Thread: Schooling for Permanent Deacons Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=030442
Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :
 
My old diocese is looking for new ways to train people to be ordained as permanent deacons. I was wondering what schooling is required for deacons in other shipmate's neck of the woods? What works and what does not in your experience?
 
Posted by FCB (# 1495) on :
 
(Catholic) Archdiocese of Baltimore: one year of discernment with monthly group meetings and then three years of formation. The latter includes Wives are welcome but not required to participate in most aspects of the weekly meetings.

[ 09. January 2016, 17:47: Message edited by: FCB ]
 
Posted by Knopwood (# 11596) on :
 
The Association of Anglican Deacons in Canada has published a draft paper on competencies for ordination (pdf). In the dioceses I'm familiar with, the academic requirements are something like 5 full credits (a year's FTE equivalent) theological study plus clinical pastoral education. Many deacons do complete an MTS or MDiv though.

The major seminary of the RC archdiocese I grew up in has a five-year part-time programme for ordinands preparing for the permanent diaconate.
 
Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :
 
What do permanent deacons do in other countries and communions? From conversation with a work colleague some years ago who was a Catholic one, his role sounded a bit like that of a Reader or Licensed Lay Minister here (same thing, same scarf, but they are called different things in different diocese).
 
Posted by FCB (# 1495) on :
 
The basic things a typical RC deacon does:
In principle, there is nothing a deacon can do that a lay person cannot do, though some of them, such as baptizing outside fo an emergency situation or officiating at wedding, would require a special dispensation for a lay person to do them and others, like preaching at Mass, are forbidden to lay people under current Church law.

But the main thing is that deacons have entered into the clerical state and have received the sacrament of Holy Orders (which are two distinct things). This, of course, is more a matter of being than doing and perhaps ordination to the diaconate makes no sense in traditions that have a purely functional understanding of ordination.
 
Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :
 
Thank you FCB. Are Catholic permanent deacons in the US stipendiary or non-stipendiary?

Of your list, Readers/Licensed Lay Ministers in the CofE do the following,

- Assisting liturgically at Mass, reading the Gospel, etc. [it's possible some high church clergy may not allow this, but it's widespread and as far as England is concerned is OK. I've commented on other occasions on the ship that it's possible it might not be in Wales].
- Preaching at Mass and other liturgies [a major part of their role]
- Often involved in adult education, particularly the catechumenate [this is not restricted to clergy and readers]
- Often has some "ministry of charity" with the poor, the imprisoned, refugees, etc. [again, this is not restricted to clergy and readers, everybody is encouraged to do this]

They don't baptise or marry people. A wedding solemnised by a Reader would be legally void. Clergy in their Deacon's year can do both of those. However, although the wedding would be legally binding, they can't pronounce the blessing. So their marrying people is discouraged.

An important part of what they do which is not in your list is that as well as preaching, they can and do lead non-sacramental services, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer etc.

They can also be authorised to take funerals which aren't usually requiems in the CofE.
 
Posted by Augustine the Aleut (# 1472) on :
 
Enoch asks:
quote:
Are Catholic permanent deacons in the US stipendiary or non-stipendiary?
As in Canada, both. Many chanceries have deacon staff, some of whom are canon lawyers. I know of a few parishes in Ottawa which have deacons on the payroll, one exclusively for marriage preparation. I gather that the majority of deacons are non-stipiendiary, and a number are pensioners. I have been to several RC weddings and one baptism where the minister was a deacon. RC Ottawa has 86 deacons over 114 diocesan clergy. Two smaller local dioceses have 9 to 38 (Pembroke) and Alexandria-Cornwall 9-32. I gather that, with a rapidly aging priestly cohort, the permanent deacons are picking up the slack.

If my memory serves me well, they go through a 4-year course, focussing on liturgical pastoral theology and homilectics, and lighter on dogmatic, and I don't think it includes Greek or Hebrew.

[ 10. January 2016, 16:03: Message edited by: Augustine the Aleut ]
 
Posted by Knopwood (# 11596) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:

They don't baptise or marry people. A wedding solemnised by a Reader would be legally void. Clergy in their Deacon's year can do both of those. However, although the wedding would be legally binding, they can't pronounce the blessing. So their marrying people is discouraged.

An important part of what they do which is not in your list is that as well as preaching, they can and do lead non-sacramental services, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer etc.

They can also be authorised to take funerals which aren't usually requiems in the CofE.
Yes, as has been noted in previous discussions of the subject here, Reader ministry is primarily a teaching office, while deacons are ordained to the ministry of word and service.

What you say about deacons and weddings holds in the Anglican Church of Canada as well, although I know of at least one diocese thereof where transitional deacons are routinely given licenses to marry but vocational/permanent deacons are not, which makes little sense to me.

Because of the lateness of the revival of the permanent diaconate in the West, there is something of patchwork of protocols and expectations across dioceses in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. (I gather this is even more so the case in the C of E).
 
Posted by Boogie (# 13538) on :
 
The Methodist Diaconal Order is both an Order of Ministry and a Religious Order within the Methodist Church in the UK.
 
Posted by dj_ordinaire (# 4643) on :
 
Just as a Hostly note, deacons do have many functions in worship, but their vocation is much wider than that. If the thread begins entering into the broader questions of discernment or service then we might move it to Purg or All Saints. Here is fine for now.

dj_ordinaire, Eccles host
 
Posted by Augustine the Aleut (# 1472) on :
 
Knopwood writes:
quote:
What you say about deacons and weddings holds in the Anglican Church of Canada as well, although I know of at least one diocese thereof where transitional deacons are routinely given licenses to marry but vocational/permanent deacons are not, which makes little sense to me.

Because of the lateness of the revival of the permanent diaconate in the West, there is something of patchwork of protocols and expectations across dioceses in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. (I gather this is even more so the case in the C of E).
"Something of a patchwork" is a very polite way of putting it, a tribute to Knopwood's diplomatic skills-- such abilities will reap him rewards with committee assignments for years to come.

I have seen two occasions in Canada where a deacon, cheerfully in the chancel, was overlooked while the rector in a gospel procession, took over for the reading of the Gospel. My cynical companion suggested that the deacon might not have as good a voice as the rector.

A permanent deacon I once met in the US was one of the few I have seen vested with a maniple (as well as the over-shoulder-stole with alb). I congratulated her on this and she confessed that it was a sign of her spiritual immaturity-- she further noted that her rector had thrown out the vestment cupboard's supply of maniples and she had rescued them from the bin. As she was a prison chaplain, I think we can excuse her for her passive-aggressive disregard of rectorial authority.
 
Posted by ChaliceGirl (# 13656) on :
 
Episcopal Diocese of PA used to use Providence Theological School, all online. They switched to using online courses from General Theological School.
 
Posted by Up In Smoke (# 10971) on :
 
Here is what The Diocese of California (Episcopal) does for diaconal education: http://www.sfd.edu/
 
Posted by Al Eluia (# 864) on :
 
Some diaconal candidates in our diocese attend a training program for deacons in TEC, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran churches at Seattle University. The curriculum appears to be sort of "seminary lite." But the diocese's training requirements seem pretty flexible.
 
Posted by Adam. (# 4991) on :
 
We're lucky in having four Catholic colleges in this diocese, so the diocese puts its own program together (which is much as FCB described) using their faculties, plus local clergy and lay leaders for some of the 'practical' stuff. I think there's a full time deacon formation staff of two people coordinating all of this, with bishop also providing pretty direct oversight.
 


© Ship of Fools 2016

Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.5.0