In 2017, an historic step was taken by the Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, when he consecrated five women to be deaconesses in the Congo. On May 2, 2024, Angelic Molen of Harare, Zimbabwe, was ordained Deaconess Angelic in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa (the Orthodox Church in the continent of Africa). This is a giant stride for The Orthodox Church, and is inevitably controversial.
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God is asking Philip to leave the success story, and move on to something new. We might not have a mighty success story to tell, but it is part of our call as deacons, to be ready to move, ready to change, ready to go at God’s command.
The deacon is entrusted with the great sign of the risen Christ: the Easter Candle, as the minister most often associated with Christ in early Christian literature.
I am undeniably a wounded healer, and these meditations serve as a personal aspiration, urging me to more authentically and completely embody this calling in my life.
I have now formally stepped down as Chair of CENDD, and have handed over to Deacon Gill Newman, in whom I have the utmost confidence that she will lead the Network forward under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I have been so grateful for all those who have worked alongside me, prayed with me, shared their wisdom and contributed to the steering group over the past six years. I am amazed and grateful at the way ~God has brought forward new deacons to take over and develop roles in the national steering group.
Christ is risen from the dead, the first-fruits of those who slept!
In the middle of the world, in the centre
Of the polluted heart of man, a midden;
A stake stemmed in the rubbish
Just after Easter, I realised that I needed to go to a foodbank. I didn’t want to but had to.
While I was there, I was given a voucher to come to the café that’s attached to the Church. I didn’t come with any intention of joining the Church. When I was having my meal, I asked the person who was there what sort of church it was. I told him I have beliefs but wasn’t sure in what. He said that, as Christians, we believe in Jesus. Something just clicked.
“I came to the food bank, I still had my car and I was well dressed. As I entered the building I overheard people say – “what is she doing here?” That’s why it is so important to me that people don’t judge a book by its cover. We never know what is going on in someone’s life, behind closed doors.”
I recognised myself moving from orphan to son. People don’t think that they are worth something, worth anything. You can encounter poverty in so many places.
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 