Unending service through open doors
“Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!” is the traditional dismissal uttered by deacons at the end of the Eucharist.
The deacon of the world is first a deacon of the church. In the words of the Ordinal, ‘They are to serve the community in which they are set, bringing to the Church the needs and hopes of all the people.’ (Ordination of Deacons)
In the first chapter of Mark’s gospel, we find a diaconal response to Jesus by those touched by his service. During the temptations in the desert, where Jesus was living with the wild beasts, the angels began to serve him, enabling him to overcome evil. Following her healing from a fever, we are told that Simon’s mother-in-law began to serve Jesus. And this flows out into her service to everyone present at the meal time; her generosity is presented as a sign of the cure – service without end!
Like those who were touched by Jesus, our response to the one who “came not to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45) is to serve Christ in the other, whoever they may be. How can we strengthen our service to our communities this Lent? How can we deepen our commitment to one another? And for those of us who are curates, how can we “curate”, i.e. take care of, our church? What are the concrete ways in which our churches can serve the mission of God in the world?
As Pope Francis writes:
A Church which “goes forth” is a Church whose doors are open. Going out to others in order to reach the fringes of humanity does not mean rushing out aimlessly into the world. Often it is better simply to slow down, to put aside our eagerness in order to see and listen to others, to stop rushing from one thing to another and to remain with someone who has faltered along the way. At times we have to be like the father of the prodigal son, who always keeps his door open so that when the son returns, he can readily pass through it.
Perhaps helping to make the church a more inviting place for visitors is one way in which the deacon can act as a bridge-builder between church and world? Let’s not forget the vital place of our church buildings in shaping and developing mission, as we “go in the peace of Christ to love and serve him in the world”!
(Reflection by Deacon Jonathan Halliwell, member of CENDD steering group and curate of St John & St Philip, the Hague https://cofedeacons.org/about-the-network/members-of-the-steering-group/)
For ideas for Lent resources, see what Deacon Jess Foster, Church Engagement Officer for the Trussell Trust, is offering: https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-involved/church-support/act/give-up-10/?utm_source=church&utm_medium=meta&utm_campaign=GU10&utm_term=Phone&fbclid=IwAR3XywUtTPcXLkAU53DDqby53NJ30019gvSmei62QRw-z-B20gMX_Fo2BSY
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 