Diaconal Reflections Part 3

What is the purpose of the diaconal year? Why does the Church of England ordain people deacons and then, one year later, ordain them priests?

Without going into too much detail, I am aware from experience that there are a number of different opinions on this subject. I have heard it said that the diaconal year is a probationary year, to "weed out" those deacons who really shouldn't be ordained priest. I have heard it said that there isn't any point to the diaconal year, that it is a "wasted year," and that ordinands should be ordained priest straight away.

You will know from my previous two entries that I don't subscribe to either of these views! And neither, praise God, does our Bishop, James, who believes in the importance of the diaconal year so much that he has changed the practice that used to happen in Rochester Diocese. Rochester has always been a Diocese that ordains deacons at Michaelmas (September), but it always used to be the practice that the priests' ordinations took place at Petertide (June/July). Not any more! Us new deacons now get the full diaconal year, being ordained priest in September (8th, if anyone is interested!) This change in practice emphasises the importance of the diaconal year as the foundation of the priesthood.

I do find it very sad that some people - including training incumbents - seem to attach so little significance to the diaconal year. It leaves me wondering - and this may be controversial! - why some people are chosen as training incumbents in the first place. I know colleagues who have had no experience whatsoever of the diaconal liturgical role, which leaves me heartbroken for them, because I know from my own experience what they are missing out on, and how sharing in the Eucharist in this way is preparing me in many intangible ways for that time when I will preside over the Eucharist myself.

Next week, I will be spending a day at Ripon College Cuddesdon with a number of friends who trained with me, and were also ordained deacon last year. It is an opportunity for us to meet together, to reflect on our training experience, and to share stories. One of the things I am looking forward to finding out is their own experiences of being deacons, and how that compares to my own, and to those who have had very different experiences. It should be interesting...!

Diaconal Reflections Part 2

Today being my study day, I have spent a significant amount of it writing a reflection for the Bishop on my time as a Deacon to date. In some ways, it has come a little too soon, because I am in the process of reflecting on my diaconal role in the Eucharist, and it would have been great to have finished that before the reflection for the Bishop was due. But never mind!

The reason I have been reflecting on this is because I have found it such a profound experience to take on this liturgical role in the Eucharist. For anyone who is not clear what the diaconal role is, Common Worship explains it thus:

“In some traditions the ministry of the deacon at Holy Communion has included some of the following elements: the bringing in of the Book of the Gospels, the invitation to confession, the reading of the Gospel, the preaching of the sermon when licensed to do so, a part in the prayers of intercession, the preparation of the table and the gifts, a part in the distribution, the ablutions, and the dismissal.” (p158)


I have come to the conclusion that the liturgical role of the deacon is not only foundational for myself as I prepare to be ordained priest in September, and not only an expression of the servant ministry which the whole church is called to, but it also embodies in the liturgical role the whole of the deacon's ministry. Let me explain with a few examples:

1. In the Eucharist, the Deacon reads the Gospel. This is a liturgical expression of the words spoken to us in the ordination: to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed, and so I am reflecting on what it means to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed in 'everyday' ministry.
2. In the Eucharist, the Deacon prepares the altar for Holy Communion. This is a liturgical expression of the servanthood which the Deacon is called to; and so I ask myself the question: how am I 'preparing the table' for people to meet with God in other contexts?
3. In the Eucharist, the Deacon invites the congregation to confession, to share the peace, to proclaim the mystery of faith, and, finally, to go in peace to love and serve the Lord. This is a liturgical expression of the Deacon's call to encourage and enable the ministry of others, and therefore, again, my reflection is of how I invite, encourage, and enable others to live out their calling in the life of the Church.

There is much more I can (and have) said in my reflection for the Bishop, but this gives the basics of where I am at, and how important this diaconal year has been, particularly as I will remain a deacon after my priesting. I am well aware that the diaconal year is not as important for some as it is for others; this will be the topic of my next blog tomorrow!

Diaconal Reflections

Well, so much for good intentions. I have obviously been shockingly bad at blogging in my diaconal year, and so here I am, determined to pick the thread up again.

There are a number of reasons why the blogging has been basically put on ice for the last 9 months...which in reality can all be summed up in the fact that other things have taken higher priority.

