For years now we have been trying to get distinctive deacons added into the Church of England clergy stats, as a distinct unit, instead of being included in the general clergy stats. This would really help to see how the diaconate is doing across the country, and would give us some objective data. I'm in … Continue reading ADDING DISTINCTIVE DEACONS SEPARATELY TO CofE STATISTICS
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.
A reminder of our next national deacons’ conference! It will be on 16 May 2020 at the same venue as last year, the Frances Young Centre at Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham. Put the date in your 2020 diaries now and ringfence it! Accommodation will be available on site at a very reasonable cost. If you're eligible, … Continue reading NEXT DEACONS’ NATIONAL CONFERENCE! (and what to do until then)
St Ephrem is a great spiritual ancestor for deacons! Enjoy this post, which I found on the Patheos blog by Frank Weathers. I came upon these lines while researching St. Ephrem the Syrian, the Deacon, and Doctor of the Church. As it turns out, St. Ephrem wrote almost all of his homilies in verse or … Continue reading “On Reproof,” A Poem By St. Ephrem of Syria, Deacon
There are liturgical resources for deacons here on the Association for Episcopal Deacons website. They include a template for Celebration of a Deacon’s New Ministry, Diocese of Olympia, which might be useful to plunder when thinking about a liturgy for your own ministry. (There's also a template for a liturgy for the end of a deacon's … Continue reading LITURGICAL RESOURCES FOR DEACONS
Clear and focused info on distinctive deacons on the website of the diocese of Melbourne. Nice - we could take a leaf out of their book! Deacons Click the image to download a brochure on the Diaconate in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne A distinctive ministry The renewal of the diaconate on a more permanent … Continue reading DISTINCTIVE DEACONS: diocese of Melbourne
For many deacons, coming to the end of curacy is not an issue. Most are Self-Supporting Ministers (SSMs), living in their own houses, and expecting to continue to minister in their own communities. However, this is not the case for everyone. Suppose a deacon wants to move at the end of a curacy? Suppose they … Continue reading DEACONS AT END OF CURACY: a locally-supported post?
Today 10 August the church celebrates the martyr, Deacon Laurence. In our intercessions, Christians like him are to be remembered, still being captured, unjustly tried, robbed of possessions, and made to suffer ghastly deaths. Lord, have mercy: and grant us the grace, courage and humour of Laurence. Laurence or Lawrence (about 225-258) was one of … Continue reading LAURENCE, DEACON AND MARTYR
He agrees that it would be an excellent idea to start moving towards some kind of national network
Bishops normally assign deacons to special responsibility for mercy and justice.
This last week deacons have been sharing info about this initiative, whereby some cafes put mats or notes on some of their tables saying 'happy to chat' or something similar.
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 