(b) _The Church of England._--The traditionary position of the diaconate as one of the "three orders" is here maintained. Deacons may conduct any of the ordinary services in the church, but are not permitted to pronounce the absolution or consecrate the elements for the Eucharist. In practice the office has become a stepping-stone to the priesthood, the deacon corresponding to the licentiate in the Presbyterian Church. Candidates for the office must have attained the age of twenty-three and must satisfy the bishop with regard to their intellectual, moral and spiritual fitness. The functions of the office are defined in the Ordinal--"to assist the priest in divine service and specially when he ministereth the Holy Communion, to read Holy Scriptures and Homilies in the church, to instruct the youth in the catechism, to baptize in the absence of the priest, to preach if he be admitted thereto by the bishop, and furthermore to search for the sick, poor and impotent people and intimate their estates and names to the curate."
(c) _Churches of the Congregational Order._--In these (which of course include Baptists) the diaconate is a body of laymen appointed by the members of the church to act as a management committee and to assist the minister in the work of the church. There is no general rule as to the number of deacons, though the traditionary number of seven is often kept, nor as to the frequency of election, each church making its own arrangements in this respect. The deacons superintend the financial affairs of the church, co-operate with the minister in the various branches of his work, assist in the visitation of the sick, attend to the church property and generally supervise the activities of the church.
See Thomassinus, _Vetus ac nova disciplina_, pars i. lib. i. c. 51 f. and lib. ii. c. 29 f. (Lugdunum, 1706); J. N. Seidl, _Der Diakonat in der katholischen Kirche_ (Regensburg, 1884); R. Sohm, _Kirchenrecht_, i. 121-137 (Leipzig, 1892); F. J. A. Hort, _The Christian Ecclesia_ (London, 1897).