2nd
Annual Conference for Deacons
First
publication: June, 1981
There are 700
vocational deacons in the Episcopal Church today, and the Second National
Conference for Deacons, held May 21-23 at the center for Continuing Education
at Notre Dame, Indiana, heard the rev. Dr. John. E. Booty challenge deacons to
be, “true and lively catalysts of the universal servanthood of all Christians,
both in their actions and their inner beings.”
Dr. Booty, professor of Church History at the Episcopal
Divinity School, Cambridge, MA, pointed to the revival of the vocational
diaconate and the mushrooming numbers of deacons in the church as offering and
opportunity to personify, sacramentalize and enable the servant ministry to
which all Christians are called to at Baptism.
Approximately 100
vocational deacons and friends of diaconal ministry from 39 states and two
Canadian provinces attended the conference.
Twenty Five workshops sharing the diversity of ministry of deacons and
and the issues of diaconal ministry were at the heart of the conference. A previous conference in 1979 explored the
theological undergirding of the Diaconate.
The conference was a cooperative part of a six year effort called for by the 1979 General Convention of
the Episcopal Church, directed at raising the consciousness of the church about
the work and ministry of deacons, setting up pilot programs and evaluating the
national effort. The conference
recommended that province-wide deacon gatherings be held in the spring of 1982,
and that another national conference be
held in 1983.
The worship of the
conference incorporated the many ways the deacon serves liturgically and was
arranged by The Associated parishes,
Alexandria VA., who co-sponsored the conference
with the National Association for The Diaconate, Boston, MA.
The National Center for
The Diaconate, formerly known as the Central House for Deaconesses, is a 35
year old agency working to promote the distinctive, vocational diaconate, to
educate the church and to support deacons and others in diaconal ministry. The Center is located at 14 Beacon Street,
Boston, MA., 02108. The Rev. James L.
Lowery, Jr. provides executive services to the Center and Gail D. Hinand is the
Administrator.
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