In June 2005 I had the tremendous joy and privilege of being one of the first married men to be ordained as a deacon for the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in England. Alongside
me were three other men who, in the course of over four years of training and studying together, had become like brothers. And there to share in this wonderful celebration were our wives and children.

After our bishop had laid his hands upon us, it was our wives who stepped forward to help us to vest in stole and dalmatic – the distinctive vestments worn by deacons for centuries. For us, this meant that our ministry was strengthened and made possible by the love and support of our wives. You may have heard it said that behind every successful man stands a very surprised woman but, hopefully, in this case, our wives weren’t taken by surprise
too much, for they had been with us on every step of our journey. After much careful preparation, it was a joy to embark together on this new way of living out our vocation.

My own journey to the diaconate had taken many years. I attended our regional seminary between the ages of 11 and 20, before understanding that God was not calling me to be a priest. Not long after leaving seminary I met Christine; we married and we now have three wonderful children. I’ve worked in the fields of both health and education, and was privileged to be a lay hospital chaplain for a while. How strange it is now, though, for
me to be back at that very same seminary, where I work not only as a Pastoral Director with candidates for the priesthood but also as the Director of the Permanent Diaconate programme.

ANCIENT AND MODERN
Ordaining men as “permanent” deacons is both an ancient and a modern idea in the life of the church. It was approved by the Second Vatican Council over 40 years ago, but even then the Council fathers were acting upon the wishes of the Council of Trent, which had taken place 400 years or so earlier.

Deacons played an important part in the very earliest days of the church. Many believe that the first deacons were the seven men chosen in the Acts of the Apostles to look after the practical needs of the community. In fact, the title of “deacon” derives from the Greek
word for “servant”, although clearly the work undertaken by these men included much more than some basic, practical tasks. We know that one of them – Stephen – became the first Christian martyr because of his witness to the good news of Jesus Christ, and that another – Philip - preached and baptised in much the same way as the apostles did
themselves. Deacons are also mentioned several times in the letters of St Paul and in the writings of church fathers such as St Ignatius of Antioch.

By about 500 years later, however, deacons seemed to have disappeared from the visible life of the church. This was mainly because almost all deacons were eventually ordained to the priesthood and seldom appeared outside of seminaries or monasteries. Over time, the
deacon’s duties became ceremonial rather than practical and were largely confined to liturgical celebrations. Of course, there have always been notable exceptions to that general rule, so when people tell me that they’ve never heard of permanent deacons before, I usually ask them whether they have ever heard of St Francis of Assisi!

SO, WHAT DO THEY DO?
Despite such noble exceptions, for more than a thousand years being a deacon was seen as a stepping-stone to the priesthood – a sort of apprenticeship, as it were – rather than as a full ministry in its own right. This means that today there is a lot of confusion about
who deacons are and what they do. They are ordained, but they are not priests. They are often married, have a family and hold down a secular job, but they also have a place in the church’s hierarchy. On the one hand, you sometimes find enthusiastic supporters who believe that deacons are somehow the answer to a shortage of priests while, on the other hand, you will find those who fear that the diaconate will prevent lay people from taking a full share in the ministry of the church.

So in the midst of all this confusion, it is quite in order for us to ask what exactly deacons are for, and whether they are a necessary part of the church at all.

The church tells us that a deacon’s ministry has three parts: he is ordained to the service of the word, to the service of the altar and to the service of charity.

Being at the service of the word means that a deacon is regularly called upon to preach, and he also has the special responsibility of proclaiming the Gospel at Mass. This lies at the heart of a deacon’s ministry. At his ordination the bishop gives him the Book of the Gospels with this solemn instruction, “Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practise what you teach.”

Being at the service of the altar means that deacons share some of the tasks that we normally associate with priests. Deacons are “ordinary ministers” of Baptism and of Holy Communion and they solemnly bless marriages in the name of the church. They preside
at other public acts of worship, such as the daily office or at funeral services. During Mass they have certain specific roles, such as leading the Bidding Prayers. They receive and prepare the gifts. They invite the people to share the sign of peace and dismiss them
at the end of the celebration.

These liturgical tasks are closely bound up with the duty of the deacon to be at the service of charity. He leads the Bidding Prayers because he should have first hand knowledge of the needs of society, and should bring them to the attention of the congregation. He receives the gifts as a symbol that we bring all our needs to the Eucharist, the source and summit of our lives. He invites us to be reconciled and to be united with one another, and
to go from Mass nourished by word and by sacrament so as to be a force for good in the world.

SCARAMENTAL GRACE
Now, on the face of it, there is little here that could not be done by any lay man or woman by virtue of their baptism. But to use this as a reason to reject the diaconate would be to misunderstand our Catholic theology of sacramental grace. We speak of the sacraments as being “outward signs” that embody a deeper reality. The sacrament of Holy Orders serves the church by giving it a specific shape and purpose. Just as the ministerial priesthood
draws out the priestly character of all the baptised, so too should the ministry of the deacon be a permanent and concrete reminder to all God’s people of their responsibility to be servants of the whole world.

We believe that Jesus has given his church the gift of Holy Orders so as to empower it for mission. The engine that drove the early church, so to speak, fired on all three cylinders – bishop, priest and deacon – and the church would be underpowered in today’s world
if we were to neglect any aspect of our Lord’s original gift. If we keep this in mind, then, perhaps we will come to understand that bishops, priests and deacons are there to serve the holy people of God’s church who, by virtue of their baptism, are called to be
his witnesses throughout the world.