Diakonia in the Classical Reformed Tradition and Today

This book begins by posing a major problem facing the church today: What is the relationship between religious faith and social concern? How is Sunday connected to the rest of the week? Should the church care only about charity, or does it also have a responsibility for justice? Elsie McKee believes that history plays a significant role in explaining the church's sometimes-weak service to the world; she also believes that an adequate understanding of history can illuminate and guide current practice. Her Diakonia in the Classical Reformed Tradition and Today contains a wealth of historical material inviting contemporary application. After outlining the historical, theological, and social context that birthed and nurtured the Protestant understanding of service to others, McKee homes in on classical Reformed teaching regarding the diaconate. She focuses on the New Testament passages underlying John Calvin's thought and comments concisely but revealing on the place Calvin accorded to women in the church. While concentrating on the sixteenth century, the book also outlines some of the high points and difficulties in Protestant, especially Reformed, diaconal work from Calvin;s day to ours. McKee briefly discusses Diakonia in today's ecumenical church and finally suggests some practical ways in which the insights learned from history may be profitably adapted to the diaconal ministry of the church in the late twentieth century. This "popular" treatment of the Reformed diaconate is based on McKee's considerable research in that area. Ministers, educational laypersons, seminary students, Christian social workers, denominational leaders, women seeking to use their gifts more fully, and church officeholders - elders as well as deacons - will all benefit from this book.