The survey is an attempt to identify and systematically reconstruct the main line of the discussions on diakonia within the ecumenical movement, using the paradigm-analysis model suggested by Thomas Kuhn and applied to the ecumenical movement by Konrad Raiser. The subheadings indicate the key words which mediate in the successive periods between the theological concepts of that time and the actual situation. During the 1980s it became obvious that the ongoing paradigm-shift calls for an innovative change of concepts.