Guest commentary: Stand back, God is free

Among the privileges of my work is sitting on the Committee on Diaconate in the Diocese of Virginia. I've been with this wonderful group of people, lay and ordained, for a couple of years now as we discern with individuals whether they are called to be vocational deacons.

Although deacons have been a vital part of many parts of the church for decades, this order of ministry is relatively new in the Diocese of Virginia. Bishop Shannon Johnston ordained only the second class of permanent deacons last Saturday. Our committee worked with each of these three candidates for several years as they moved to that moment of ordination.

Deacons are called to be servant ministers and to be icons of servant ministry for the whole church. They are to bring the church into the world, and the world back into the church.

Our committee met Wednesday in Richmond to continueironing out the details of diaconal discernment and formation in the Diocese of Virginia. And so it happens that Barbara Crafton sent this last night from her archives, a perfect reminder of how imperfect our work of discernment is:

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By Barbara Crafton

I spend lots of time with people who are hoping to be ordained in the future -- seminarians, new clergy, people who hope to become first one and then the other of these. So I think often about what it means to be called -- not just to ordained ministry, but to any life's work.

Stand Back. God is Free. - February 2003

"He that is not against us is for us." This is what Jesus said to his disciples when a couple of them came running to tell-tale on somebody outside their circle who was performing healings. Same thing Moses had said to a couple of his folks centuries before, when they came running to tell on Eldad and Medad for prophesying, when they hadn't specifically been chosen to do so. Sometimes people we didn't authorize to exercise a gift of the Spirit do it anyway. This can happen, because the Spirit doesn't belong to us.

We keep forgetting this.

In the Church, we regularly seek to discern spiritual gifts. We have ornate processes for doing so, some of them involving phalanxes of psychologists and rank on earnest rank of interviewers, all bent on trying to figure out if God has called one among us and, if so, to what work. None of can really know what God is doing, though, so we must satisfy ourselves with the discovery of talents and predilections that seem suited to the performance of whatever calling we're hoping to discern, coupled with adequate mental health to enter into the often-thankless work of ministry. We make our call. Usually we are right, I think, but sometimes we're wrong. Still, we make our call, and hope for the best. We never really know.

History reveals it, though. A call of the Spirit lives, even in difficult circumstances. It may not always triumph -- we are not in heaven yet -- but it always remains. One at war with the Spirit withers and dies. Put a person in the wrong calling and you're doing him a terrible disservice. Refuse a right one and you miss the chance to share in the mighty works of God, but you won't wreck it. The Spirit is stronger than we are. It'll get through somehow.

What our inability either to predict or contain the work of the Spirit, our failure ever to be exactly sure of our discernment, gives us is something we need: an ongoing sense of the freedom of God. God is free. We draw lines in the sand and God hops nimbly across them. We set up systems and sometimes God just does something else. With God, Mary of Nazareth so astutely observes, nothing will be impossible. And she should know.

All this is not to say that we should aspire to anarchy. That the best rules for us are always no rules at all. We do the best we can to regulate our lives -- we must. But we should never be surprised when our careful arrangements turn out not to be the last word. We don't really have the last word.

Copyright © 2001-2012 Barbara Crafton - all rights reserved

The newest deacons in Christ's Church

ANNANDALE, Va. -- Five people stepped forward Saturday, declaring they were ready and able to answer the call to be the first vocational deacons in the Diocese of Virginia.

For them, it has been a journey of many years. For the Diocese of Virginia, it has been a journey of many decades.

"We as a diocese reclaim the ancient and sacred order of deacons and as a full, separate and distinct order of ministry," declared Bishop Shannon Johnston at the ordination ceremony of the first vocational deacons in our diocese.

After finishing his sermon, Bishop Johnston laid hands on the foreheads of Barbara Lockwood Ambrose, Dana Evenson Buchanan, Mary Elizabeth Emerson, Marty Monroe Hager and Linda E. Murphy, and made them into deacons.

"You will serve by offering the redemptive love of Jesus Christ to those the most in need," the bishop told the new deacons, "especially the poor, sick and lonely."

