life, lay a foundation of love on which a whole family may be built and flourish.

5.Raising Children in Grace and Gentleness

When it comes to children, Scripture gives both a charge and a caution, and the two must be held together. Parents are charged to bring up their children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord — to teach them, guide them, and lovingly correct them in the ways of God. But alongside this charge comes a clear caution: fathers, and parents, are warned not to provoke their children to anger, nor to exasperate them, lest they become discouraged. Here Scripture itself guards against harshness. Children are not to be raised by anger, severity, or heavy-handed control, which only embitter and discourage them, but with grace, gentleness, patience, and love, joined to loving guidance and instruction. We do teach and correct our children — that is part of love — but always in a way that builds them up rather than crushing them, that draws rather than drives, that reflects the kindness of God. For consider how God Himself deals with us, His children: not with harsh severity, but with patience, gentleness, and grace, correcting us in love and bearing long with our weakness. So we are to deal with our own children. A home that raises its children in grace and gentleness, rather than in harshness and fear, is building them up in the love of Christ; and such children are far more likely to love the God they have seen so gently reflected in their parents.

6.A Home Marked by Grace

The whole atmosphere of a Christian home should be one of grace. Because every family is made up of sinners, homes will have their failures, frictions, and conflicts; no household is perfect, and none is free of fault. What makes a home truly Christian, then, is not that it never fails, but that it is marked by grace — by ready forgiveness, patient bearing with one another, kindness in the ordinary things, and a love that covers a multitude of sins. In a home shaped by grace, wrongs are forgiven rather than stored up; weaknesses are borne with patience rather than thrown in one another's faces; and kindness, not sharpness, is the common tone. This is simply the grace of God, which we have received in Christ, now flowing out among those we live with most closely. A home ruled instead by harsh judgment, grudge-keeping, and constant criticism is a wearying and wounding place; but a home marked by grace is a place of refuge and healing. So we seek to fill our homes with the same grace God has shown us — forgiving as we have been forgiven, bearing with one another as Christ bears with us, and letting kindness and patience set the tone of the household. Grace, freely given, makes a home a place where love can grow.

7.The Household's Witness and the Church's Help

A Christian home built on love, grace, and example becomes a powerful witness. To the children raised within it, such a home commends the faith more persuasively than any argument; to neighbors and to a watching world, a household marked by genuine love and grace shines as a light, showing what the gospel does. Homes like these are among the church's brightest testimonies. And here the ministry we have considered throughout this course comes full circle. For the church helps to build such households — the deacon and the caring members come alongside families, support struggling marriages and weary parents, care for the needy home, visit and know each household, and encourage all in love. The building of Christian homes is not a task left to families alone, but a work the whole church shares, through its ministry of care, visitation, and help. So the deacon's service and the strengthening of homes are joined together: as the church cares for its families with the love of Christ, it helps to build homes that are themselves marked by that same love. In this way the ministry to families and the ministry of the deacon meet, each serving the good of the household and the glory of Christ.

8.Capstone: Christ, the Foundation of the Home

There remains the deepest truth of all, and with it we gather the whole of this course. Every Christian household, to be truly and lastingly built, must be built upon Christ Himself. Unless the Lord builds the house, Scripture says, they labor in vain who build it; and the house built upon the rock of Christ and His word is the one that stands when the storms come, while the house built on sand falls. Christ is the sure foundation on which alone a home can stand. He is the source of the love that builds the home, the example we follow, the grace that fills it, and the Lord it honors. Let us gather together all we have seen. The deacon's humble service, the loving care of the needy, the knowing and visiting of the flock, the worship of God in the home, and the building of households in love, grace, and example — all of these serve one great end: that homes, and the whole church, may be built on Christ and filled with His love. A home built on Christ, and marked by love, grace, and example rather than by harsh authority, is a home that stands firm, blesses those within it, and shines before the world. To Him — the Servant Lord who came not to be served but to serve, and the sure Foundation on whom every true home is built — we bring our households, our ministry of care, and our very selves; for apart from Him we can do nothing, but built on Him, our homes and our service will stand and bear fruit to His glory.

9.Taking It to Heart

For reflection. Is your home being built chiefly by love, grace, and example, or by rules and authority alone? In your marriage, do you love and honor as Christ has loved — sacrificially and tenderly, never harshly? Do you raise your children in grace and gentleness, careful not to provoke or discourage them, reflecting the patient kindness of God? Is your home marked by ready forgiveness and grace rather than harsh judgment? And is your household — and your whole ministry of care to others — built on Christ Himself, the Servant Lord and the sure Foundation, without whom we build in vain, but on whom every true Christian home will stand?

Select

Record your reading

When you have read your three chosen readings in full, enter your name and affirm it below. This record is kept on your honor, in this browser; it shows on your certificate as with honors.

Your name

On my honor, I have read in full the three readings I selected above.

✓ Recorded — this class counts toward your With Honors progress. Reading With Honors ↗

Honors Reading — recorded

affirmed on to have read, in full:

Chapala Theological Seminary · Deacon Family Ministry Plan · present or print this page as your honors reading record.

