Deacon Josh Clayton, 14 September 2023
When Deacon Josh Clayton describes his ministry, his approach is always “besides”. He “walks beside people” rather than stands in front of them or lectures them. Josh knows what it is like to get things wrong, especially in the family; as a father he “stuffs up all the time”. Yet because he brings the messiness of life to his ministry, it brings a “different texture”. People relate to him as he preaches using stories and everyday experiences. He gets them and they get him. It is what being a deacon is all about.
Josh began his ministry journey by being called into a youth group by other young people. Even today that shapes his approach to his youth ministry role. In his late teens, he went with his friend Anna to France for 6 months with a covenant community. The time included retreats, morning and evening prayer, and adoration. It was there they encountered vocational (permanent) deacons. Josh saw men who were “connected into their life and the community”. It “sparked something” in both of them, as an option for a far-off future.
Upon return to Australia, Josh and Anna got married. A few years later they returned to France with the same community. Through a 30-day Ignatian retreat, Josh very clearly felt that call to the diaconate. Then in his mid-20s, he was too young, but he discerned that the path lay back in his home Diocese of Bathurst, NSW. Coming back, it seemed providential that the Bishop put out a call for men to discern the diaconate right at that time.
Josh followed the course of study and formation for the diaconate in the Diocese of Bathurst. Anna participated in almost the whole program with him, learning everything, including homiletics. In the end, at the age of 35, it was “very much the right timing”. Josh was ordained only just past the minimum age. It has been a point of reflection for Josh, that while his wife Anna completed the same formation, Anna’s graduation was celebrated with the presentation of a candle. Such thorough and deep formation for her would not be recognised in or even understood by other workplaces.
From his years since then of diaconal ministry, Josh finds that baptism stand out. He is a “great believer in meeting with the families before. The preparation should be more relational than theological.” There was one particular experience of preparing a family for a child’s baptism who were very much on the margins of the church and the community. They also lived 90 minutes drive away from his home. Josh took the time to travel there and really explore their reasons for baptism and what it meant. Jesus’ death on the cross for love of us was a completely new concept. But they “knew they wanted something.” Over the course of a year, he went back and forth, walking with them and talking to them on the journey. Finally, they felt ready for the baptism and it was “a big moment”. So many people came together that were usually strangers, and they all dressed up. Josh started the rite outside, and the child was saying Hello! and high-fiving everyone. Then as the baptism began, Josh completely engaged, getting the other children to participate, and “it was wonderful”.
Josh likens his ministry of accompaniment to St Philip (a New Testament Deacon) who listened to the Ethiopian eunuch and led him through what it meant to be Christian. He believes in taking time with people and celebrating the sacraments well. Rather than use a “one-size-fits-all model”, we can demonstrate the countercultural uniqueness of our faith, and “speak to people’s hearts.” Thank you, Josh, for walking beside Jesus in your call, and generously sharing that diaconal ministry of accompaniment.
Liturgy on the Margins 