It is hard to overstate the importance to our diocese of the ordinations on Saturday bringing to life this distinct and iconic order of ministry. There have been a handful of vocational deacons in our diocese, but they've been ordained in other dioceses and on loan to us. But Virginia has never ordained its own deacons -- not until Saturday.

Each of the new deacons has walked a long road of preparation and many disappointments, all for the privilege of being ordained to ministry of servanthood that carries no salary and requires obedience directly to the bishop. The five attended a three-year theological school that met primarily on weekends, and served internships in social service settings.

A few words of explanation about the diaconate are in order. The Deacons as a distinct order of ministry has its origins in the New Testament. In the early Church, deacons brought communion to the sick and served the poor.

In later centuries, the diaconate became more of a stepping stone to other clergy orders -- the priesthood and episcopate (bishops). We retain a vestige of that with our "transitional deacons" whereby people like me are required to serve for six months to a year as deacons before moving onto the priesthood.

Yet there have always been permanent deacons. You can identify them as those clergy who are wearing their stole diagonally across their left shoulder.

Deacons represent living icons bringing the church into the world and the world back to the church. They do not celebrate the sacraments, but as their name suggests -- deacon (a Greek word for table waiter) -- their liturgical role is to read the Gospel, set the Holy Table for Communion, and declare the dismissal sending us back out into the world. I believe the most important words a deacon declares is the dismissal. The best deacon dismissal I ever heard was "get up, get out and go do something."

The Book of Common Prayer rite for ordaining deacons includes this instruction by a bishop to a new deacon: "You are to make Christ and his redemptive love known, by your word and example, to those among whom you live, and work, and worship. You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world."

The site of Saturday's ordination was especially symbolic -- St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Annandale, in the suburbs of Washington DC. The neighborhood is modest with a high immigrant population.

Deacons typically hold secular jobs, but they bring to their jobs their sense of servanthood. The bishop pointed out that "to be plain honest" all of us -- bishops, priests, deacons and lay people -- should bring that sense of servanthood to all that we do. But, he said, deacons are especially supposed to bring the pain of the world back to the church. "This charge is unique for deacons," he said.

"Hold the Church accountable," the Bishop continued. "I want deacons to raise Cain with the Church!"

For me, it's been a privilege to serve on the diocesan Committee on the Diaconate. I've seen up close the many turns and tumbles as the Diocese of Virginia has created a program for the education and formation of vocational deacons.

The chair of our committee, The Rev. Jane Piver, has shown great leadership through many travails in bringing these extraordinary people to this day and she is owed much thanks by many.

It wasn't easy for any of them, and I especially admire their fortitude and perseverance. We will soon be evaluating the program, and hopefully tap the wisdom of the experience of these five new deacons.

On Saturday, it was time for the celebration of a great milestone in the life of the Church.

"May your ministries of service be your heart's joy," the bishop concluded in his sermon.

Photos by yours truly from my pew.

Meeting of the diocesan deans

Yesterday I went to my first meeting with the deans of the 15 regions in the Diocese of Virginia (or deaneries as they would be called in other dioceses) as the representative of Region XV.

It was a delight for me to meet clergy from every corner of our far-flung diocese.

We met at Trinity Church in Fredericksberg with Bishop Shannon Johnston and assisting Bishop Ted Gulick for 2 1/2 hours.

Most of our time was spent discussing same-gender blessings and how Bishop Shannon intends to proceed with such blessings. You may recall that our recent Diocesan Council passed a resolution, R-2a, asking him to move forward with such blessings, and he reiterated yesterday that he intends to do that "immediately."

The first step will be a meeting that he intends to call for rectors from churches interested in such blessings. The date has not been set. Bishop Shannon said he will talk about guidelines at the meeting, and he is still working through the guidelines. We also talked about liturgies, and he said he will authorize several possible liturgies to chose from.

On other topics, we talked about the diocesan budget and the process for creating it. Several of the deans expressed frustration that the budget is presented at Council as institutional rather than missional, that is, we hear about the number of staff members the diocesan budget supports but we don't hear about the ministries they are hired to do. Bishop Shannon listened to the comments without responding, and said he wanted to give it thought. I found his listening to be a very positive response.

