What is the role of the Deacon in a Presbyterian church then? In Baptists churches, we tend to see them as handling the financial and physical requirements of the church building and maintenance, but not involved in spiritual direction and leadership.I don't agree with your distinction. While we all submit to one another in love, the authority of a deacon is devolved from the elders, per BOCO and as exemplified in Acts 6. (The apostles appointed deacons to take care of one of their tasks, caring for widows.) And PCA churches already install deacons, using the same language as ordination. Or at least one that I've seen.