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Japanese Yes, as long as his church allows it and the law of the state where the wedding takes place recognizes him. In the United States each state decides who may legally conduct a marriage, and states generally authorize ministers. Baptist churches govern themselves, so each congregation decides whether its own deacons may lead a wedding.
A deacon comes to that day as a servant of his church. The office goes back to the seven men the church in Jerusalem chose, men “of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom,” so that the apostles could devote themselves “to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:3–4). When a congregation asks one of its deacons to stand with a couple as they marry, it sends one of its servants to help a new household begin.
Who decides whether a deacon can officiate at a wedding?
The state does. A wedding is a religious ceremony for many couples, but the marriage license is a legal document, and only someone the law authorizes can solemnize the marriage and sign it. The Southern Baptist Convention gives this answer to ministers who ask whether they may perform weddings: “In American law, marriage is regulated by the states,” and “states generally allow ministers to officiate over wedding ceremonies.” It advises checking with the county clerk in the county where the wedding will take place.
State laws are worded differently, and the wording decides a deacon’s case. The Texas Family Code authorizes “a licensed or ordained Christian minister or priest” and also “a person who is an officer of a religious organization and who is authorized by the organization to conduct a marriage ceremony” (section 2.202). The second clause can cover a Baptist deacon, since he holds one of his church’s two offices, if the church has authorized him to conduct weddings. Conducting a ceremony without authorization is a Class A misdemeanor in Texas. Florida law allows “regularly ordained ministers of the gospel or elders in communion with some church, or other ordained clergy,” as well as judicial officers, clerks of the circuit courts and notaries public (section 741.07). A Florida deacon who is also a notary public can therefore solemnize a marriage in that capacity.
A couple may also choose a civil ceremony, conducted by a judge or another official, and have a pastor or deacon lead prayers or give a blessing without signing the license.
What do Baptist churches say about deacons leading weddings?
Baptists have no central body that sets the rule. The Baptist Faith and Message, the confession of the Southern Baptist Convention, describes each church as “an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers” that “operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes.” It names two offices: “Its two scriptural offices are that of pastor/elder/overseer and deacon.” The Convention also states that it “neither ordains nor ‘recognizes’ ordination”; each church decides whether to ordain anyone, including its deacons.
Baptists take the office of deacon from Acts 6, where the apostles asked the church in Jerusalem to “pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom,” so that the apostles could devote themselves “to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:3–4). Deacons are chosen to serve the congregation and to support the pastor. Baptists also hold that no special priesthood is needed to lead the church’s ordinances. A Baptist history resource puts it this way: “Although normally the pastor of a church baptizes and presides at the Lord’s Supper, any member designated by the church could do so.” The same principle leaves weddings to the local church. A church may ask its pastor to officiate or may authorize a deacon, and the state decides whether that authorization is enough in law.
Can deacons be married?
Yes. The New Testament expects many deacons to be married. Paul’s list of their qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 reads: “Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain” (verse 8), and “Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well” (verse 12). The Greek phrase in verse 12, mias gynaikos andres, means literally “men of one woman,” which is why some translations render it “one-woman man.” Verse 11 addresses “their wives,” a word that can also be translated “women.”
Can a divorced man be a Baptist deacon?
Baptist churches answer this differently, and the phrase “the husband of one wife” is the reason. The Southern Baptist Convention describes three readings of it. All agree that it rules out a man with more than one wife at the same time. The second reading holds that a divorced man is disqualified; the Convention calls this “the dominant interpretation by Baptists in the nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century.” The third, which gained wider acceptance in the late twentieth century, takes the phrase to describe a man’s present character, “a ‘one-woman kind of man,’” so that churches weigh the circumstances of a divorce, whether it came before or after his conversion, and his faithfulness in marriage since. Those who hold this view point to the exception Jesus made for sexual immorality in his teaching on divorce (Matthew 19:9).
The Convention’s conclusion is that “there is no single ‘Baptist’ position on this issue.” Each church decides for itself how to apply the qualification to its deacons and pastors.
Can a Catholic deacon marry a couple?
Yes. In the Catholic Church a deacon is an ordained minister, and he can officiate at a wedding when the pastor or the local bishop delegates him to do so. Canon law requires a Catholic marriage to be contracted before “the local ordinary, pastor, or a priest or deacon delegated by either of them,” and two witnesses (canon 1108). The delegation must be given to a specific person, and a general delegation must be in writing (canon 1111).
A deacon cannot celebrate Mass, which only a priest can do (canon 900), so a wedding within a Nuptial Mass needs a priest to celebrate the Mass. A marriage between Catholics, or between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic, is normally celebrated in a parish church; the pastor or local bishop can permit another church, and the local bishop can permit another suitable place (canon 1118). A marriage between a Catholic and an unbaptized person can be celebrated in a church or another suitable place.
Can Catholic deacons be married?
A married man can be ordained a permanent deacon, but an ordained deacon cannot marry. Canon law admits a married candidate to the permanent diaconate at 35 or older and “with the consent of his wife” (canon 1031). An unmarried candidate, and every man preparing for the priesthood, must promise celibacy before ordination as a deacon (canon 1037). After ordination, “those in sacred orders invalidly attempt marriage” (canon 1087).
If a married deacon’s wife dies, he may remarry only with a dispensation from the Holy See. Under a 1997 circular letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship, the dispensation is granted only for one of three reasons: his ministry is of great and proven use to his diocese, he has young children who need a mother’s care, or he has elderly parents or parents-in-law who need care.
Baptist or Catholic, a deacon’s own home is part of his service. Paul asked for men “managing their children and their own households well” (1 Timothy 3:12), and a deacon who leads a wedding is helping two people start the very thing he was asked to keep.
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