Deacon (Latter Day Saints)

The office of deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the lowest office in the Aaronic Priesthood.

Deacons in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today

Young men are ordained a deacon and given the Aaronic Priesthood if they are faithful at the age of twelve. They interview with the Bishop to determine their worthiness. Someone who holds the office of priest in the Aaronic Priesthood, or holds the Melchizedek Priesthood is able to perform the ordinance under the direction of the bishop or branch president. Other priesthood holders of the appropriate authority may join in the ordinance.

Deacons are organized in quorums. The Doctrine and Covenants state that the quorums can contain no more that twelve members. In some large wards, this means that there may be two or three deacon quorums. A president, first counselor, second counselor, and secretary are called by the bishopric and set apart in their respective roles. The president and two counselors comprise the deacon quorum presidency. The president is given priesthood keys to officiate in his office.

The duties of a deacon are to assist the priests in taking care of the temporal needs of the Church, and "to warn, expound, exhort, and teach, and invite all to come unto Christ" [1]. Modernly, one of their duties is to assist the priests by passing the sacrament in sacrament meeting. They also collect fast offerings from the members on fast Sunday, and are the only ones aside from the Bishopric that are allowed to handle the monies of the Church. A deacon may often sit beside the bishopric during sacrament meeting to act as a bishop's messenger.

Because of the close integration between the church and the Boy Scouts of America, being a deacon means that the boy also probably become active in scouting. It is during this time that the boys usually obtain their first ranks in scouting and become familiar with the activities of camping, first aid, and other basic skills.

An advisor is called to the deacons quorum. Although he is an advisor, he generally ends up leading the quorum due to the inexperience of the deacon quorum presidency. Sometimes an assistant advisor is called to assist.

When the young man reaches the age of 14 he is usually ordained, if found worthy, a teacher. Regardless of worthiness, the boy is integrated culturally into the teacher's quorum.