A servant, a minister. 1. In ecclesiastical polity, a deacon is one of the lowest of the three orders of the clergy. He is rather a novitiate, or in a state of probation for one year, after which he is admitted into full orders, or ordained a priest. 2. In the New Testament the word is used for any one that ministers in the service of God: bishops and presbyters are also styled deacons; but more particularly and generally it is understood of the lowest order of ministering servants in the church, 1 Corinthians 3:5 . Colossians 1:23; Colossians 1:25 . Philippians 1:1 . 1 Timothy 3:1-16 : The office of deacon originally was to serve tables, the Lord's table, the minister's table, and the poor's table. They took care of the secular affairs of the church, received and disbursed monies, kept the church's accounts, and provided every thing necessary for its temporal good. Thus, while the bishop attended to the souls, the deacons attended to the bodies of the people: the pastor to the spiritual, and the deacons the temporal interests of the church, Acts 6:1-15 :