Today we commemorate the deacons Prochor, Nicanor, Timon, and Parmenas mentioned in Acts 6.5. They were chosen by the community to serve the social ministry needs of the community so that the Disciples could maintain their focus on teaching and study. According to tradition two became bishops (Prochor and Timon), the other two – it appears (but don’t hold me to this) remained deacons. Timon and Nicanor were both martyred – the first was stoned to death in Jerusalem, the other was burned alive by Pagans in Arabia.

Some years ago I attened a conference in Baltimore on the development of, and resurgence of the diaconate. One of the things that really struck me over the course of the day long gathering was how in many ways the modern diaconate had lost its way – becoming little more than a stepping stone to the priesthood. The attendees were keen to see something done about this – to restore this ancient order. At the time as well many of the liturgical churches were undergoing a renaissance and re-examination of the diaconate – it was fun to see it happening, and to visit with people from various traditions who might best be described as “diaconal activists”.

One of the things I realised both through my participation in the conference, and through the reading I did around that time is that we indie folk have an advantage. Whereas many of the “Big Tent” churches desire to re-invigorate this ancient service order – they find it difficult because of existing attitudes, rules, and accumulated customs surrounding it. There is an “expectation” in many cases that the person will only be a deacon for a limited time. We dont have the weight of Tradition bearing down on us in the same way that other communities do – which gives us a real opportunity to institute unhindered some of the great ideas that came out of this period in the early ’90s. Namely – to stop treating the diaconate like it is a stepping stone to the priesthood – make it a permanant order.

I’d like to know what – if anything – other indie communities are doing about the diaconate. Our community has made an effort to restore it to a fuller expression of “catholic-ness” (see some of my earlier posts to understand my term use here) by making it a permanent order.

To be sure this raises some interesting questions about history, and the development of the “transitional” diaconate. Why is it that by the 19th century candidates for ordination were successively ordained through the minor orders, the diaconate, and the preisthood – rather than directly to their order? Has anyone seen any research on this? To my knowledge there is no theological reason not to ordain directly to the order – if we accept that the charism is complete at the time of installation rather than having to be augmented.