Jonathan Halliwell shares some diaconal reflections for St Stephen’s Day.
‘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
Proclaiming the gospel on the feast of Stephen, proto-deacon
In most of the Christian world Stephen is almost a forgotten figure, and his feast day on 26th December is at risk of being lost in the Christmas festivities, though it is recalled in the first words of the carol Good King Wenceslas. This association is in itself not unhelpful, since it’s a story about hospitality to the poor, something which has been part of the deacon’s DNA since the early days of the church.
Stephen, a man ‘full of belief and the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 6:5) is among the seven chosen by the apostles for a ministry of service, ‘full of the spirit and wisdom’ (Acts 6:3). The impulse for appointing the Seven was that the apostles needed suitable Greek-speaking followers of Christ to minister to Hellenistic widows, who were being disadvantaged in the distribution of resources. Only Philip features later in the narrative of Acts. Stephen was the first to preach the Gospel to groups well beyond the small inner circle of the Jerusalem church, and we know that Philip also was a gifted evangelist. They used the structures of the church responsibly yet creatively, to develop an apostolic ministry characterised by loving service and proclamation.
Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people’. (Acts 6:8)
In his zeal for the gospel, Stephen rebuked God’s people for not listening to the word of God, and paid for that offence with his life, becoming the first martyr of the Church.
Stephen was a role model for those who have pushed the boundaries of the role of deacon. As Clare Amos puts it, in the history of the Church, too often, the words ‘it is not right that we should give up preaching of the word of God to serve (diakonein) tables’ (Acts 6.2) have been misunderstood to justify the pre-eminence of priestly/preaching/apostolic ministries over diaconal work and service.[1] In fact, it could be argued that the emphasis is as much on commissioning, as it is on developing a new kind of ministry, because the verb diakōnein carries the sense of serving others as an envoy of God.[2] The example of Stephen reminds us that service and proclamation were never intended to be understood apart. Proclaiming Christ as servant is the very substance of an apostolic ministry, in which preaching and servant-hearted ministry are fully integrated by word and action.
Thanks to the groundbreaking work of John Collins, we have a more nuanced understanding now of the deacon’s apostolic ‘sent-out’ ministry, reaching beyond the boundaries of church. As a bishop told me recently, whilst being able to exercise priestly and diaconal ministry, the bishop cannot perform all of these functions all the time, hence the need for division of labour, and sharing of oversight with other ministers. This point was highlighted in the recent conference ‘Last Orders’: https://cofedeacons.org/2024/12/11/conference-report-2024-last-orders/
At the renewal of commitment in Holy Week, the Bishop reminds the deacon: ‘At your ordination as a deacon, you received the yoke of Christ, who took the form of a servant, coming to serve and not to be served, so that in your ministry Christ’s example to his Church as the servant of all might be proclaimed.’
Indeed, Jesus himself had to remind the disciples, when they were jostling for power, of the fact that they were not called to be like the kings of the gentiles who ‘lord it over them’:
But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.
For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22: 26-27)
The liturgy of Maundy Thursday, with the enacted parable of foot-washing in John 13, reminds us that all Christian service is conformed to the example of Christ as servant. The deacon is set apart for this task at ordination, and issues a prophetic challenge to the Church that if it is to be truly apostolic, it must embrace a ministry of service and hospitality in the world.
By the time you read this, I imagine you will have heard King Charles III addressing the nation about his dedication to service. At last year’s Coronation, which has similarities to an ordination service, King Charles committed himself, through prayers and oaths, to follow the Lord in his role as monarch. Before being set aside for the service of others, King Charles pledged, in a personal prayer, to follow Jesus Christ’s example of service in the words:
“God of compassion and mercy, whose Son was sent not to be served but to serve, give grace that I may find in thy service perfect freedom, and in that freedom knowledge of thy truth.”
May you go in peace to love and serve the Lord and may it set you free!
Collect
Gracious Father,
who gave the first martyr Stephen
grace to pray for those who took up stones against him:
grant that in all our sufferings for the truth
we may learn to love even our enemies
and to seek forgiveness for those who desire our hurt,
looking up to heaven to him who was crucified for us,
Jesus Christ, our mediator and advocate,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
[1] I am grateful for correspondence with Clare Amos on this subject and some of the insights here are drawn from her chapter, ‘Serving at the table of Jesus servant of others’ in David Thomas with Clare Amos (eds) A Faithful Presence: essays for Kenneth Cragg, Melisende: London, 2003, pp.110-120.
[2] Exciting Holiness: 26 December describes Stephen misleadingly as ‘one of the seven [deacons]’, but the noun diakonos is not used in this passage and he would perhaps be best described as a proto-deacon.
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 