Deacon's 30th Anniversary Celebration

 

 

Join the RI Diaconate in Raising Funds

For

St. Mary’s Home for Children

 

On July 13, 1985, Bishop George Hunt ordained the first class of Deacons who completed their formation and academic preparations at the Diocese of Rhode Island School for Deacons.  This was the beginning of the revival and resurrection of the vocational Diaconate in our diocese.  Since that time, there have been 42 people ordained to this order and several others who have transferred their orders to our diocese for a total of 46 vocational deacons to serve here.  Some of these have moved to other dioceses or denominations, some renounced their orders, and others are deceased.  Today, there are 27 canonically resident vocational deacons in Rhode Island, with ten active and seventeen retired.  All active Deacons serve in a parish or mission in collaboration with the Rector, Vicar, or Priest-in-Charge.

2015 is being designated as a year of celebration for this outstanding ministry in our Diocese.  There is a Diocesan wide diaconal ministry event being launched to raise funds for St. Mary’s Home for Children, with the current deacons working with parishes and missions to raise funds for this vital work in our community, and to raise awareness of the financial needs of the agency to sustain this work.  The fundraiser was kicked off with the collection of $534 from the Episcopal Church Women’s Annual Meeting designating their loose offering collection during their Eucharist for this imitative!   Parishes are being asked to do creative activities to raise money throughout the winter and the spring which will be gathered and presented to St. Mary’s at a Festive Eucharist on May 30, 2015 at 4:00 PM,  at St. Martin’s Church, Providence. 

The ritual for the ordination of deacons expresses with particular authority the understanding the church has regarding the ministry of deacons:

 ... God now calls you to a special ministry of servanthood directly under your bishop. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely. … You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world. … At all times, your life and teaching are to show Christ's people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself. BCP page 543

The deacon is the bridge between the church and the world.  Over the last thirty years, deacons in Rhode Island have contributed to their ministry beyond the walls of our churches in many and diverse ways.  A few samples of their ministry include serving the homeless and hungry through the George Hunt Help Center, soup kitchens, food banks and other initiatives. They have provided chaplaincy in hospitals, prisons, for people affected by HIV & AIDS, and on college campuses.  They have provided ministry at the LADD School, visited those in nursing homes, and worked with people suffering with mental illness and addiction. They have ministered internationally in Romania and Haiti, as well as the Dominican Republic. 

Deacons contributed to the governance of the church by serving on Diocesan committees and commissions, and have been delegates to General Convention.  Their commitment spans the church and the world in many ways because they are deacons in everything that they do!

Please join in the fundraiser event for St. Mary’s and plan to attend the Festive Eucharist on May 30, 2015 to celebrate and honor this sacred order.

Manual on "The Deacon in the Liturgy" published; April, 1981

Manual on “The Deacon in the Liturgy” Published

Original publication date of this article: April, 1981

 

“The Deacon in the Liturgy” by Deacon Ormand Plater has been published by the National Center for The Diaconate to clarify the Deacon’s role in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer’s restoration of diversity of ministries as a cardinal principle of worship.

In the book’s introduction,  Deacon Plater writes, “…although this booklet may appear to be a manual of ceremony for a limited audience, the Deacons of the Episcopal Church, its deeper purpose is to help deacons be what they ought to be in the liturgy, neither ostentatious nor sloppy, but serving with grace and manners, and to help bishops, priests and lay persons realize the value of deacons in  the life and worship of the church.  …The deacon’s role in the liturgy reveals the true nature of the deacon as proclaimer and evangelist, messenger and bearer of good news to the poor, as well as servant in the image of Christ.

For some 700 vocational (permanent) deacons in the Episcopal Church today, the book will serve as a manual and guide.  The deacon in the liturgy is presented in the total context of all of the church’s services and offices, and a congregation can make complete or partial use of the material.

Deacon Ormande Plater, Ph.D. serves as assistant at Saint Anna’s Church and as medical chaplain at Touro Infirmary Medical Center, both in New Orleans.  A native of New York City, Deacon Plater’s undergraduate work was done at Vanderbilt University.  He received a doctorate in English Languages and Literature from Tulane University.

The book is available from The National Center for the Diaconate, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, MA, 02108, for $6.

 

CONFERENCE SCHEDULED

We also take note that the National Center for the Diaconate and Associated Parishes will jointly sponsor a conference titled, “The Deacon” May 21-23 at the University of Notre Dame.  Registration, due in writing on or before May 14…..For further information, contact either the Rev. James L. Lowery, Jr. or Ms. Gail D. Hinand, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, MA, 02108.

Deacon's History: Meet John Edmunds

In our continuing reprints, here is an article from March, 1982 issue of The RI Diocesan newspaper.

