According to our prayer book, “The Holy Scriptures and ancient authors teach that, from the Apostles’ time, these three orders of ministry have existed in Christ’s Church: Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. From the earliest days of the Church, these offices were always held in such reverent estimation that no one might presume to execute any of them without being first called, tried, examined, and ascertained to have such qualities as are requisite.”

And then later, we read that “it belongs to the office of a Deacon to share in the humility and service of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the strengthening of the Church, which is his body.” A Deacon is first and foremost a servant, a minister of the Gospel who has one foot in the life of the Church and one foot in the world. In this way, a Deacon is intended to be a window and model to all of God’s people as to what a life submitted to Christ looks like. She is to reflect the life of the Church to the world and interpret the needs of the world to the Church.

The diaconate of late has sadly been reduced to a mere stepping stone to the priesthood. Few today view the Order of Deacon as a full and equal order of ministry on par with that of the Episcopacy or Priesthood. If a local church lacks a bishop, everyone knows the church to be clergy deficient. And if a local church lacks a priest, the same is said to be true. But rarely does a church recognize its deficiency when it lacks a deacon.

We are thrilled that God has raised up two women among us to meet this clergy need in our church. Join us as we celebrate the ordinations to the diaconate of Barbara Reed and Nan Thomas on Saturday, October 30 at 2:30 pm.