And then thirdly we talked about outreach. The deacons in Acts 6:1–15 had this function as evangelists. We see that as the deacons begin doing their ministry, what results in that is that people are converted and people come to the church, and the church grows as the deacons are doing the work of ministry. When we talk about the deacons doing outreach, we are not saying that the deacons are imposing something that belongs to the office of the elder. We are not saying that they are functioning as elders out there. But what we are saying is that part of the work of the diaconate includes the organization of functions where the ministry of the Word would be able to go forth.1
Nathan Eshelman
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.