Further Study: Ten Public-Domain Works

These ten works are for further study, for the student who wants to go on reading. They are not part of the honors reading above: that stays as it is — the five CTS digests, any three read in full and recorded on your honor. All ten are in the public domain; each link opens the work online, and most can also be found in the Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg. Most are in English: the Chrome browser can translate a page (right-click, “Translate to…”; on a phone, the browser menu).

The Servant Office · Origins of the Diaconate

1. The Christian Ministry

J. B. Lightfoot · 1868

Lightfoot's renowned essay traces the origin and development of the offices of the Christian church — including the diaconate, born in Acts to see that no one in the family of God was overlooked. It is the ideal foundation for the course's units on the biblical roots and history of the deacon's office, showing with careful scholarship that the servant-ministry of the deacon is no modern invention but reaches back to the apostles themselves, and to the Lord who came not to be served but to serve.

Open reading ↗

Character First · The Servant's Godliness

2. The Christian Ministry

Charles Bridges · 1830

Bridges' classic examines the character, the calling, and the faithful work of those who minister to God's people — with a searching emphasis on personal godliness as the root of all fruitful service. Though written for pastors, it speaks directly to the course's unit on the qualifications and character of deacons, for the servant of the church must first be a servant of Christ; and few books press home more helpfully that what we are, before God, matters even more than what we do.

Open reading ↗

Care by Districts · The Forerunner of the Plan

3. The Christian and Civic Economy of Large Towns

Thomas Chalmers · 1821

Chalmers pioneered a system in which a town was divided into small districts, each entrusted to a visitor who came to know and care for every family in it — a striking forerunner of the very plan this course teaches. It richly serves the units on the vision of the plan and the assigning of families, showing from real experience how the whole of a community can be personally reached when caring people each take responsibility for a manageable few. It is the old wisdom behind the modern plan.

Open reading ↗

At the Door · Personal Visitation

4. A Pastor's Sketches

Ichabod Spencer · 1850

Spencer's unforgettable book records his own visits to people in their homes, and the honest, searching conversations by which he helped anxious souls toward Christ. It is a vivid companion to the course's units on visitation and on discipleship and evangelism within families, showing what actually happens in the doorway and at the kitchen table when a caring servant of God sits down with real people and speaks with them, wisely and lovingly, about their souls. It teaches by example what no manual can.

Open reading ↗

Winning the Family · The Soul-Winner's Heart

5. Words to Winners of Souls

Horatius Bonar · 1860

In this short and stirring book Bonar calls those who would win souls to a life of earnestness, prayer, and holy love, searching the heart of the worker as much as describing the work. It speaks directly to the course's unit on evangelism within the families a deacon serves, reminding him that to bring even one soul to Christ is worth any labor, and that the great secret of fruitfulness is not method but a heart set on fire by God for the eternal good of the people in his care.

Open reading ↗

Understanding Families · The Christian Home

6. Home-Making

J. R. Miller · 1882

Miller's warm and wise book on the Christian home — on marriage, parents and children, and the daily building of a household of faith — helps the reader understand the very families he is called to serve. It complements the course's units on assigning and ministering to families, for a deacon cares best for homes he truly understands; and its gentle counsel equips him to encourage, strengthen, and pray for the households in his charge with real insight into the joys and burdens they carry.

Open reading ↗

Comfort in Crisis · Consolation in Sorrow

7. God's Light on Dark Clouds

Theodore L. Cuyler · 1882

Cuyler, who knew deep sorrow himself, wrote this tender book to bring God's comfort to those passing through grief and affliction. It is the ideal companion to the course's unit on ministry in times of crisis, for a deacon will often be called to sit with families in their darkest hours; and here he learns not clever words but the true consolations of God — the promises, the presence, and the hope that alone can carry a suffering heart through the night until the morning comes.

Open reading ↗

Consecrated Service · A Life Given to God

8. Kept for the Master's Use

Frances Ridley Havergal · 1879

Havergal's beloved little book takes up the surrender of the whole life to God — hands, voice, time, and will — that every part might be kept for the Master's use. It speaks to the course's unit on the character of a deacon, whose ministry flows only from a consecrated heart; and it gently searches whether we have truly given ourselves, and all we have, to the One we serve. It is a book to prepare the soul for a lifetime of glad and humble service.

Open reading ↗

The Heart of It All · Love

9. The Greatest Thing in the World

Henry Drummond · 1887

Drummond's famous address on First Corinthians thirteen unfolds Christian love as the greatest thing of all — the one gift without which every service is empty, and with which the humblest act becomes eternal. It speaks to the heart of the whole course, for the Deacon Family Ministry Plan is finally a plan for love: patient, kind, unselfish, enduring. Read it to be reminded that families are not cared for by programs but by people who love them, as Christ has loved us.

Open reading ↗

Knowing Your People · A Life Among Them

10. The Country Parson

George Herbert · 1652

Herbert's gentle classic paints the picture of a faithful minister who knows every family in his care, visits their homes, shares their troubles, and serves them in a hundred humble, practical ways. Though it describes a country parson, it is a lovely model for the course's vision of personal, family-by-family ministry, showing a life so woven into the lives of ordinary people that his care becomes, to them, a picture of the care of God. It is a portrait of exactly the heart this plan seeks to form.

Open reading ↗

Honor attestation: By selecting three readings above, you affirm that you have read those three digests in full. The digests are CTS-authored summaries that may include brief excerpts or adaptations of public-domain works.