 

The new face you often see at Diocesan House, either punching away at a typewriter or bending in deep devotion before the copy machine, belongs to The Rev. John Edmunds, director of our just-launched Diaconate Studies Program.  His task at the moment is to pull together the curriculum, faculty and finances which, God willing, will place our diocese at the forefront of re-establishing the Deacon as a full and complete ordained minister of the church, with functions complementary to-- yet distinct from-- those of bishop and priest.  These are not deacons on the way to the priesthood, but (as in Apostolic times) people set apart by ordination to live and serve Christ and His Church in our Lord's example: "I am among you as One who Serveth."  In parishes, institutions and in the secular world, the ministry of this diocese will be thrillingly enlarged.  And John is the man who is charged with getting all of this going.
Born in Concord, New Hampshire, John grew up in Saint Paul's School, where his father was a master.  His interest in the priesthood began in Saint Paul's lovely Gothic chapel -- "Not the religion, but the aesthetics."  The beauty of the place, the stateliness of the liturgy, and mostly the excellence of the music (under Channing Lefebvre, former organist at St. John The Divine, New York City) all touched him deeply.  Intellectually, an assigned term paper on the Oxford Movement and the Catholic revival in Anglicanism drew him on.  Attending Carleton College in Northfield, MN., he was introduced to Kiierkegaard, and Fear and Trembling familiarized him with an even deeper appreciation of the Christian life.

By graduation time, he had decided to go on to seminary, but the bishop of Massachusetts wanted him to have a more diverse experience and sent him to work in the Youth Ministries Program of the Church of the Redeemer, Houston-- a once prosperous inner city parish which was in  transition.  "This was my gas station ministry," he says.  "To support myself I pumped gas.  The station was a gathering place for poor whites and Hispanics and Episcopalianism, with a pentecostal flavor appealed to the gangs who lived there."  The parish grew and John grew. 

He entered ETS (now EDS) in Cambridge in the fall of 1965, shortly after seminarian Jonathan Daniels was martyred in Mississippi-- a profound experience for the students and faculty there.  John Coburn,( now Bishop of Massachusetts ) was dean at ETS at the time and assigned John to the Mattapoisett General Hospital, a geriatric hospital just outside Boston and also worked on a text for the Diocesan Human Relations Committee while in seminary.

He was ordained a priest and served for several years as curate in South Weymouth.  Then followed 4 years as chaplain at the Pomfret School in Connecticut and an equal time doing Clinical Pastoral Training in the Washington area, first as Chaplain Intern  at the Medical College in Virginia, then as Chaplain of the Delaware Street Hospital and at the Bethany Medical Center.  These provided him with experience in the problems of minorities, criminals and adolescents.

In late 1978, he acquired a house in Barrington, RI, and a position in C.E.T.A. as a director of the East Providence Self Help Program.  When budgetary problems reduced this program , John was introduced to the waste removal problems in Barrington, and became one of the most highly educated  "Sanitation Engineers" ever to work in that community.  (Be it known that "sanitation engineers" go by much less exalted titles in less affluent areas!)  He availed himself of the parish consultants training offered by our Diocese.  Now in addition to his new responsibility, he is currently interim rector of St. George's, Central Falls.

"My vocation is the be a priest and an educator," says Fr. Edmunds, "and I am happy and content  in doing what I am doing right now."

We feel assured that his varied experience has prepared him well, and will watch with prayers and keen interest his leadership in the Deacon's Training Program.



A New term for Our Deacon Students

Thanks to Ed Dean, here are the pictures of the first weekend of Deacon School.  Best wishes to all students!

Deacon Joyce Thorne Strives to Help the Unemployed

While the Rev. Dcn. Joyce Thorne has been ordained since May 22, 2010, her outreach and ministry to those in need has covered several decades.  She has worked for Rhode Island Housing, where she helped people who were to become first-time home owners to attain their goal.  She has been a part of the congregation of The Cathedral of Saint John for most of her adult life, and was involved in outreach there. She helped with the Meal Site that was begun there by parishioners and Deacon Ida Johnson.  She also had a hand in the creation of a quilt to recognize the end of the importation of slavery in this country, along with parishioners and Rev. Dcn. Barbara Mays-Stock.  Joyce had an ongoing presence at the altar, serving in early years as part of the Altar Guild, and later as subdeacon and lay reader.

But it wasn’t until she attended the ordination of Deacon Ricky Brightman that she began to sense her call to the diaconate in a more direct way.  “I was sitting at the ordination, and at several places, I felt a presence, a hand on my shoulder, though I knew there was no one next to me.  I began to feel drawn to ask about the Diaconate.”

