Rector's Thoughts and Reflections

September 20, 2005

The Sacred Order of Deacons

Sandy Grant was ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons on September 10, 2005 at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, Charleston, by Bishop Salmon. To have a greater and perhaps deeper understanding of her ministry as a deacon, I share with you a portion of her examination before our Bishops, during her ordination service. It will shed great light on her call to the ordained ministry and her role as a deacon in the parish, under the direction of Bishop Salmon. In her ordination service, following "The Ministry of the Word," the sermon and the Nicene Creed, the Bishop addressed Sandy with these words:

As a deacon in the Church, you are to study the Holy Scriptures, to seek nourishment from them, and to model your life upon them. You are to make Christ and his redemptive love known, by your word and example, to those among whom you live and work and worship. You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world. You are to assist the bishop and priests in public worship and the ministrations of God's Word and Sacraments, and you are to carry out other duties assigned to you from time to time. At all times, your life and teaching are to show Christ's people that in serving the helpless, they are serving Christ himself. (Book of Common Prayer, page 543)

As a perpetual deacon in the Church, Sandy's role and function is primarily to bring the needs and concerns of the community and world before this community; to hold up those concerns in a way that our community has a desire to respond in the spirit of our faith. Her ministry will also entail serving at the Altar, proclaiming the Gospel during our worship, and other duties within and beyond the parish. Her ordination vows are rather specific, and in the role of the historic deaconate her ministry is one of servanthood.

Sandy is already involved in the Latino community as a member of the Board of the Latino Council of South Carolina, and as a teacher of English to day laborers before they go off to work. Sandy definitely has a servant heart that is coupled with enormous talent not only in speaking fluent Spanish, but also to care deeply for people in a way that upholds their dignity and self worth.

I believe the clergy of the church, regardless of their order, are meant to be living sacraments in the faith community. Ordained and set apart, deacons, priests and bishops are to call forth the baptismal vows that are at the foundation for all Christians.

In a real sense there are four "orders" in the Episcopal Church; the first and most important, and most influential being the laity, followed by deacons, priests and bishops. Each "order" has a certain role to play in the life of the church, spelled out in our baptismal vows, and additionally for some in ordination vows. A deacon's role is to highlight "servanthood" and the concern the church must have to the wider community.

Sandy will honor her call and hopefully in the process call us all to our own ministries and those moments that we may be servant leaders in our community.

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Rector's Thoughts and Reflections