Servant Leadership

Right after the Bishop laid hands on my very sweaty head and consecrated me a deacon, he said this prayer:

Make her, O Lord, modest and humble, strong and constant, to observe the discipline of Christ. Let her life and teaching so reflect your commandments, that through her many may come to know you and love you. As your Son came not to be served but to serve, may this deacon share in Christ’s service, and come to the unending glory of him who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN

BCP p. 545

This same prayer was said at the ordination of Deacon Jackie and Deacon Vern, and when Rev. Nancy, Rev. Jim, and Rev. Mary were first ordained as Deacons. It is kind of hard to explain that in the Episcopal Tradition, to become a priest you are ordained twice, once as a deacon and then, after six months or so, as a priest. But on a quiet day with Bishop Sam before my ordination, he talked about two things. First, he said that Holy orders are not hierarchical but cumulative. Bishop Sam talked about how his own view is that each one speaks to the importance of the order. For him as Bishop, he will always be a deacon and priest simultaneously. One does not erase the other but builds upon each. To be first ordained a deacon is to stay rooted and grounded in what this whole Christian thing is all about. A reminder of why we do what we do. A reminder of why this wild man from Nazareth flipped tables in the temple (Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-18), met the Samaritan Women at the Well (John 4), and gave his life for all of his humanity. For the Sacred Order of Deacons, it is the importance of Servant leadership modeled after Jesus Christ. The above prayer starts with “modest and humble” first. I vowed to “pattern my life, in accordance with the teachings of Christ, so that you may be a wholesome example to all people” and “seek not your glory but the glory of the Lord Christ,” among others (BCP 543). It is this kind of dedication and service that a deacon’s role in the life of the Church is all about. I would not have learned these skills without growing up here at All Saints’, where servant leadership is our bread and butter, whether that is the dedication to God’s Creation with our Gardens and Gleaners, righting the injustices of society with Cabarrus Racial Equity, or helping the least among us with CCM or the Lockhart Child Development Center. There is so much continual service.

As I said in my sermon on June 9, so much of being a deacon is being a servant leader. I am grateful that All Saints’ has so many who I have had the privilege to learn from and grow with. The Bishop sometimes has said we have a disturbance of deacons at All Saints’ in all the best ways. As I also shared in my sermon, you got me to this ordination, but your job is not done yet. Who knows what possible Deacons and/or servant leaders are hiding in our midst at All Saints’? 

I would encourage all of you to faithfully discern what your call is in this church right now. Maybe it is to be a deacon. Maybe it is to engage more deeply in one of our many ministries or even start a new one. Maybe it is helping Tiffany and the ever-growing youth and children’s programs at All Saints’. Whatever it is, I stand as a living testament that God continues to put an ever-evolving and uniquely given call upon your life, and I hope you will also continue to pattern your life in accordance with the teaching of Christ, whatever that may look like for you.  

Go and Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.
The Rev. Deacon Emily