Celebrating the Ministry of Deacons

Deacons are ordained ministers of the church, dedicated to a special ministry of servanthood. According to the Book of Common Prayer’s Ordination service for Deacons, deacons make Christ and his redemptive love known; interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world; assist in worship; and serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely. In the Diocese of San Diego, we are grateful for the ministry of deacons in many of our congregations. They not only serve God’s people themselves, but they also lead the people of God in serving the world around them.

On Sunday, October 15, the Diocese of San Diego will celebrate the ministry of deacons – and, by extension, the ministry of service that is the calling of all baptized Christians. Bishop Susan is authorizing congregations who wish to celebrate deacons that day to transfer the feast of Philip, Deacon and Evangelist (October 11) to the following Sunday. Bishop Susan also requests that congregations pray the following prayer of thanksgiving for the ministry of deacons on Sunday, October 15:

O God, we praise you for sending your Son Jesus Christ, who took on himself the form of a servant, and humbled himself, becoming obedient event to death on the cross. We praise you that you have highly exalted him, and made him Lord of all; and that, through him, we know that whoever would be great must be servant of all. We praise you for the many ministries in your Church, and for calling some of your servants to be ordained in the order of Deacons, who have a special ministry of servanthood. We pray for God’s blessing upon all deacons (especially N.), and ask that through them, we may all be inspired to serve God’s people, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In our diocese, our Archdeacon, or leader of the deacons, is The Venerable Cindy Campos. Many of you have been privileged to hear Archdeacon Cindy speak in your congregation about the ministry of deacons. She is happy to visit congregations at the invitation of their clergy, and is also happy to talk with anyone who feels they may be called to explore becoming a deacon themselves. Archdeacon Cindy may be reached at CCampos@edsd.org.

Here are some ideas for how you could celebrate Deacons’ Day on October 15:

• Celebrate St. Philip’s Day, using the appointed lessons: Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 67; and Luke 24:13-27.
• Invite a deacon to preach about the ministry of Diakonia.
• Include bulletin information about St. Philip and the ministry of deacons.

We thank God for the ministry of all our deacons – they are true servant leaders in our diocese.