(xvi) Deacons and Supplementary Ministries
https://archives.anglican.ca/link/official8481
- Date
- 1969 November 3-7
- Source
- House of Bishops. Minutes
- Type
- Resolution
- Mover
- Bishop of Nova Scotia
- Seconder
- Archbishop of Fredericton
- Prologue
- The Bishop of Nova Scotia on behalf of his Committee presented the following report:
- Report On Deacons and Supplementary Ministry
- (Based on Resolutions 88-91, Lambeth 1958)
- Since this Committee first reported in 1961, another Lambeth Conference has been held where new Resolutions were passed regarding the Office of a Deacon.
- Lambeth 1958 in Resolution 88 on the Office of a Deacon asked each Province to consider whether the Office of Deacon should be restored to its primitive place as a distinctive Order of the Church, instead of being regarded as a probationary period for the priesthood.
- Lambeth 1968 in Resolution 32 (The Diaconate) proposed a more comprehensive view of the Diaconate, which the Conference approved, but on a close majority (221 for and 183 against).
- This Resolution recommended:
- (a) That the diaconate, combining service of others with liturgical functions be open to:
- - 1. Men remaining in secular occupations
- - 2. Full time Church-workers.
- - 3. Those selected for the Priesthood.
- (b) That the Ordinal should, where necessary, be revised:
- - 1. To take account of the new role envisaged for the diaconate.
- - 2. By the removal of the reference to the diaconate as an inferior office.
- - 3. By emphasis on the continuing element of "diakonia" in the ministry of bishops and priests.
- (c) That those made deaconesses by laying on of hands with appropriate prayers be declared to be within the diaconate.
- (d) That appropriate canonical legislation be enacted by provinces and regional Churches to provide for those already ordained deaconesses.
- This resolution of Lambeth 1968 obviously alters radically the approach of Lambeth to the diaconate, and it would be helpful to know whether it is the wish of the House to have the original Committee continue its work and prepare a Canon on Deacons, as was requested at the meeting in Cornwall in 1967.
- Lambeth 1968 appeared unwilling to do what Lambeth 1958 described as "restoring the Order of Deacon to its primitive place as a distinctive Order of the Church", but instead recommended making it more inclusive to include men remaining in secular occupations, full-time Church workers, those selected for the priesthood, and deaconesses.
- It is worth noting, in the preparatory article by the Bishop of St. Andrews, the statement that "a decisive step has been taken by the Roman Catholic Church and they are restoring a permanent diaconate." "The pattern", he says, "has similarity to some of our own experiments, and those not always very successful. The Roman development will be watched with sympathy and hope."
- The Bishop of St. Andrews listed some of the main reasons for intensified interest in the diaconate as the following:
- - 1. That the uses to which the Churches today put this ministry are plainly open to criticism.
- - 2. Ecumenical Dialogue which causes Churches to examine their own accepted practices.
- - 3. The belief that if the Church has three orders of ministry it must be injurious for one order to exist only nominally.
- - 4. The shortage of clergy, and the possibility of part-time clergy.
- - 5. The need, with the increasing practice of frequent communion, for ministers who can assist the celebrant in the administration at the Eucharist.
- Obviously any restoration should not be based on a particular need, but on a broader study of what the diaconate is and what deacons are for. Experience in a revived permanent diaconate, has so far shown only limited success, and the total number of permanent deacons in the Anglican Communion is quite small.
- Study of the Lambeth Documents and Resolutions suggest a need for adaptability and flexibility, without expecting rigid guidelines in the near future. We understand that a General Synod Committee or Task Force is being set up to consider the Lambeth Resolution re deaconesses and the diaconate, which resolution was approved at General Synod, 1969.
- We also have a Committee of the House of Bishops on Deaconesses. Some clarification to avoid duplication of effort would be helpful.
- When this Committee was set up in 1958 its terms of reference included what Lambeth 1958 referred to as "Supplementary Ministry". Lambeth 1968 dealt with this subject under the title, "A Wider Ordained Ministry". A report under this title will be presented to the House of Bishops from a new Committee.
- If the House desires a Committee on Deacons to continue study, we would welcome direction. Otherwise the Committee could be dissolved.
- Text of motion
- "That the Report by the Bishop of Nova Scotia be received."
- Notes
- This subject came up again at the Sixth sitting at which time the Committee was discharged, its concern being taken over by a new Committee on the Wider Ordained Ministry. (See Item xxix.)
- Subjects
- Deacons - Anglican Church of Canada
- Deacons - Anglican Communion
- Deaconesses - Anglican Church of Canada
- Deaconesses - Anglican Communion
- Anglican Communion - Clergy - Office
- Anglican Church of Canada - Clergy - Office
- Lambeth Conference, 1958 - Resolutions
- Lambeth Conference, 1968 - Resolutions
- Anglican Church of Canada. House of Bishops. Committee on the Wider Ordained Ministry