Deacons: A Separate and Complete Order

I spent the last day in June at the Day for the Deacons – our annual deacon retreat in Big Rapids. There were six deacons present. One of the things we talked about was how the deacon’s role in the Church is unique and separate from priestly ministry.

I feel strongly that deacons need to be treated as a separate and complete order. Currently, the Episcopal Church, as part of the priestly ordination process, ordains future priests following their graduation from seminary to the transitional diaconate, but I have always supported direct ordination to the priesthood. 

Deacons are not junior priests, and ordaining future priests to the transitional diaconate only serves to confuse people about the important ministry of true deacons, who are not on their way to priesthood.

The diaconate is also called “The Servanthood.” While we are all called to serve, deacons are called to get the church off its butt and do something to alleviate the plight of the marginalized.

Unlike priests, deacons are not called to represent Christ at the altar or gather community around them. They are clergy, yes, but they are called to be a stone in the shoe of the church, an irritant that won’t go away, that mobilizes the church on behalf of the poor, oppressed, disenfranchised, sick – all of those whose voices are not predominant in our society.

Deacons who focus on their calling are one of the greatest gifts to the Church.

Ellie was a deacon in one of my parishes at the height of the AIDS scare in the 1980s, the time after the disease was discovered but no one knew how it was transmitted. She started a ministry for people dying of AIDS. At the time, those dying people were truly disenfranchised; their families had rejected them, and people were afraid of them, wouldn’t even touch them. Ellie mobilized our church to respond to the great need of being with those who were dying. In the process, she opened up our parish to accept people who were HIV-positive and their kids, some of whom were also HIV-positive.

The impact of Ellie’s work didn’t hit me until one Sunday when a young HIV-positive woman with two HIV-positive children tearfully thanked our congregation for accepting her and her children. When she walked down from the pulpit, the congregation rose and embraced her. It’s one of the most powerful moments I’ve witnessed in the Christian community. The Kingdom of God was present in the moment of that congregational embrace.

This illustrates how deacons have the power to transform the church.

Maybe God is calling you to serve Christ and his church in this way.

Deacons work directly under the authority of the Bishop and are expected to go where needed. People called to stay in their own parishes are not called to be deacons, but instead to active lay ministry, which is also needed and important. Bishops, however, assign deacons to ministry, and deacons willingly go where needed.

If you would like more information about becoming a deacon, contact our Archdeacon, The Venerable Christine Tillman. Her email address is christine.tillman@sbcglobal.net.