Kingsley Garth Bolton and Patricia Wood, Readers in the Diocese of York, were ordained (Distinctive) Deacon at St Matthew’s Church, Hutton Buscel, on Wednesday 11th April 2018 by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu. They are the first two people to have responded to the Archbishop’s invitation to consider whether their ministry is diaconal and to have undergone the necessary discernment process. In his address,the Archbishop said they were making history. His vision is to see a deacon in every church.
Deacon Liz Carrington said “It is good to know that anyone who feels called to a lifelong committment to the diaconate in this diocese can be assured that their voice will be heard and their call carefully considered. The ministry of deacons is valued as a significant contribution to the mission of the church, exemplifying the practical servanthood of Christ and enabling others.”
With many thanks to Liz for this groundbreaking news, and to Martin Shepphard. The photographs may be used without further permission but should be attributed to Martin Shepphard. (He is the Communications Officer in the York diocese.)
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 
In this post’s connection, what does ‘Dinstinctive’ mean?
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Hi Menhir, the Church of England has two types of deacons. One, which we call ‘transitional’, is what normally happens: once someone has completed their studies to everyone’s satisfaction, they are ordained deacon by the bishop. They remain a deacon for a year, then are usually automatically ordained priest. However, there are some mildly manic souls like me, who believe God has called us to remain deacons, not be priested, and develop a diaconal ministry. The CofE is pleased to call us ‘distinctive deacons’, to distinguish us from the transitionals.
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