Very much time effort and words has been devoted recently to trying to to nail down and explain what Deacons do (because Deacons struggle to do this themselves and because others need to define such things).
Most recently the work of John Collins is being looked at again to try and better define the ministry or diakonia of Deacons.
In a nut shell (as I understand it) Collins' position is that Diakonia has been high-jacked and pigeon holed by linking it closely with the act of loving service of our Lord Jesus when he washed his friends feet and that act only, when in fact every action of Christ was diakonia, was service, was ministry. Collins believes (and I believe rightly) that based on this, Deacons are servants in a much broader understanding of the term.
A servant does not wait tables because that is all that servants do. A servant does not deliver messages because they are only messengers. A servant does not run a household because house management is the sole duty of the servant. No, a servant undertakes many and varied tasks because they have been sent by their master to do so.
And so the true defining aspect of a Deacon is that they have been sent to serve, they have been given a set task to do. It is not the task itself which defines them, it is the fact that they were sent.
Deacon Eunice Attwood described it this way. Deacons are like fruit in a bowl, you do not take a banana from the bowl to make an apple pie, because it wouldn't work. They are all fruit but the have specific uses.
Unique in action but united in identity.
In Methodism at least the Diaconate is growing. 13 candidates accepted this year, 31 in training and 121 active Deacons in service.
In the Anglican Church more and more are feeling called to a permanent Diaconate.
The Nazarene Church is seeing an increase in those called to Diaconal ministry (a bi vocational ministry where they serve the church alongside their regular work)
It would appear that God is calling more and more Deacons, so the question is why? What diakonia, what ministry are they being called to do?
(apologies for all the mini paragraphs but grammar and punctuation are not friends of mine)
One attempt I once heard to find the distinction between the Presbyterate and the Diaconate stated that it came down to focus. Of course both orders of ministry are concerned with those outside the church and inside the church but it could be said that where a Presbyters primary focus was on the 99 sheep in the church and the Deacon goes off in search of that lost sheep.
As flawed a metaphor as this is, on Sunday I chose to go off on a sheep hunt. So off I went in the driving rain and blowing gale to try and find where the little lost lamb might be. My first port of call was the sea front. In spite of the weather there was a small continental market in full flow. There were a good 300+ people on the seafront and the Pier that morning! As I drove through town I found at least another 800 wandering round the shops.
Next I went on to the big Tesco Extra store. The car park was jammed solid with cars with queues in and out. Inside there were hundreds of people young and old wandering around there, not all doing their weekly shop either with some only there for something to do it seemed.
So you may ask "Where are you going with this?"
Well I'll tell you. I think we may be looking at this sheep thing all wrong. I think someone has left the gate open and more than just one sheep has got loose. In fact it may be better to say that 1 sheep is left in church and 99 are lost! The new Methodist Conference president Leo Osborne spoke to this in his recent conference address where he said we have not been watching the doors, people have been leaving our churches disenchanted with the church and others have arrive to find the doors locked to them.
In short I think that many of these new Deacons are being called for a very specific task. Sheep hunting! What the church needs to do now is to free them up to do this and be prepared for a few ruffled feathers because of how they'll go about it.
As I was writing this I was watching the film Wesley about the life of the Methodist Church's founder John Wesley and it struck me that John Wesley was a Deacon! He was ordained into the ministry in the Anglican Church and although he was priested on top of this ordination he remained a Deacon, and when he had his right to minister and preach removed from him he reverted to his Diaconal calling, seeking out the lost and marginalised and preaching the Gospel wherever and whenever he had the opportunity. So as the Methodist Church seeks to rediscover it's roots as a movement shaped for mission I believe that it also needs to rediscover its diaconal heart and get hunting those sheep!
Most recently the work of John Collins is being looked at again to try and better define the ministry or diakonia of Deacons.
In a nut shell (as I understand it) Collins' position is that Diakonia has been high-jacked and pigeon holed by linking it closely with the act of loving service of our Lord Jesus when he washed his friends feet and that act only, when in fact every action of Christ was diakonia, was service, was ministry. Collins believes (and I believe rightly) that based on this, Deacons are servants in a much broader understanding of the term.
A servant does not wait tables because that is all that servants do. A servant does not deliver messages because they are only messengers. A servant does not run a household because house management is the sole duty of the servant. No, a servant undertakes many and varied tasks because they have been sent by their master to do so.
And so the true defining aspect of a Deacon is that they have been sent to serve, they have been given a set task to do. It is not the task itself which defines them, it is the fact that they were sent.
Deacon Eunice Attwood described it this way. Deacons are like fruit in a bowl, you do not take a banana from the bowl to make an apple pie, because it wouldn't work. They are all fruit but the have specific uses.
Unique in action but united in identity.
In Methodism at least the Diaconate is growing. 13 candidates accepted this year, 31 in training and 121 active Deacons in service.
In the Anglican Church more and more are feeling called to a permanent Diaconate.
The Nazarene Church is seeing an increase in those called to Diaconal ministry (a bi vocational ministry where they serve the church alongside their regular work)
It would appear that God is calling more and more Deacons, so the question is why? What diakonia, what ministry are they being called to do?
(apologies for all the mini paragraphs but grammar and punctuation are not friends of mine)
One attempt I once heard to find the distinction between the Presbyterate and the Diaconate stated that it came down to focus. Of course both orders of ministry are concerned with those outside the church and inside the church but it could be said that where a Presbyters primary focus was on the 99 sheep in the church and the Deacon goes off in search of that lost sheep.
As flawed a metaphor as this is, on Sunday I chose to go off on a sheep hunt. So off I went in the driving rain and blowing gale to try and find where the little lost lamb might be. My first port of call was the sea front. In spite of the weather there was a small continental market in full flow. There were a good 300+ people on the seafront and the Pier that morning! As I drove through town I found at least another 800 wandering round the shops.
Next I went on to the big Tesco Extra store. The car park was jammed solid with cars with queues in and out. Inside there were hundreds of people young and old wandering around there, not all doing their weekly shop either with some only there for something to do it seemed.
So you may ask "Where are you going with this?"
Well I'll tell you. I think we may be looking at this sheep thing all wrong. I think someone has left the gate open and more than just one sheep has got loose. In fact it may be better to say that 1 sheep is left in church and 99 are lost! The new Methodist Conference president Leo Osborne spoke to this in his recent conference address where he said we have not been watching the doors, people have been leaving our churches disenchanted with the church and others have arrive to find the doors locked to them.
In short I think that many of these new Deacons are being called for a very specific task. Sheep hunting! What the church needs to do now is to free them up to do this and be prepared for a few ruffled feathers because of how they'll go about it.
As I was writing this I was watching the film Wesley about the life of the Methodist Church's founder John Wesley and it struck me that John Wesley was a Deacon! He was ordained into the ministry in the Anglican Church and although he was priested on top of this ordination he remained a Deacon, and when he had his right to minister and preach removed from him he reverted to his Diaconal calling, seeking out the lost and marginalised and preaching the Gospel wherever and whenever he had the opportunity. So as the Methodist Church seeks to rediscover it's roots as a movement shaped for mission I believe that it also needs to rediscover its diaconal heart and get hunting those sheep!
Comments
Post a Comment