What is it about?
The ministry of deacons derives from the ministry of Jesus Christ and in the past has tended to be seen as primarily a ministry of service. I suggest that, as Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit, so we should understand the ministry of deacons to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Building on existing theological insights, this opens up new opportunities for deacons as people called to proclaim the good news of the gospel.
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Why is it important?
In 2005, the Church of England (the case study in this paper) changed its prayer when ordaining deacons and now explicitly prays for the empowering of the Holy Spirit. The implications of this change for the calling and the ministry of deacons have not yet been explored. Faced with a world in such need of hearing the gospel, the Church should encourage the ministry of deacons. Recognising more explicitly the work of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of deacons may open up new expressions of this calling and also commend it to evangelical and charismatic Christians who have tended in the past not to recognise the potential of this ministry .
Perspectives
I have been involved with work on the ministry of deacons for over 15 years and remain committed to encouraging this as a distinctive ministry to which some people are called and from which the Church and the world would benefit enormously. This paper is an attempt to open up further dialogue, building on John Collins' writings on the Christological foundation of the ministry of deacons by adding an explicit pneumatological undermpinning. My hope is that this will encourage more people of all churches and churchmanships to recognise this vocation.
Rosalind Brown
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This page is a summary of: Expanding the Theological Foundation of the Deacon’s Ministry, Ecclesiology, May 2017, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/17455316-01302005.
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