

What's it like to be a distinctive deacon in the Church of England? Look no further!
Tag: Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, ordained 17 serving Readers to be Deacons in the Church of God during a service in York Minster on Sunday 13th January 2019.
As Readers the candidates were admitted and licensed after a process of selection and training and have served as licensed assistant lay ministers, supporting local churches and clergy in a variety of roles including as teachers, preachers, worship leaders and co-ordinators of community outreach amongst people of all ages. After a process of prayer and discernment, the Archbishop ordained the 17 candidates as Deacons to reflect the development of their individual ministry, which is recognisable in the description of a Deacon’s work used in the ordination service:
‘Deacons are ordained so that the people of God may be better equipped to make Christ known. Theirs is a life of visible self-giving. Christ is the pattern of their calling and their commission; as he washed the feet of his disciples, so they must wash the feet of others.’
The Archbishop of York said, “I have had the great privilege to meet Readers across the Diocese who are exercising their ministry both in the church but also reaching out in mission to their communities – supporting local community projects, working with schools and care homes, engaging with people who wouldn’t normally come to church. This missional, servant-hearted work is more usually recognised in the church as the ministry of a Deacon. It is a great joy to be with these servants of God and his Church as they take this next step in their journey following where he leads, and sometimes after many years of faithful service already. Praise be to our God who is always calling us onward!”
The candidates, who continue to serve in their present parishes, are as follows:
Please pray for these new deacons.
This is enormously heartening news from the Archbishop of York. He is a strong supporter of the diaconate. Many of us have known for a long time that there are Readers who are exercising a diaconal rather than a Reader ministry, and who, if they had been made aware of the diaconate at the time they candidated for ministry, would have wanted seriously to consider it. What this article omits, is that ++John has said that Readers being ordained as Deacons must stay in the Order of Deacon for seven years before they can candidate for priesthood. This is important to prevent people seeing the diaconate merely as a back door to priesthood, rather than a vital ministry in its own right.
If this bold initiative works well, it would be such good news for the diaconate, and pave the way perhaps for a national movement. Now that would be exciting. We pray on!
From the Church Times article.
LICENSED Readers in the diocese of York are being invited to consider ordination to the diaconate under a scheme proposed by the Archbishop of York, Dr Sentamu.
In a letter to all licensed lay Readers and Readers with permission to officiate in the diocese, sent in September and seen by the Church Times this week, Dr Sentamu speaks of a pilot ministry scheme started last year in the Northern Ryedale deanery, a large rural deanery of York.
“I have invited Readers to consider whether their ministry is already that of a Deacon and to begin to discern with their incumbents whether they are being called to ordination,” he writes. “Not everyone who is a Reader is called in this way — many Readers will consider themselves to be called to the equally important ministry of pastor [or] teacher rather than a Deacon.”
Dr Sentamu says that he was inspired by the “missional, servant-hearted” ministry of Readers during his recent pilgrimage around the northern dioceses. If the pilot is successful, the strategy would be implemented, deanery by deanery, this year, he writes.
No ordinations have yet taken place, but Dr Sentamu will be ordaining the first two deacons as part of the initiative, in April.
The diocesan Warden of Readers, the Ven. Samantha Rushton, the Archdeacon of Cleveland, explained on Tuesday: “This is just one aspect of a wide-ranging review of ministry that we are undertaking as part of the refresh of our diocesan strategy.”
One question, she said, was whether Reader-deacons would remain deacons, or progress to the priesthood. “We have become used to the idea that the diaconate is a transitional ministry, just a staging post to ‘full ordination’. That is not what the diaconate is supposed to be about.
“This is an important ministry in its own right, and the Readers who will be ordained to this ministry are those who are already exercising a diaconal-shaped ministry, and will continue to do so after ordination. It may be that their calling will change over time, and they may be called to the priesthood, but that is unlikely to be any time soon.”
