by Craig L. Nessan

Diaconia belongs to all the baptized as “a dimension integral to the nature and mission of the church” (World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance 2022, p. 10). Called to Transformation gives new ecumenical attention to “the diaconate of all believers, based on the view that God’s spirit graciously empowers and equips for discipleship, from the youngest to the oldest, men and women (Acts 2:17)” (World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance 2022, pp. 16–17).

From this follows that the diaconal vocation in the first place relates to everyday life: the family that cares for its members and in particular children and the elderly, the neighborhood and the workplace, civil society, and other arenas for social action (World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance 2022, p. 17).

There is clear recognition that “diaconal activities organized by local congregations and other church structures, including professional diaconal agents, depend on and are largely borne by the diaconate of all believers” (World Council of Churches and ACT Alliance 2022, p. 17). How can the church be mobilized by intentional focus on equipping the baptized for the diaconate of daily life?

While these ecumenical affirmations of the universal diaconate are crucial for the revitalization of the church, they have remained largely undeveloped beyond these formal acknowledgements. The homeostasis that strangles the vitality of the institutional church—which can be called “churchification”—remains a formidable challenge to reconstituting the church’s mission through the service of the baptized diaconate. In North America, a deep rift exists between what happens in the name of the institutional church and the rest of people’s lives. In this regard, the churches of the North have much to learn from the churches of Africa, South America, and Asia about validating and equipping all the baptized for their vocations in daily life (Jenkins 2006).

Baptism and confirmation constitute the ordination of the laity

The primary vocation of Christian people is to live out the covenant God in Christ made with them in baptism: “To live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth”. At the time of the Reformation, the universal priesthood was a radical claim about the equal status of all believers before God based on baptism. It was designed to overcome the dependency of the Christian people (laity) on the ministrations of a clerical hierarchy.

Baptism needs to be understood as a rite of ordination to the ministry for all Christian people. “Baptism and confirmation constitute the ordination of the laity, which makes it possible for them to participate in Christ’s ministry in and for the world” (Apostola 1998, p. 9). Affirming baptism as the primary ordination of Christian people grants significance and status to all the baptized as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By teaching baptism as ordination to ministry in the diaconate of all believers, the formation of the baptized for their service to others in daily life must be taken as seriously as theological education for deacons and pastors. The formation of believers for the universal diaconate begins with focused attention in the church’s worship, education, community, and leadership practices.

Read the full text from The Diaconate of All Believers: Theology, Formation, Practice, MDPI Journals, 4 June 2023

The Order of Deacon is of New Testament and apostolic origin. The Book of Acts contains what has traditionally been seen as the institution of the diaconate in the selection and appointment of “the seven” through prayer and the laying on of hands for service and distribution of food among widows in the community. The letters of Paul to the Philippians and to Timothy refer to deacons as officers alongside bishops in the life of the emerging church. Deacons became important figures in the administrative life of the church, often acting as the chief administrating officer to bishops and in particular in overseeing the temporalities of the church.

In the Middle Ages, the use and the influence of the office of deacon was diminished, as many of the roles and functions of deacons were taken over by presbyters or members of the minor orders (e.g., lectors and acolytes). During the English Reformation, the major orders of bishop, priest, and deacon were retained, while the minor orders were eliminated. Unlike the Eastern Churches, which preserved the Order of Deacon, the diaconate continued in the West as a transitional order in preparation for the priesthood. While Anglicanism claimed to continue the historic threefold orders of the Church Catholic, it was not until the 20th century that it gave serious consideration to the redevelopment of the diaconate as a permanent and distinct order of ministry.

The redevelopment of the diaconate has recalled the church to a fuller and more vital expression of its ministry as agents of mercy, healing, and justice in the world, especially among those living at the margins of systems and society, restoring the image of Christ who came “to bring good news to the poor.” Women and men called to this ministry of sacramental presence in the world serve as a reminder to the people of God that all are likewise called to follow Christ’s example of diakonia.

Ordination as a deacon is an affirmation by the church that an individual is being called to this distinctive ministry of service and agency, gifted and equipped to inspire and mobilize others into ministries of service, healing, and justice. They become sacramental signs of the presence of Christ in places of need and risk and vulnerability, in the faces of strangers and friends alike.

from The Iona Report pp. 18 and 19
The Diaconate - Anglican Church of Canada