Perhaps inclusion today requires reclaiming that vocation — to be keepers of the threshold, not its guards. To open the doors wider, yes, but also to honour the courage of those who cross them.
Author: GillK
Gill has been a missioner in Nigeria, Romania and various parishes in England. She was ordained a 'distinctive' deacon in 1991. In this capacity she was warden of the College of St Philip the Deacon in Exeter diocese, and founder member of the CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons https://cofedeacons.org. She has also written the story of her own call, Deacon by Design. https://www.waterstones.com/book/deacon-by-design/gill-kimber/9781910719794
She's passionate about the diaconate and, now retired, continues to support those who are called to this ministry.
To be a Doula-Deacon is to walk with others as God creates new life, weaves hope from endings, and remains ever present in the thresholds and mysteries of this world.
The poems, all available free online (https://www.cruciformjustice.com/) and in his recent book, Lament and Hope, covered topics such as “the slow burn miracle of love”, how “Jesus is a Litmus Test for Orthodoxy” and “how love does not equate to a handout culture”.
The deacon journeys with seekers, hungry for faith they cannot name. Walk beside them, until they find their rest in Him.
The deacon is to be a bridge between people and God, between suffering and hope. Take the world seriously. Take God seriously. And help the Church hold them together in prayer.”
I'm delighted to announce that there DDOs on Saturday 1 November, with Rev Jon Swales MBE. It's entitled 'Cruciform Love in a Broken World: Diaconal Reflections', with Rev Jon Swales, MBE, mission priest at the Lighthouse project in Leeds.
“You’ll spend plenty of time outside— on estates, in care homes, with those forgotten. But you are also called inside. To serve the covenant community with tenderness in private, and with leadership in public worship.”
Very very good news! Focused diaconal training is a huge gap in the CofE vocational resources. Some time ago we started to put resources on the national church support hub, and Deacon Jonathan Halliwell has just sent this cheering update. PLEASE DO ALERT YOUR DDOs, TRAINING INCUMBENTS AND TUTORS TO THESE RESOURCES. They are unlikely to know, unless we inform them.
“The deacon is like a rescue ship.
Not tied in safe harbour,
but out in storm seas.
Searching for the battered,
the bruised,
those close to the rocks.
It is not reckless,
but it is risky.
For that is the way of Christ.”
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 