The Diaconate

by the Rev. D. Susanne Watson Epting

The history of the diaconate in the Episcopal Church is well documented in Ormonde Plater’s book entitled Many Servants.  Plater traces the evolution of the diaconate in The Episcopal Church from the mid 19th century, including missionary deacons who served from the 1840’s through the 1930’s, deaconesses who served from the mid 1860’s to the 1970’s (and beyond, though this form of diaconal ministry gave way to the diaconate as we know it now), the male perpetual deacons who were ordained between 1952 and 1970, and finally what he terms “modern deacons,” who have been ordained since 1970.   There are currently more than 2700 deacons in the Episcopal Church.  In the nearly twenty-five years since the ordination service for deacons was revised in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer,  The Episcopal Church has begun to live ever more completely into this description of the diaconate found in The Examination:

“My brother/sister, every Christian is called to follow Jesus Christ, serving God the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  God now calls you to a special ministry of servanthood directly under your bishop.  In the name of Jesus Christ, you are to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely.

As a deacon in the Church, you are to study the Holy Scriptures, to seek nourishment from them, and to model your life upon them.  You are to make Christ and his redemptive love known, by your word and example to those among whom you live, and work, and worship.  You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world.  You are to assist the bishop and priests in public worship and in the ministration of God’s Word and Sacraments, and you are to carry out other duties assigned to you from time to time.  At all times, you life and teaching are to show Christ’s people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself.” (BCP, page 543)   

The following phrases from the Examination deserve special comment:

“a special ministry of servanthood directly under your bishop” –  The historic link between the ministry of the bishop and the ministry of deacons is a source of both bane and blessing.  It would indeed be good to know what the authors of the revised BCP had in mind here.  Plater has suggested that this is a modern version of the statement of Hippolytus that deacons are ‘ordained not to the priesthood but to the diakonia of the bishop.’   Others might speculate that, in addition to such an interpretation, liturgical reformers saw this as a way to ensure the diaconate as a “full and equal order.”   When the relationships are good and communication lines open the deacon can indeed serve as eyes and ears for the bishop in particular areas.  In turn, the deacon’s ministry can be enhanced by episcopal support and encouragement.  .

“you are to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely” – This phrase also reflects a traditional understanding of the diaconate.  For those who remember deaconesses, or who know of them from other denominations, this charge is recognizable and one that every deacon identifies with at very deep levels.  In the United States, deacons are engaged in countless ministries with those who, for whatever reason, find themselves on the margins of the church and of society.  Deacons are at work in feeding programs, clinics, refugee resettlement, advocacy, special education, affordable house programs and countless other social ministries.  They also ask God’s people to join them and affirm the work that is already going on in the congregation.

“you are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world” – This phrase is one that bears significant commentary, some of which includes the relationship in a deacon’s life between serving those on the margins, and interacting with God’s people inside the church’s walls.  As mentioned, early in the restoration of the diaconate in the Episcopal Church, one of the questions asked of candidates was, “What is your diaconal ministry?”  Commissions on ministry, vestries, bishops and members of the congregation would all ask that question.  What they wanted to hear were answers like, “Prison ministry,” or “Anti-racism education,” or some other identifiable social ministry.  What they did not expect to hear, however, was “To serve as interpreter and prophetic voice to the church,” or “To expand the meaning of our baptismal covenant, especially in striving for justice and peace and respecting the dignity of every human being.” (BCP 305)

In other words we ordain deacons not to a particular form of diaconal ministry that will last throughout their vocation in the church.  We ordain deacons because we believe it is important to acknowledge the servant nature of Christ’s church, and we believe it is important for people to come, from within our midst, to remind us of that and to affirm the diaconal ministry in which others are engaged.

Those reminders often come in the form of active social ministry, through invitations to others to take part in that ministry, through preaching, teaching (particularly about advocacy and how to recognize the gifts of all people).  Those reminders may come through the affirmation and recognition of those engaged in diaconal ministry (lay and ordained) both inside and outside the church’s walls, through the training and debriefing of Eucharistic Visitors, through creating and teaching about the Prayers of the People, and by being present in the liturgy as the very reminder of Christ’s foundational call to service.

“you are to assist the bishop and priests in public worship” As Plater writes, “In the Eucharistic liturgy the meaning of deacons can be found in four activities, each reflecting diaconal ministry that goes on in the wider life of the church:

1) Gospel.  A deacon proclaims the liturgical gospel, as a messenger or herald, an angel who brings good news to the poor…
2) Intercessions.  A deacon leads the prayers of intercession. . . .mediating between those in need in the church and the world and those Christian people who, through prayer and action, care for those in need… Deacons are the normal leaders, but it is increasingly common to share roles and for a deacon and one or two others to form a leadership team [for the writing of and praying of the intercessions].
3) Table.  Deacons attend the presider and the people at the eucharistic banquet…By doing the necessary, practical activity of waiting, the deacons enable the others to offer their gifts and prayer of thanksgiving, thus acting out their royal priesthood, and make it possible for them to eat and drink reverently and prayerfully.
4) Master of Ceremonies.  [While this practice varies from place to place] deacons make sure that the proclamation of the word of God and the banquet of the fellowship take place smoothly.” 

The deacon also dismisses the people, sending them forth refreshed and renewed, for service in the world and to fulfill their Baptismal Covenant.

“you are to carry out other duties” – This very broad and open-ended charge may provide opportunity to comment on certain developing trends and issues for the diaconate in The Episcopal Church.  One of these has to do with servant leadership in addition to the more conventional understanding of diaconal servanthood. 

Along with ongoing liturgical renewal and living into the 1979 revision of the Book of Common Prayer, the Episcopal Church has begun to see the absolute centrality of Baptism and to move toward a fuller baptismal theology and ecclesiology.  In places where dioceses and congregations have accepted a theology of ministry rooted in baptism, we have begun to see new models of ministry.  This may be one of the reasons that servant leadership, or understanding deacons as “animators” and “developers” of diaconal ministry has become very important.  This type of leadership is further exemplified as deacons preach and teach within the congregation.  They not only lead others to identify and engage in social ministry, they also teach about advocacy, about true friendship with the poor, and can often be leaders, with others, in expanding the mission of the congregation.

“(you are) to show Christ’s people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself” – Once again this reinforces the interpretive and prophetic role of the deacon is called to play in the larger church.  Perhaps another unanticipated “broadening” of this charge is the fact that, in many places, deacons are often demonstrating and articulating that “the helpless” and “the needy,” really have many gifts to offer to the body of Christ and the world around them, and that the church need not reach “down,” so much as “out,” to the world around it.