She had discussions with Deacon Ricky and eventually spoke to the Dean, Maria DeCarvahlo about the idea.  But it was when she spoke to Dean Harry Krauss that he told her to consider involving herself in the Discernment Program offered by the Diocese.  This program is set up to help people find where God is calling them to serve.

When Deacon Joyce began attending classes, she was one of two students going through the process, but in the end, she finished alone.  “That was hard,” said Joyce, “because there was no one to bounce ideas to, or to hear what they were thinking.  It was a little bit lonely. “

Joyce had two ideas for her ministry as she went through the process.  First, she thought of working at a nursing home, listening, helping, talking and being a presence.  When that choice was not accepted, she decided that her other option was to utilize the opportunity that she had to obtain regular information about job postings and make them available to parishioners, friends, and ultimately provide a Diocesan wide service of information and networking.   “In this declining economy, it seemed that I could offer this every day and help those who needed this information to find work,” she said.

Deacon Joyce brings her ministry into the church in specific ways.  First, she let all the priests of the Diocese know that this service was available and there are 10 or 12 priests who have asked that her daily emails be sent to their parishes for any who might need them.  Then, she began to receive emails from priests, asking to add some of their parishioners directly to her email service, which she has done.  She is still looking to do more with this and asks that if anyone would like to be added to her list, for them to contact her at lbmp1805@cox.net.  Deacon Joyce is currently assigned at Saint Luke’s Church in Pawtucket, and can be reached there as well.  In addition to her diaconal work, Joyce was elected to serve on the Commission on Finance at the most recent Diocesan Convention.

Deacon Joyce has also been working on the new database at the Diocesan House on a voluntary basis, and is helping Episcopal Charities to update all important data for their mailings.  She enjoys her time at the Diocese.  “I think it’s great to be there, because there is always so much going on.  I see new young people, meet new priests coming into the Diocese and I have learned that what is involved in running the diocese is remarkable.  It’s an eye-opening experience to see all the work that is done there to protect and serve all the parishes of the Diocese, and it is clear to me that they really do care,” she said.

Deacon Joyce’s journey into her life as a deacon had some twists and turns.  Her family did not always think that it was something that she could do, but came to support her in the end.  Two of her grandchildren died while she was in training to become a deacon.  “It was my faith in God that kept me going.  If I had not had that deep faith, I would have thought at that point that God had just given up on me.  I know that God has taken my right hand and walked with me throughout all of this, and that God would never leave me,” she said.

Deacon Joyce celebrated her 72^nd birthday in January, and since this is the mandatory age of retirement for deacons, she requested that the Bishop allow her to continue her work as a deacon.  National canon law allows the Bishop at his/her discretion to allow a deacon to serve going forward.  There is then a yearly meeting and review with the deacon going.  Joyce says, “I feel great, and don’t want to give it up because I feel that I can be of service.  I will continue to do this on a yearly basis until I can’t anymore, but until then, I hope to continue in my diaconal duties.”

Deacon Ted Hallenbeck receives 2013 Steere House Legacy Award and is named Autumn’s Promise Honoree

On Friday evening, October 4^th, at 7:00, The Rev. Dcn. Ted Hallenbeck will be honored to receive the Steere House Legacy Award.  For the last 17 years, Ted has served on the Board of Directors of Steere House, a 120 bed skilled Nursing care facility on the campus of Rhode Island Hospital. The last 7 years he has also been treasurer, as they have worked through an assortment of difficult issues, until his retirement this year.

 

Ted has served as a trustee for South Providence Neighborhood Ministries and became a board member in 1998, and a year later he became a board member of Ocean State Assisted Living, a joint effort between Steere House and Scandinavian Home.  Steere House has awarded Ted Hallenbeck the 2013 Legacy Award and named him the Autumn’s Promise Honoree.

 

Ted has been a deacon in the Diocese of Rhode Island since 1985.  He came to Rhode Island in 1957, working in college and university administration.  He helped to create the Community College of Rhode Island and helped to improve and upgrade both URI and RI College.  He was involved in the building of the Bristol campus of Roger Williams College.  After that, he helped to create the nationwide University Without Walls, which is an alternative higher education program.

 

After working in organizational development and fundraising with churches, nursing homes and agencies, he began to feel a call to serve as a deacon.  He has worked on various diocesan groups, including Diocesan Council and its Executive Committee, Commission on Finance, Program and Budget Committee, Episcopal Charities Board and the 2015 Task Force for Strategic Needs and Planning.  Ted says of his time and work in these areas, “This is a very healthy and exciting time as together with a new Bishop we figure out how to work together effectively and tackle an assortment of issues, some new, some old.  And it looks like 2013 and 2014 will be a busy time!”  He is pictured here, with other deacons at the Diakonia of the Americas and the Caribbean (DOTAC) conference in Trinidad.  Ted has served for 17 years on the Executive Committee and 8 years as Treasurer of DOTAC.