It was too early to say how much uptake there would be, Archdeacon Rushton said, but she understood that other dioceses were exploring a general “renewal” of the diaconal ministry. “We are still testing the water. We are aware that the Church’s understanding of the diaconate has been a little neglected for some time; so we are building understanding as we develop our ministry strategy.”
In his letter, Dr Sentamu enclosed a description of the required criteria for those considering ordination to the diaconate. This included having the support of the incumbent and PCC, not having been divorced and remarried (or their spouse having been divorced and remarried), and “not belonging to the British National Party [BNP] or any organisation whose constitution, policies, objectives, or public statements are incompatible with the Church of England’s commitment to promoting racial equality”.
Potential candidates should also note, it says, that ordained ministers are unable to take certain positions within the Church which are exclusively lay, such as being a member of the House of Laity at General Synod, diocesan and deanery Synods; “lay dean”; churchwarden; and member of a PCC if no longer licensed to the parish.
Candidates would be required to attend post-ordination training for three years: an “apprenticeship-style scheme” which would be developed by the York School of Ministry and the diocesan training team. “This is also an ongoing work in progress,” Archdeacon Rushton said, “and is being tailored to recognise the theological training and ecclesiastical experience of those being ordained as deacons who have already served as Readers.”
Recently, the Archbishop of York, an enthusiastic advocate, support and friend of the diaconate, published his Presidential Address to his Diocesan Synod (5 November 2016) advocating a fresh approach to ministry.
He asked for copies to be distributed to everyone in church communities across the Diocese of York.
This is now available in booklet form: see link and also this blog’s pages (right hand side)
Here’s what he says about deacons:
Their aim is that the work of service may go on. The word used for service is diakonia; and the main idea which lies behind this word is that of practical service. The office-bearer is not to be a person who simply talks on matters of theology and of Church law; they are in office to see that practical service of God’s poor and lonely people goes on.
This means that every mission unit (parish) must have office-bearers who are equipped by the Gifts of Grace. In every mission unit there must be a desire for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Evangelists, pastors and teachers, a Renewed Diaconal Ministry, Presbyters, and differing ministries by every one. When the Ministry of Readers was restored 150 years ago, they were meant to be the go-between the Church and the World. Frankly this is what the office-bearer of Deacon is as we see in Acts 6 and in our Ordinal.
The Ordination of Deacons
God calls his people to follow Christ, and forms us into a royal priesthood, a holy nation, to declare the wonderful deeds of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light..[3]
The Church is the Body of Christ, the people of God and the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. .[4] In baptism the whole Church is summoned to witness to God’s love and to work for the coming of his kingdom.
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To serve this royal priesthood, God has given a variety of ministries. Deacons are ordained so that the people of God may be better equipped [5] to make Christ known. Theirs is a life of visible self-giving. Christ is the pattern of their calling and their commission; as he washed the feet of his disciples, so they must wash the feet of others. [6]
[3] cf 1 Peter 2.9; Exodus 19.6; Revelation 1.6, 5.10
[4] cf 1 Corinthians 12.27; 1 Peter 2.10; 1 Corinthians 3.16
[5] cf Ephesians 4.12
[6] cf John 13.14
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It would be good to have a Leadership Team in every Mission Unit.
It would be good to have Prayer-Triplets in every Mission Unit.
It would be good for every Leadership Team to discern the gifts in the Body of Christ in that place; and we will commission them.
It would be good to turn Multi-Benefice Parishes into manageable United Parishes, and to hold an act of worship in every church on Sunday. We will train catechists to do this.
Radically, he also is encouraging Readers who believe their ministry is primarily diaconal, to explore the diaconate with vocations advisers:
Clearly some Readers know themselves to be called to the ministry of pastor/teacher. We honour this. Maybe they should be commissioned as such – at their licensing. But some may know themselves to be called to the ministry of deacon. These we should ordain and like in the Porvoo Churches they will not be allowed to seek the possibility of Ordination to the Priesthood before seven years in the Ministry of Deacon.
The full document can be found here http://dioceseofyork.org.uk/uploads/attachment/3655/the-church-on-earth-is-the-embassy-of-heaven.pdf