Finally, we discussed the vocational diaconate -- the third order of ordained ministry in the Episcopal and Catholic churches. Deacons carry out a servant ministry as living icons of the Church in the world and bringing the world back into the church. Deacons do not have a sacramental ministry (they do not say the words of institution at the Holy Eucharist) but they serve as living reminders of servanthood in our liturgy by reading the Gospel and setting the table for Communion. The most important words of a deacon are the dismissal -- telling us to not linger but to get out into the world and "do something."

The Diocese of Virginia has not had vocational deacons until now. The first group of five permanent deacons will be ordained Saturday at St. Alban's, Annandale, on Saturday at 10:30 am. For more information about the ordinations, click HERE, and I will be there to be part of the celebration. Hope to see you there!

Change, anxiety, forming leaders: Big topics of the last few days

ORKNEY SPRINGS, VIRGINIA -- Since Sunday afternoon, I have been here at Shrine Mont, the retreat center for the Diocese of Virginia nestled into the mountains on the western side of the Shenandoah Valley.

Cell phones don't work well here, but the internet wireless gizmo in the main building keeps us connected to the outside world. But I must say, it is an odd sight to see a room full of clergy checking their Facebook pages on their laptops at a religious retreat center.

On Sunday and Monday I was part of a small group of diocesan lay leaders and clergy engaged in far-ranging conversation about the current state of ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church and in the Diocese of Virginia. It was a candid and fascinating conversation and I felt privileged to be invited to be a part. We were very ably led in the discussions by the Rev. Susan Goff, the canon to the ordinary here in Virginia.

I was asked to participate as a member of the diocesan Committee on the Diaconate, which oversees the education and formation of those seeking ordination as vocational deacons. The vocational diaconate is very new to the Diocese of Virginia, and I was able to share my own experience with deacons on the West Coast (which is why I was asked to be in this conversation).

Our diaconate committee met with the diocesan Committee on the Priesthood, the Commission on Ministry, and the Board of Examining Chaplains, all of which have oversight on specific aspects of the ordination process. Everyone in the room had a different perspective on the topic of ordination, and my committee was asked to bring into focus the vocational diaconate as it might look in Virginia.

So far, no permanent deacons have been ordained in this diocese (we hope the first class will be ordained next year). It is a challenge for people in this diocese to picture what this third order of ordained ministry looks like without seeing it. We had a very healthy and fruitful discussion on the topic.

More broadly, we grappled with even bigger issues than a particular order of ministry. We talked extensively about the challenges facing the Church as it attempts to minister in a radically changing world. We talked about how well we are raising up, forming and educating ordained and lay church leaders for institutions that are undergoing tremendous change amidst a culture and society that is undergoing tremendous change.

We had to ask the hard questions: Do 1950s methods of education and formation meet the needs of the Church in 21st century? How can we adjust? How does our Episcopal tradition provide a useful structure for meeting the needs of ministry in this changing world? Where does the structure get in the way? How are the seminaries meeting these needs? How are the seminaries missing the mark?

We came to no firm answers, but many more questions. As it happens, next week I will be returning to my own seminary, the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, as a member of the Alumni Board. Our conversations in Virginia will definitely inform the conversation with my seminary friends next week.

After these conversations concluded late Monday, our smaller group then joined the Fall clergy conference of the Diocese of Virginia, also here at Shrine Mont. The topic: Understanding and managing conflict and anxiety in our congregations, a rather pertinent topic for those of us who had been in the earlier discussions. We had to begin by looking at our own personal anxiety and times of conflict.

During the clergy conference, we heard presentations about family emotional systems theory, much of which I've heard before, but it is always helpful to gain a new perspective (and bring home a few new handouts). The emphasis was on how our explicit and implicit expectations combine with personal stories and our unwritten internal rule books to create emotional feelings and reactions. That is true for individuals and it is true for congregations.

Much of the wisdom we heart boiled down to this: Take a deep breath, and hit the pause button before reacting. Feelings are facts, feelings are real, but feelings don't always have to dictate how we react as individuals or as a group. We can't always manage how we feel, but we can manage how we act.

