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If asked the question "Who are the ministers of the church?", would you limit the list to priests and bishops? While many Episcopalians may say yes, the Diocese of Kentucky hopes to change that thinking soon. Thanks largely to the efforts of four deacons, a school in the diocese is being established for those called to be lay ministers and vocational deacons.
One of the deacons, the Rev. Dr. Rose Bogal-Allbritten, who will be the school's program director, said the ministerial role for lay people and deacons is recognized by Church tradition and our foundational documents. As she recently wrote about the school, not only does the baptismal covenant speak of the "priesthood of all believers" but the Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer also specifies that "the ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons." Lay ministry, she suggested, is essential to the Church's well being. "The ministry of the Church is most effective when lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons are working together as a team."
Although vocational deacons and lay ministers are not required to have seminary training, as are priests, they nonetheless fill roles that require careful preparation, said Bogal-Allbritten. Deacons are "servant leaders," responsible for bringing "the needs of the world into the view of the Church," she said. In particular, they have a role in starting, encouraging and sustaining the ministry of others in the congregations and the diocese they serve. Those called to lay ministry, she said, are "servant ministers," expected to use their gifts to "bear witness" to Christ and assist in the life and governance of their congregations, the diocese and the larger Church.
The need for well-trained diaconal and lay ministers is especially acute in smaller congregations that have only one priest or are sharing a priest, said Bogal-Allbritten, who is the deacon for the Four Rivers Deanery, serving congregations in western Kentucky. Training them, however, requires commitments of time and resources that may be unavailable to the congregations and the individuals. "When I went through it, I was basically by myself," she said. "There was little (or minimal) structure. If I had not felt that I was called to the diaconate, I probably would have given up because it was difficult doing it without a community of people going through the same process."
The genesis for the school occurred last November, following a well attended "Lay and Diaconal Ministry Day," held at Grace Church in Paducah to give participants rudimentary tools for discernment, said Bogal-Allbritten.
Recognizing the need and interest was there for such a program, Bogal-Allbritten met with three other vocational deacons, the Revs. Helen Jones, Delinda Buie and Eva Markham, and the group, after consulting with the diocese's canon to the ordinary, the Rev. Dr. Jay Magness, developed a proposal to establish a School for Ministry. The proposal was approved by Bishop Ted Gulick in February and the Commission on Ministry in March.
The new school is a two-year program that will meet one weekend each month (September through June) at All Saints' Conference Center in Leitchfield. Students will spend the weekend (from 6 p.m. Friday until 4 p.m. [CT] Saturday) participating in coursework, small group discussion and spiritual formation. Between weekend sessions, students will have reading assignments, ministry projects and papers to write. Tuition is $750 per year, which includes housing, meals and all materials except textbooks. Some scholarship assistance is available.
Because lay ministers and deacons often work collaboratively, a portion of their education, especially the first year, will take place together. The sessions will be team-taught by a faculty "reflecting all levels of ministry from priests, deacons and lay persons," said Bogal-Allbritten.
The school, however, is not a "backdoor into the diaconate," she stressed. Those interested in becoming deacons will need to go through the diocese's formal "discernment process" with the Commission on Ministry.
Canon Jay Magness is enthusiastic about the potential for the school and the ministers it may foster. "It goes a step beyond EFM [Education for Ministry], which gives one an opportunity to think theologically," he said. "The school will enable people to do hands-on ministry in an intentional way, and it will enable the Church to expand and multiply its ministry by going into areas that without a full-time priest." Referring to the diocese's new mission statement "Embracing Christ, Engaging the World," he said the school is yet another way "of equipping the people of our diocese for ministry."
[Applications are now being accepted until July 15 for the initial cohort of participants. Classes will begin in September 2007, and the first group will graduate in June 2009. For further information about the program or an application, contact the Rev. Dr. Jay Magness, Canon to the Ordinary, at (502) 584-7148, (800) 222-3462 or jay@episocpalky.org