What things? Well, to name a few:

1. Settling into a new home and new role, with a wife and son who need to have quality time with their husband/father; time which can be at a premium in this vocation.
2. Getting to grips with what it means to be a deacon, and particularly what it means in the context of this parish.
3. Arriving as Assistant Curate with 9 years Church Army experience...so being given more responsibilities than might be expected of many 1st-year curates.
4. Finishing my Oxford degree (achieved last month - woo-hoo!)
5. Kent Initial Ministerial Education. (Deserves a post on its own).
6. Spending time with God - kind of important!

Far too much has happened over the last eight months to go into lots of detail, but this post is my sincere effort to try and get back on track with blogging. I have a good friend from Church Army days who regularly challenges me on keeping up with the blog - Dorothy, you have my permission to comment vociferously if I don't blog for more than a week!

I've titled this post Diaconal Reflections, because it has been through reflecting on my time as a deacon (as part of my preparations to meet with the Bishop next month prior to priesting in September) that the lack of blogging has returned to my mind. More of this will follow; in the meantime, for those who have been waiting, above is an up-to-date picture of our Nathan, now aged 20 months, and entering the terrible twos far too early!

Entering the Diaconate

Tomorrow, I head off on retreat to spend a few days preparing for ordination as a deacon. One thing I will be taking with me is Rosalind Brown's book, Being A Deacon Today, which I will use to reflect on the awesome nature of what it is that God has called me to.

Being a deacon, of course, is not just a one-year transitional period before being ordained a priest next year. A session we had in our Leavers' Course at Cuddesdon was called: 'Once a deacon, always a deacon', and it is true - priests and bishops are all deacons as well. We don't stop being a deacon on ordination to the priesthood - it is a lifelong call.

I have already been reflecting on what is distinctive to diaconate ministry, based on some of the words the Bishop will say during the service next Saturday. I reproduce a few of them here, and leave them for you to reflect upon, as I prepare to reflect on them again over the next few days:

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...

Deacons are called to work with the Bishop and the priests with whom they serve as heralds of Christ's kingdom. They are to proclaim the gospel in word and deed, as agents of God's purposes of love. They are to serve the community in which they are set, bringing to the Church the needs and hopes of all the people. They are to work with their fellow members in searching out the poor and weak, the sick and lonely and those who are oppressed and powerless, reaching into the forgotten corners of the world, that the love of God may be made visible.

Deacons share in the pastoral ministry of the Church and in leading God's people in worship. They preach the word and bring the needs of the world before the Church in intercession. They accompany those searching for faith and bring them to baptism. They assist in administering the sacraments; they distribute communion and minister to the sick and housebound.

Deacons are to seek nourishment from the Scriptures; they are to study them with God's people, that the whole Church may be equipped to live out the gospel in the world. They are to be faithful in prayer, expectant and watchful for the signs of God's presence, as he reveals his kingdom among us.

Ordination Approaching

It's less than two weeks until I am ordained deacon by James, Bishop of Rochester, in Rochester Cathedral.

It has been an interesting experience, having nearly 3 months between leaving theological college and being ordained. If it was the standard practice across the country, it would not feel so strange, but having seen nearly all of my peers from Cuddesdon get ordained at the end of June or start of July, there has definitely been a mix of emotions!

Most of the time, it feels appropriate to have had this gap. For one thing, it has enabled me to get to know the parish, and the congregations to get to know me, so that when the ordination arrives, the churches already know something about their new curate. We certainly feel that we have begun to put down roots in the community, which must have been a lot harder for friends who moved and were then ordained less than two weeks after arriving. For ourselves, it is in some small way a hearkening back to the ordinations in the early church, when usually it was a member of the local congregation who were ordained to minister to that congregation. (In some cases, of course, this is what happens with self-supporting ministers today).

Another advantage of being a 'late' ordination, of course, is that we were able to go to other ordinations (we managed to see three in a whistle-stop tour of the country)...and there will be several Cuddesdonians who are able to come to mine next month. We are so grateful to them for taking time out to be here - of course, being on a Saturday helps!