These have been very fruitful, fascinating and deep conversations, and I am grateful that St. Paul's has allowed me to be a part.

The Diocese of Virginia delays ordaining deacons

Yesterday we received three emails from the Diocese of Virginia. I have already posted two on the votes by our bishop and Standing Committee declining to consent to the election of Mary Glasspool as suffragan bishop in Los Angeles. Their votes have no practical effect because she received enough elsewhere to go ahead with her consecration as a bishop in May. You can read more about that below.

The other communication received Friday (why do these always come on Fridays?) concerned the future of the vocational diaconate in the Diocese of Virginia. The decision has an unfortunate impact on ministry in this diocese and our parish. I am reprinting that communique below; to slice through the obtuse language, it means that this diocese will not ordain permanent deacons until 2011, if ever.

The Standing Committee's stance is a signal that there is a major vacuum of education in this diocese about the diaconate. Mostly what we've seen in Virginia are transitional deacons who are temporary deacons on their way to becoming a priest, like Heather Warren who is currently serving at St. Paul's in such a role. There are a few vocational deacons here, like Ann Scupholme, who were ordained deacons elsewhere, and they tend to serve as unpaid missioners in small churches.

The authentic role of vocational deacons is to bring the church to the world and the world to the church; to lead us out of our cloisters and into the ministry beyond our walls. As one deacon I know put it: "The role of the priest is to bring the good news to the world. The role of the deacon is to bring the bad news back."

The vocational deacons serve permanently, and in my opinion every congregation should have a deacon. Indeed, all of us are called to be ministers in the church, lay and clergy alike. But we also ordain some to lead us, and through their ordination to highlight the sacramental and incarnational value of our ministry. Priests tend to the flock and grow the flock; deacons are there to pull us out of ourselves and move beyond the flock.

You know the deacons by how they wear their stoles over the left shoulder. Liturgically, they set the table, emphasizing their servant ministry.

In the last two dioceses where I served, I was privileged to serve alongside deacons. I cannot imagine how we would have done our work without the deacons -- they are that important. The vibrancy of the permanent diaconate was infectious, and brought to life everything else we did, from prison ministry to Cursillo, to work in nursing homes and homeless shelters. We could not have done any of it well without the deacons.

By delaying ordaining vocational deacons, the Diocese of Virginia is cutting itself off from this crucial and fruitful ministry. I pray that our leaders will soon discern an understanding of the importance and potential of the diaconate and get on with ordaining vocational deacons.

Below is the communication from the Diocese of Virginia:

April 9, 2010

The Standing Committee, key leaders in diaconal formation and some members of the diocesan Committee on the Diaconate recently gathered for a conversation on the formation process for the vocational diaconate. After the meeting, the Standing Committee made two decisions that affect the process and that will have implications for the formation of future deacons. First, the Standing Committee voted to recommend Candidacy for Holy Orders for the first class of postulants who have completed the Diaconal Formation Institute. "The Standing Committee recognizes candidacy as a time of significant formation and we invite the group to continue in that formation," said Don Metheny, president of the Standing Committee.

The Standing Committee also postponed consideration for ordination of the initial class until all canonical requirements are completed successfully. The five members of the initial class will begin their practicum placements in parishes at the end of May, completing them in late November. The Standing Committee plans to consider the initial class members for ordination at that point.

For the five candidates, this means a second delay of their ordination, which was originally scheduled for January of 2010, then rescheduled for May. The ordinations are now tentatively scheduled for early 2011. The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, bishop of Virginia, said, "I concur with the Standing Committee in their decision, while standing in support with these five and with all who are in formation for the vocational diaconate."

"These pioneers have been on an emotional roller coaster, but they continue to experience God's call and to feel God's grace," the Rev. Canon Susan Goff, canon to the ordinary, said after sharing the news with them.

In 2008 and 2009, the first two classes of vocational diaconate postulants entered the diocesan Diaconal Formation Institute. Vocational deacons live out their entire ordained ministry as deacons, focusing their energies on a bridge ministry, which is intended to build significant ties between the Church and the world, particularly in service to persons in need.