Dear Friends, on Saturday 5th July at 3:30 in Hereford Cathedral our curate Ewan will be ordained deacon in the Church of England. It is a wonderful service, and anyone is welcome to attend. It would be great to see people from our community at the service.  There’s no need to book because the cathedral is a big church. The ordination service does not happen that often and is a very special occasion. I would encourage you to come along and join in the special celebration. In the Church of England the first year of curacy is spent as a deacon. There are three orders in the Church of England: bishop, priest and deacon. I think everybody knows what a bishop and a priest do, but we don’t come across deacons that often.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy he gives a good description of the qualities needed in a deacon, “Deacons must be respectable men whose word can be trusted, moderate in the amount of wine  they drink with no squalid love for money. They must be conscientious believers in the mystery of the faith. They are also to be examined first and only admitted to serve as deacons if they have nothing against them. In the same way the women must be respectable, not gossips but sober and quite reliable.”

In past centuries the role of deacons and deaconesses had an important ministry in the life of the church: they looked after financial affairs, and they organised the care of anyone in need.  They preached the Gospel, and they assisted at baptisms and at the Eucharist. Over the centuries, as the role of bishops and priests changed and developed, the ministry of deacons almost disappeared and while it never completely vanished from the life of the church, it was seen as a temporary stage in the preparation of a candidate for the priesthood. Today, men and women may be ordained as permanent deacons. The ministry of a deacon is one of loving service, and we welcome Ewan into our community as our deacon.