The The Church as diaconia. One view of the Reformed understanding of diaconia

Authors

• Mariano Avila
• Esko Ryökäs

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37448/dt.84771

Abstract

The Church of John Calvin in Geneva is nowadays known as the beginning of the Reformed Church tradition. When we strive a general description of the central elements of the reformed view of deacons and their tasks of today (diaconia), which is the goal of this article, we have it difficult to define an adequate source for this information. In this article, we analyze the way of diaconal thinking, presented in the modern documents of one very mainstream Church in USA and Canada: The Christian Reformed Church in North America. As a result, we see how the Calvinistic way of understanding the Gospel lead to an understanding of the Church as Diaconia. However, there is some dogmatical tension, too.