What might the diaconate contribute to the contemporary discussion of church unity? Firstly, it might draw inspiration from the young deacon Athanasius, who, with Arius, is one of the two protagonists in the Nicene Creed story.
Category: Blog
My time at St Martin's gave me a chance to see, touch and inhabit the heartfelt words that God silently and gently places in my heart.
Beginning here we glimpse the Three-in-One; The river runs, the clouds are torn apart, The Father speaks, the Spirit and the Son Reveal to us the single loving heart That beats behind the being of all things And calls and keeps and kindles us to light.
It might have been just someone else’s story, Some chosen people get a special king. We leave them to their own peculiar glory, We don’t belong, it doesn’t mean a thing.
How will we know when we have enough deacons?
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.
When the floor is knee-deep
in discarded wrapping paper
and the new books are open at page one
and the new toys are already broken,
behold, I stand at the door and knock.
Feedback from the national distinctive deacons’ conference (02/11/24) was overwhelmingly positive. Many appreciated the presence of recently appointed champion +Pete Wilcox, who addressed the conference about the importance of the diaconate and encouraged DDs to persevere in the face of challenges and misconceptions about their distinctive ministries
Nicholas Ferrar’s legacy for the deacon’s calling as community educator was rooted in a rule of life comprising prayer, study and service. Little Gidding was intended to be a spiritual, intellectual and service community. This outreach to the community arose through his work as a physician providing medical care in the neighbourhood. This was one of the ways in which he fostered networks of spiritual friendship.
A sign that the function of the deacon’s ministry was being questioned is that Hooker attacked those ‘to whom it seemeth a thing so monstrous that deacons should sometimes be licensed to preach’; he responded to Puritan critics with a powerful defence of the role of deacons as teachers of the faithful
CofE Network of Distinctive Deacons 