What Does a Deacon Do All Day? - Annual Report

Preaching my first sermon at Advent in July 2017

People ask me all the time what it is that a deacon actually *does*. Is it like a priest, but just not yet? Far from it! Take a look at my Annual Report for Church of the Advent from our January 2018 Annual Meeting. In it I share much of my varied and interesting ministries at Advent and beyond!

On July 1 2017, I was proud to join Church of the Advent as its Clergy Resident for a period of two years, through June 2019. In my first six months at Advent It has been my pleasure to participate in a broad range of ministries in nearly every part of life at Advent. As a deacon, my primary purpose is to focus on service to those most in need in our communities, and in the words of our ordination vows, “to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world”. My ministry is also to assist in worship including preaching and in the Eucharist, and to help the priest in matters related to leadership of the Church. I am also a “transitional deacon” which means that I am in preparation and training, with God’s help, to be ordained a priest in the near future. Some of my service here involves training to provide the skills and practice needed for me to be a successful priest. My areas of focus here are are administration, pastoral care, empowerment of others, liturgy, preaching, justice, administering the sacraments, teaching and Latino ministry (with special emphasis on the first three).

Administration: Each week I participate in a number of activities related to the administrative care of Advent. This often includes attending meetings of the vestry, wardens, Open Door advisory committee, or others. This often includes discussing financial matters relating to the management of the church and Open Door. Each month I closely review the budget documents prepared for vestry to check for anything that may be a concern and to better understand the fiscal health of our parish. I also speak with the money counters nearly every week as they record weekly contributions, so that I might better understand how these processes take place and how donations are to be registered properly. In early November I completed a six-week online course in Episcopal Church Financial Management by Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Additionally I meet with Rev. Stacy at least once per week to discuss staff and administrative concerns as they arise. Bishop Breidenthal also recently appointed me as a member of Diocesan Council, which is one of two major governing committees for the roughly 65 churches in the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

Pastoral Care: My pastoral roles at Advent vary from week to week based on the needs of parishioners & the community at the time. Sometimes I am making pastoral visits with Rev. Stacy or alone, including to a few shut-in, elderly or injured parishioners and to those in the hospital. Alternately, sometimes I am meeting with parishioners in my office or Rev. Stacy’s office, or I am pulled aside during the week or at Sunday coffee hour to discuss some issue going on for that person. Sometimes this also involves conflict resolution interpersonally or helping others to process emotional or spiritual difficulties.

Empowerment of others for ministry: For me, empowerment of others has largely taken on two forms; internally at Advent and externally via the Faith Alliance in Walnut Hills. At Advent this has meant helping to train new acolytes and altar guild members, helping to identify potential new vestry members, and discussing with Rev. Stacy ways in which to involve a number of our parishioners in a range of diverse ministries around Advent. As for Faith Alliance, I am pleased to work with a number of lay leaders and fellow clergy from at least eight neighborhood congregations. I also manage the group’s Facebook page and email account, and I help to spread the word about its events digitally, in person and through print media.

Liturgy: Worship planning is of course a very regular part of my role at Advent. I discuss with Rev. Stacy each month the liturgical events to take place in the coming weeks, especially including upcoming feast days or important occasions on the worship calendar. We begin to plan together some ways of bringing the scriptures and traditions of the Church to life within our Episcopal structure of liturgy. I often prepare several of the liturgical resources that may be needed and help those plans to materialize as a worship leader each Sunday, including leading Psalms, prayers etc. I also take turns leading our weekly Morning Prayer on Wednesdays, along with Rev. Stacy.

Administering the Sacraments: As a deacon my role is to prepare the sacraments for the priest to administer. Each week I prepare the bread & wine in the sacristy before the 8am service, and often assist the altar guild in setting up the table for 10am if needed. I also liturgically assist the priest in distributing Communion and help with any other sacramental services.

Teaching: It is a really special part of my ministry to get to help teach about scripture, the Christian and Anglican/Episcopal traditions and other important aspects of our Christian life in our church. Sometimes this takes place in the context of our Wednesday Bible Study, or in helping to instruct new acolytes or Altar Guild members in how to carry out their duties well. Again often I am pulled aside and asked questions about faith, scripture, tradition or spirituality which often leads to a wider conversation. It is also my role to continue to teach and educate myself as a leader of this community. I am now preparing to teach a course during Lent 2018 in “Episcopal Church 101” as an adult confirmation class.

(Diocesan Latino Ministry) Since September 2016 I have been a weekly tutor for the Price Hill Learning Club, which is a program of the Diocesan Latino Ministry in the Diocese of Southern Ohio. We meet on Mondays & Wednesdays from 5-6:30pm with normally about 25 elementary or middle school kids and five adults. The kids are mostly the children of Guatemalan immigrants whose parents speak no English. I help to tutor the students in English, Spanish, math or whatever subjects they need. I also help to be a role model for the kids, and sometimes provide lessons on various events of the Church like Ash Wednesday or All Saints. I also serve as a member of the Latino Ministry Commission for our Diocese, which governs the 4 Episcopal organizations geared to Latinos in Southern Ohio. Because nearly all of our organizations’ parents are undocumented, this leads us at the Bishop’s encouragement to engage in pro-immigration advocacy with elected officials and others.

Note: Some of this report has been previously shared with the Resident's Formation Committee.