Diaconal
Related Links
External links
- Discernment of Ministry - Diaconal Ministry, UCC
- DUCC - Diakonia of the United Church of Canada
- AADC - Association of Anglican Deacons in Canada
- DIAKONIA - World Federation
What is "Diaconal"?
The word “diaconal” comes from the Greek word diakonia, which means service among others, and has it roots in the Christian scriptures. Diaconal ministers (in some traditions referred to as " deacons" or "deaconesses") carry out all kinds of ministries often in the areas of education, service, and pastoral care. Those in the diaconate serve in various capacities, such as in congregational ministry, in community development, as chaplains, in inner-city ministry, as overseas personnel, at lay education centres and theological schools, or in staff positions within their presbytery/conferences/diocese/General Synod/General Council. These ministries can also include responsibility for liturgical and sacramental leadership.
Many Christian denominations have diaconal ministers. In the United Church of Canada they are commissioned as a distinct from but equal stream within the order of ministry. In the Anglican Church of Canada the office of "deacon" is sometimes a stepping-stone toward priesthood (transitional diaconate), but there are also those who are ordained to life-long vocational diaconal ministry.
A word cloud of diaconal ministry created by students in the CCS Integrating Year 2010-2011.
Symbols of the Diaconate
One of the traditional symbols of diaconal ministry is the towel and bowl. Many appreciate the traditional message of this symbol of humble service, as a reminder of Jesus, who took on and transformed the role of servant by washing the disciples' feet. Others are raising questions about the symbol’s potential to promote servility and challenging the message of humble service when it is directed toward the marginalized.
Another symbol that is popular around CCS is the spiral. It represents, among other things, the flow of the Spirit, and the deeping of understanding that comes from moving from experience to reflection to action and so on.
Diaconal Church and Christendom Church
In Breaking the Mould of Christendom: Kingdom Community, Diaconal Church and the Liberation of the Laity, David B. Clark contrasts the model of church that we in the West have inherited (Christendom) with a model of church that is on a journey toward becoming inclusive and open (diaconal church).
| Theme | The Christendom Church | The Diaconal Church |
| MISSION | Proslytism | From church-centred to kingdom community-centred |
| Exclusivism | From exclusive to inclusive communities | |
| Dogmatism | From indoctrination to education | |
| CULTURE | Sacralism | From a sacred to a secular society |
| Conservatism | From perservation to transformation | |
| STANCE | Imperialism | From domination to servanthood |
| THE LAITY | Clericalism | From priest to people |
| Conformism | From dependency to autonomy | |
| SOCIAL COLLECTIVES | ||
|
Legalism | From venerating the status quo to visioning |
| Didacticism | From instruction to dialogue | |
Group |
Parochialism | From community of place to community of interest |
|
Isolationism | From insularity to interconnectedness |
|
Institutionalism | From controlling the controlling the whole to serving the parts |
|
Separatism | From competition to co-operation |
| CHURCH LEADERSHIP | Elitism | From hierarchy to servant leaders |
| Authoritarianism | From director to community educator | |
| Paternalism | From men to women and men | |
| GOVERNANCE | Centralism | From centralization to subsidiarity |
| Unilateralism | From autocracy to democracy | |
| Statism | From establishment to self-government |
©2005, David B. Clark
Vision of Diaconal Ministry
The following "Statement of Vision" comes from the Diakonia of the United Church of Canada, a national organization for UCC diaconal ministers:
God calls us to diaconal ministry.
The gospel of Jesus invites all to this ministry: to offer compassion and accompaniment, to work for liberation and justice, to act as advocates of creative transformation.Diaconal ministry, as a recognized order, is rooted within our faith tradition and history, and it is continued and embodied in an ecumenical, world-wide community.
This vocation is a journey involving Spirit-filled enrichment and learning,
requiring humble offering of self, demanding prayerful discernment and courageous risking, exercising visionary and communal leadership,
promising joy and meaning, and daring to imagine God’s abundance
in a world of love and respect.Through education, service, social justice, and pastoral care, diaconal ministry in The United Church of Canada, encourages a growing faith, speaks truth to power, seeks mutual empowerment, proclaims prophetic hope,
nurtures life-giving community, fosters peaceful, right relationship, within the church and the whole of creation wherever the Spirit may lead.
- Statement of Vision, Diakonia of The United Church of Canada
Approved at the National Gathering, Five Oaks, April 14-17, 200
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