[Mad Dawg]

I would venture to characterize our thinking as sometimes a kind of "settling out" of revelation and sometimes an "unfolding". With respect to holy orders it is (we think) as though a number of polities were tried and different orders came and went, but there was a general "settling out" of three ordained orders, bishop, priest, and deacon (like you didn't know that already) with functions that were defined over time.

In the early days things wee not so defined or, comparatively, crisp. But elders as sort of sub-apostles to the successors to the apostles, the over-seers, and deacons as administrative4 assistants with an emphasis on the "social welfare" of Christians seems to have been worked out by, say, the third century, if not before.

[Chaguito]

It's another of those, "I wonder why it needed to be changed?" questions for me. Some Christian churches have a multiplicity of elders, no "bishops" (in the modern use) whatever, and the elders are the pastors of the congregation. Allowing for the fallenness of man, the system actually works pretty well, with a good deal of doctrinal unity among congregations and no central authority. The NT model can work in this area of leadership. BTW, your definition of the work of deacon has recently been "re-discovered" by these congregations. Thanks for your response.