The College of Deacons was blessed with a wonderful retreat at Montserrat Jesuit Retreat Center August 25-27. Seventeen of our Diocese of Dallas deacons were present, and we also welcomed Deacon Tracie Middleton from the Diocese of Fort Worth. Tracie shared about her work with the Youth Task Force of the Association of Episcopal Deacons.

The Rev. Mike Michie, our retreat leader, focused our reflections on The Missional Diaconate and particularly on three aspects of diaconal ministry: theory, practice and witness.

Father Mike based his remarks on two key sources: Jesus washing the feet of his disciples (John 13:1-20), and a new(2015) book by Susanne Watson Epting (former director of the Association for Episcopal Deacons): Unexpected Consequences: The Diaconate Renewed. He encouraged us, and in fact all members of the clergy, to read Epting’s message to understand the impact of the diaconate in our church today.

In summary of Father Mike’s message, I share these words from the homily he asked me to give at our closing Eucharist.

   He has stretched us…each of us in different ways, in his message for us during our time together. Let me share with you some of my “being stretched take-aways”:

Father Mike must realize that our diaconal ministry will be what we wish it to be…what we make it to be. We must trust Jesus’ call…realize that we must live into the call we received to be a deacon. God formed us and consecrated us…set us apart…for a purpose. When all the “stuff” we do seems to get in the way of living out our call, we need to trust—Trust that God has called us to do His work…His missional work. And we need to dare to shake off…set aside…the “stuff” that gets in the way, so we can focus on doing God’s work.  

   We need to realize that the 1979 Book of Common Prayer has given our order clarification about our role…the call to a special ministry to equip all God’s people to live into their Baptismal Covenant, a call to lead the way for the mission-focused church of today. Let us not forget the words Diana Luck shared with us, spoken by Bishop Sumner at the recent discernment retreat: Deacons are to dare to go to places where others do not want to go---then come back, and take the church there with you. Father Mike added a sobering reminder: if the Church is not led by the missional work of deacons, it is in danger of shifting away from being a community gathered around the altar and the baptismal font…and thus reverting to the old ‘gather around the minister’ model---and be stuck!

   We must realize that deacons can help our church to claim its identity…help them to explore why God has put the congregation in that place with the gifts that He has assembled. We can help by encouraging our members to be willing to change in order to fulfill God’s purpose. We help when we encourage them to “Defy Gravity”….defy that “We’ve never done it that way “ culture that weighs a church down. We can help our church live into the best scenario for its life as a church: unified around their missional identity.

   We hear in Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians (3:14-21) that God will strengthen us with power through His Spirit, that we may be filled with all the fullness of God as we begin to comprehend the breadth, length, height and depth of Christ’s call to us. We are assured that God is the power at work in us. Let us allow him to work through us, for He is able to accomplish far, far more than all we can ask or imagine.

Just as Jesus did not offer Peter a choice of how to serve him ( John 21:15-17..”Feed my sheep”), there is no doubt about how Jesus calls us to serve as deacons.   We must be faithful to the call we have received. We must step forward, not shrink back in fear or in doubt. We must trust our Lord Jesus…surrender our selves, put our selves out there. We must use the voice the Spirit has given us…like Jesus we must exchange our robe for a towel and like Jesus—dare greatly!