Deacon Sunday is Coming Up

The first Sunday of June is Deacon Awareness Sunday. The Order of Deacons in the UM Church has only been around since 1996 but it is mighty indeed. Deacons are ordained ministers of Word and Service who connect the church to the world in some amazing ways. This spring I had the privilege of meeting with Deacons from both the Eastern PA and the Peninsula Delaware Conferences. They are involved in a plethora of ministries: youth, chaplaincy, teaching, counseling, hospice, music, nursing, advocacy, HIV/AIDS ministry, retirement community ministry, disability ministry, church planting, international missions, Christian Education, ministry with grieving children, etc. The possibilities are endless. Invite a Deacon to your church to share about the ministry. Encourage people who are feeling God’s call to full time ministry to explore the Order of Deacons.

Deacon Sunday Litany

Leader:
Within the people of God, some persons are called to the ministry of deacon. Very early in its history the church . . . instituted an order of ordained ministers to personify or focus the servanthood to which all Christians are called. These people were named deacons. This ministry exemplifies and leads the Church in the servanthood every Christian is called to live both in the church and the world.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
Deacons are persons called by God, authorized by the Church, and ordained by a bishop to a
lifetime ministry of Word and Service to both the community and the congregation in a
ministry that connects the two.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:

Deacons fulfill servant ministry in the world and lead the Church in relating the gathered life
of Christians to their ministries in the world, interrelating worship in the gathered community with service to God in the world.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
Deacons lead the congregation in its servant ministry and equip and support all baptized
Christians in their ministry.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
Deacons give leadership in the Church’s life:
in teaching and proclaiming the Word
in contributing to worship
in assisting the elders in administering the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
Deacons give leadership in the Church’s life:
in forming and nurturing disciples
in conducting marriages and burying the dead
in embodying the church’s mission to the world
and in leading congregations in interpreting the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
Deacons exemplify Christian discipleship and create opportunities for others to enter into discipleship:
In the world, the deacon seeks to express a ministry of compassion and justice,
assisting laypersons as they claim their own ministry.
In the congregation, the ministry of the deacon is to teach and to form
disciples, and to lead worship together with other ordained and laypersons.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
Deacons are accountable to the annual conference and the bishop for the fulfillment of their call to servant leadership.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
The deacon in full connection shall have the rights of voice and vote in the annual conference where membership is held.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
Deacons shall be eligible to serve as clergy on boards, commissions, or committees of the annual conference and hold office on the same.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
Deacons shall be eligible for election as a clergy delegate to the General, Central, or jurisdictional conference.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
The deacon in full connection shall attend all the sessions of the annual conference and share with elders in full connection responsibility for all matters of ordination, character, and conference relations of clergy.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.

Leader:
As members of the Order of Deacons, all deacons in full connection are in covenant with all other such deacons in the annual conference and shall participate in the life of their Order.

All: We give thanks for the ministry of the deacon.



Adapted from BOD ¶328 &¶329