 

Ted serves The Fund for the Diaconate as its President, and works especially on Grant Coordination with the Ven. Bill Jones.  The Fund focuses on improving the ways we assist and support deacons.

 

Ted says of their work through the Fund, “Recent experience has shown us that we can be of assistance that is not necessarily financial. We need to broaden our support pattern and linkages to involving others in assisting deacons.”

 

Ted has also served as Executive Director of the North American Association for the Diaconate from 1989 to 2004.  Today, he is a retired deacon at Saint Luke’s Church, East Greenwich, and helps as needed.

 

Pictured here with Dutton Moorehouse, past editor of Diakonia, at the 2006 TEC General Convention in Coilumbus, Ohio.

 

 

Ted’s wife, Pat taught New Testament in the RI School for Deacons for many years.

 

Ted ended our time together by musing a bit about the future.  “Arriving at age 86 and encountering an assortment of limiting health related concerns, means that I cannot do what the younger folks do, or I once did.  I limit my commitments and activities, now primarily focused on Diocese of Rhode Island groups, which I am delighted to serve and will continue to do so as long as I am able and useful.”

Meet Our Archdeacon, The Ven. Janice Grinnell

Jan first sensed a call to ordained ministry as a child in her parent’s church in Pennsylvania.  This was a protestant church which actually had a few women ministers. She did not pursue this call until years later when she became a recovering alcoholic, and discovered a God of unconditional love for all people.  She was passionate about helping others understand this unconditional love, and found her call to help those suffering from addiction and mental illness.  Jan completed the RI School for Deacons in 1990, and was ordained a Deacon on March 16,1991 by Bishop George Hunt.

Jan has served liturgically at St. Michael’s, Bristol; Trinity Church in Newport; St. Paul’s, Wickford; and currently at St. Augustine’s at the University of Rhode Island.  Over the years, her ministry has evolved as she has continued to strive to discern God’s call to her in the world beyond the physical walls of the church.  In 1998, she became interested in Parish Interim Ministry and was trained in the Appreciative Inquiry model for this work in our diocese.  She and The Rev. David Dobbins have formed the first Priest/Deacon Interim team in Rhode Island and have served together in this role in each of her parish assignments.  One of Jan’s passions is to help individuals and organizations discover, define, and articulate the ‘passionate purpose’ that God has called them to pursue. This has been successful in each parish in which they have served.

Currently, Jan and David are engaged in campus ministry for the University of Rhode Island (URI) with the parishioners of St. Augustine’s, Kingston.  Together, they have created a “Feed a Friend” program to engage students with parishioners through home cooked meals.  They also joined the others in the Diocese in outreach efforts to take the church into the world.  They participated in “Ashes to Go” on Ash Wednesday, and as a result of this success, offered “Hot Cross Buns To Go” on Maundy Thursday along with an invitation to join St. Augustine’s during Holy Week and Easter.  This was followed by combining Smartie Candies and a prayer for final exams and creating “Smarties to Go.”  Another amazing discovery was uncovering campus hunger at URI in the student community.  This has led to establishing a Food Pantry in collaboration with the Johhnycake Center in Wakefield, and the Feinstein Foundation and the University Administration.  The food pantry will be open twice a month to distribute food to those in need.

Jan’s secular employment over the years has focused on IT consulting.  She has worked for several large companies, and now owns her own certified Woman Owned Enterprise (WBE).  She provides software consulting services to state government agencies throughout the country for system testing, training, and project management.  She has people working in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Pennsylvania.  She has also begun to bring Appreciative Inquiry consulting to several large corporations.

In January, 2013, Bishop Knisely appointed Jan to serve as Archdeacon of our Diocese.  Jan’s enthusiasm for building the diaconate in our diocese has been well received by the current deacons.  One of her focal points has been to try to identify opportunities to share with others the bishop’s vision of revitalizing the Diaconate in Rhode Island. 

Jan says of her years in active ministry, “I have been blessed to be able to serve God through the ministry of the Diaconate.  I began with the vision of sharing God’s unconditional love with those who would listen.  For me, the result has been that those I have ministered to have held up a mirror to reflect this concept back to me through their love and support for me and my family.  I am thrilled to be part of this diocese at this time.  We embrace God’s call for his whole church to reach out to those who still need to hear, understand, and accept this love; and ultimately, experience the joy of living in God’s kingdom right here in Rhode Island!”