The Bishop of Leicester, +Martyn Snow, has produced a paper for the Central Readers’ Council of which he is Chair. It is out for consultation from January to March 2018 with final proposals coming to the CRC AGM in April 2018.
What is interesting about this discussion document, is that it comes down very firmly on the understanding of Readers as the lay theologians, preachers and teachers of the church. This is very helpful for clarifying the distinctiveness of our different ministries. Distinctive Deacons do not see themselves primarily in this role, although inevitably we play our part in preaching and teaching. By contrast, deacons have a strong call to an outward-looking, community-minded ministry with the hallmark of mission through service. We prefer to be out and about, making contacts, building relationships, identifying and meeting needs, creating stepping-stones between God and the world.
I hope to be able to discuss some of the points raised in this document with local Readers and some of you may like to do the same. Here’s the doc:
http://www.readers.cofe.anglican.org/index.php
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 