The New Testament account in Acts of the Apostles describing the appointment of seven men to distribute food fairly among the early Jerusalem community's widows is traditionally read as the origin of the diaconate, and it fixed charitable administration as one of the office's defining tasks long before its later, more narrowly liturgical role took shape. In the early centuries of the church, deacons in major sees such as Rome commonly managed the bishop's charitable funds and the practical care of the poor, sick, and imprisoned within their assigned district of the city, work that gave some deacons, most famously in Rome, a degree of practical influence that could rival that of the presbyters.
Orthodox tradition still names this charitable dimension alongside the liturgical one when explaining the diaconate's purpose, even though, in most parishes today, a deacon's visible role centers on chanting the litanies and assisting at the altar rather than on directly administering charitable funds. The restoration of a more active diaconal ministry of service, alongside the liturgical one, remains a live topic of discussion within contemporary Orthodox pastoral thought, with some parishes and dioceses experimenting with deacons taking a more visible hand in organized charitable work while the office's everyday public face, in most places, stays firmly liturgical.