Deacon Jim Curtain, 26 May 2022 If anyone could tell you about the permanent diaconate, and liturgy on the margins, it is Deacon Jim Curtain. He has been ordained for 27 years, and has had the blessing of full-time ministry throughout that time. He has journeyed from air force chaplaincy to school ministry to directorContinue reading “Liturgy’s Power in the Force”
Category Archives: Deacons
To Nourish and Nurture
Rev. Tau’alofa Anga’aelangi, 21 April 2022 Rev. Tau’alofa Anga’aelangi tells me all about her ministries: loitering with intent around people, serving them, affirming them, advocating for them. And peppered throughout our conversation, she declares “and that is a part of the liturgy”. To Tau’alofa, worship intersects with community work and living into justice. She feelsContinue reading “To Nourish and Nurture”
Starting with the Scattered – Deacons in the Uniting Church
Rev. Sandy Boyce, 17 March 2022 What does the diaconate look like in other Christian denominations? I decided to learn a bit more about the experience of the Uniting Church in Australia, and spoke to Rev. Sandy Boyce, a deacon in Adelaide and the president of the Diakonia World Federation. This organisation is an ecumenicalContinue reading “Starting with the Scattered – Deacons in the Uniting Church”
The Heart and the Spine: Deacon Michael Tan
Deacon Michael Tan, 10 March 2022 Deacon Michael Tan brings so much to his diaconal ministry. He became a Catholic in his late teenage years, he married and had a professional career in medicine. Michael has been through a spiritual journey that led from Malaysia to Australia and from Chinese spiritualities to Catholicism. He callsContinue reading “The Heart and the Spine: Deacon Michael Tan”
Newly Ordained Deacon of the Uniting Church in Australia
Rev Chelsea Size, 10 February 2022 In late November, 2021, Rev Chelsea Size was ordained a Deacon for the Uniting Church in Australia. She tells me that her lifelong call to ministry started a long time before her specific formation for ordination within this church. It all began in her childhood, in a quiet ruralContinue reading “Newly Ordained Deacon of the Uniting Church in Australia”
Come As You Are
Rev Liesel Walter, 20 January 2022 Rev Liesel Walters is a Deacon of the Anglican Church, and recently I had the privilege to meet up and hear her story. Across the denominations, and across the table of a cafe in rural New South Wales, we discovered so much to share and thank God for together. HerContinue reading “Come As You Are”
The Blood of the Street
Deacon Peter Presdee, 9 December 2021 Tom’s* Mum was dying, thousands of kilometers away, and he didn’t know what to do. Tom was not religious but he did know someone who was. Peter Presdee, a Catholic Deacon and Chaplain, had passed him in the prison where he worked as an officer. Peter would say helloContinue reading “The Blood of the Street”
Deacon Gary Stokes – Just Amazing
Deacon Gary Stokes, 10 November 2022 Deacon Gary Stokes was called to the hospital one day to visit a man on the point of death. He had experienced it before; people ask what is ahead and it frightens the heck out of them. But this time was significant. He had very recently baptised the man’sContinue reading “Deacon Gary Stokes – Just Amazing”
Liturgy on the Margins
Australian Diaconal Ministry, Present and Future Once upon an outback prison, there was a need. A yearning for spiritual support and motivation. And there were not enough ministers to provide it. But one day, the appeal from the bishop and priest chaplain received a response, and a volunteer started to visit one of the units.Continue reading “Liturgy on the Margins”
What is Diaconal Ministry?
This is a question that has much exercised my pondering neurons of late. There doesn’t seem to be a simple or universally-agreed answer. I’m bearing in mind that the current model of the ministry has only existed in the Roman Catholic Church since Vatican II in the 1960s, so it is still in the earlyContinue reading “What is Diaconal Ministry?”
Liturgy on the Margins 