Deacons

Bobby Cullen’s initial comments:

I thought it would be helpful to hear from the Deacons around the
country. What issues are you (as Deacons) interested in being
addressed at General Conference 2008? Are you taking petitions to your
Annual Conference to have them supported there first?

Many of us in the West Virginia conference are interested in Sacramental privileges for deacons at their place of ministry. This would be similar to local pastors. I am glad you are doing this. Phyllis Coston, chair W.Va.

I cannot speak officially for the deacons of the Southwest Texas Annual Conference, but will report that we've had a strong interest in working for legislation that would make more explicit what it means for deacons to assist the elders in the administration of the sacraments. We sent a petition to General Conference 2004 which proposed that deacons be authorized to administer the sacraments in the absence of an elder, with permission of the elder in charge of the deacon's appointment, or, for deacons working outside local churches or church institutions, not directly supervised by an elder, with the permission of the district superintendent. The General Conference committee on ordained ministry chose not to consider any petitions which would have made changes, but I was told by a member of the committee that our petition came closest to consideration.

I hope the deacons from our Conference will send a similar petition to General Conference 2008.

Kathleen Jones

Southwest Texas Conference (former chair of our Order of Deacon)

I would add concerns about
       soaring insurance costs,
       conferences moving to direct billing for insurance if they have been on the
             apportionment system,
       continuing interpretation of the ministry of deacon,
       clarity regarding the ordination of elders despite clear intentions NOT to itinerate
             or to serve in local church pastorates. ie, unwillingness to see the diaconate
             as a valid path of ministry and ordination, and perhaps a clinging to the
             security of a guaranteed appointment in case they need it.
nan zoller, Tennessee

I would second this list from Nan. These things are very important. I am as irritated as any of you at the situation re sacramental authority. But I think that the identity of the deacon is still fragile and we need to focus more on mission and identity than on privilege. We can be creative about finding ways to partner with elders for offering the sacraments. We might not want to open that paragraph this GC.

Margaret Ann Crain
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

I agree with what Margaret Ann has said. Mission and identity of deacons are not firmly grounded within the larger understanding of clergy. With the continuing confusion of identity between elder and local pastor, it becomes easier to focus on deacon/elder questions, because it doesn't threaten the dominant image of ministry as much as local pastor issues do. I would be hesitant to open up the paragraph this general conference. Instead, I would encourage us to look at the seven pathways the bishops have set forth and claim the leadership and vision of deacons to lead in some of those areas. We are uniquely positioned with call and gifts to lead parts of that vision.

Dee Stickley-Miner

West Ohio Conference Director of Mission & Justice

Unfortunately the question of the deacon's identity is part of a system that
includes elders and local pastors (and, in our conference, folks who pastor
churches who aren't any of the above). The mission of the church is
compromised when folks who are clearly called to ministries of service
become elders instead, and those clearly called to be elders become deacons
instead, because our systems are skewed. Without the ministry report to
address, we are spinning wheels. All we can do is keep saying, "We (most of
us) know who WE are!" and keep educating people.

Beth Galbreath
Deacon
(Passions: Biblical Storytelling, Digital Culture ministry and worship
design, and spiritual formation)
www.bethgalbreath.com
815-879-2611

Two things that the North Carolina conference are looking into as
petitions to General Conference. We plan to send these to our Annual
Conference for endorsement to send to General Conference. We'd be glad to
notify you once we have shaped up the final language for these in case
you'd like your annual conferences to sign on:

1) Adding consultation with the DS when a deacon is being dismissed from
the local church
Rationale: We have a number of deacons that were "downsized" from their
local church with very little process. Since the DS is supposed to
consult on the hiring of a deacon, we thought it might help the process if
the DS had to be consulted before a deacon was fired.

2) Request a study document for the roles and significance of deacon's
participation in worship leadership
Rationale: Besides the thorny sacramental issue, there are some
traditional roles for a deacon to play (reading the Gospel, receiving the
offering, etc.). It would be good for deacons, elders, and laity to know
the deacon's role and significance.

Most of you are probably aware of this but you may want to watch
<http://www.gbhem.org/studyofministry/index.html> for how the Study of
Ministry Commissions comes out on sacramental authority. Some of the
papers already submitted on this website try to put this question in a
couple different frameworks.

Andy
_______________________________

Andrew Keck
Divinity School Library
Duke University
(919) 660-3549
andy.keck@duke.edu

I agree with North Carolina's first petition recommendation, as one who has been "downsized". The sad thing is the Discipline already recommends the DS and the individual be consulted before downsized, and this paragraph is being overlooked for Deacons and Lay employees.

The good news...I am currently in JAX for Exploration, and we have a plethora of up and coming Deacons (and Elders) eager to join our ever-evoloving, faith-filled journey!

Laura K.

Martin Methodist College, Tennessee

Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world