It's not all been positive, of course. There have been times - especially during the ordination period - where I have felt somewhat left out, and this feeling still crops up now and again. The rational part of me knows that there are lots of good reasons for Rochester Diocese ordaining in September - reasons I agree with - but there is still that other part of me that wants to say, "It's not fair! Why isn't everyone ordained at the same time?" One thing I will be very interested to see is what happens in the Church Times - during the Petertide ordinations (late June/early July), there is an 'ordination special', in which there is a big pull out with the details of all the ordinations that took place over those two weekends. Somehow, I have a feeling that the Rochester ordinations will be stuck away amongst all the various appointments of the week. Perhaps I am wrong, we will see - but if not, it will add to the feeling that we are a bit of an afterthought here in Rochester.

Of course, in some ways, that might be a very good thing. I heard someone preach on St. Barthlomew the other week, who likened St. Bartholomew's ministry to that of a deacon - the unseen servant. A deacon, he said, is called to serve in a way in which that service often goes unnoticed. He likened it to the service one might received from a waiter at a 5-star restaurant - the perfect waiter serves the customer without the latter even noticing that (s)he is being waited on. As a soon-to-be deacon, I am called to serve the church (and also the rest of the community) in the way that Christ did and does. There is more to be said about diaconate ministry, but I think I will save it for another post - it deserves one of its own.

In the meantime, September 10th draws near. Please pray for me, the other 11 candidates to be ordained deacon (especially Jo, a fellow Cuddesdonian), and the parishes (and in one case, deanery) who are receiving curates. Thank you!

Introducing the family

Most people visiting this blog will be well acquainted with the rest of the family, but for any new visitors, here is a brief introduction.

Clare & I met during my Church Army training, when I had a 4-week placement at her church in Newchapel, Stoke-on-Trent. We hit it off straight away (with only 4 weeks, I had to move quickly!) and spent the next 2 years in a "long-distance" relationship where one or other of us would make the journey between Stoke & Sheffield at weekends. We got married in July 2000, shortly after I finished my CA training.

Clare and Nathan

Clare is probably the most patient person you would ever meet, as well as one of the most caring. Her last paid employment was as a Care Assistant in Biggin Hill, working at a day centre. She is now loving being a full-time Mum! We both enjoy going to the cinema, although we haven't been nearly as much in the last year - we haven't even managed to see the last Harry Potter yet!

Our 'gift from God' is Nathan (that's what his name means), born in September 2010. We really do think of him as our little miracle - we didn't wait for 10 years after getting married on purpose! It was a long, long journey for his arrival, and we are treasuring every moment with him. At time of writing, he is a little under 11 months old, he has been crawling for about a month, and loves being on his feet, cruising round the furniture. We don't think it will be much longer before he walks! Latest trick he has learnt is clapping, which he is very proud of!

Welcome to Cenobite's Community!

This is my second attempt to launch the new blog, after the natural conclusion of my previous one, Captain's (B)log, which charted my journey from Church Army Officer through life at theological college. As ordination is now one month away, it is time to say goodbye to the Captain forever, and welcome to the (almost) curate!

My aim for this blog is for it to be as it says - a community. It will contain various musings from me on life as a curate, as well as some of the issues of the day - both those which affect the church or Christianity directly, and those which do not have such an obvious connection (although as one who subscribes to the view that God is visible throughout God's world, I believe that pretty much anything and everything can relate to the Creator in some way).

My hope is that those of you who visit will want to stay and make your own contributions via the comments. One thing which attracted me to Ripon College Cuddesdon for my ordination training was the principal's announcement that it was a place of "awe, wonder and exploration". An internet blog can never be a substitute for a real-life community like a theological college - or a church congregation - but I do hope that we can all share in the wonder and exploration of the Christian journey in a non-judgemental fashion.

A word on the title. Community, I hope, is obvious! I valued immensely my time at Cuddesdon - and even the awkward, uncomfortable aspects of life in community were still incredibly worthwhile in my own spiritual journey. As for 'Cenobite' - it does not refer to the Cenobite of Clive Barker's world! Rather, it is a reference to an ancient monastic order who lived in community, serving one another and the outside world. This latter part is of great importance for me, as I am not one of those who believe Christians should shut themselves off from the rest of the world. Rather, we should be there to serve, walk alongside, minister to everyone in need, no matter what their personal faith. The 'cure of souls' is so named for a reason!

If you are interested, there is a fascinating article about Cenobitic monasticism at this link; alternatively, you can read the short version at the Orthodox Wiki!

I do hope you enjoy visiting this blog; whether you become a regular visitor or an occasional one, you are always welcome, and God bless you on your journey!