Bishop Sorge Convenes Committee on Diaconate
Episcopal News Service. December 29, 1977 [77426]
H. Boone Porter
CHICAGO, Ill. -- "Does the Church need the order of deacons? If so, what should deacons be doing?" These and similar questions were faced at the first meeting of a committee on the diaconate held at O'Hare Airport, Chicago, on 20 Dec. 1977. The committee was convened by the Rt. Rev. Elliott L. Sorge, Field Officer for the Development of Ministry of the Episcopal Church.
The meeting was held in response to a proposal of the House of Bishops that a study of the diaconate as a distinct vocation be undertaken, and a request from the same body that the Episcopal Church Foundation assist with funds.
The committee is made up of ten persons from different agencies and bodies within the church, and includes two representatives of the diaconate, Frederick L. Redpath, Executive Vice President of the Episcopal Church Foundation and deacon in the diocese of Newark, and Frances G. Zielinski who is in charge of the National Center for the Diaconate in Evanston, Ill.
The committee took steps to constitute a task force to enquire into policies, attitudes, and expectations of bishops, of deacons themselves, and of diocesan commissions on ministry throughout the Church.
The focus of consideration will be on the "vocational" or perpetual deacon, not on the "transitional deacon" who is in fact preparing for the priesthood. Future recommendations will be made in the light of findings. It is anticipated that a report will be made to the General Convention of 1979.
Bishop Sorge, formerly a missionary in Brazil, was last year appointed as the Field Officer of the Council for the Development of Ministry.
Represented on the Council are several agencies which serve ministry -- such as the Board for Theological Education, Board for Clergy Deployment, Church Pension Fund, Committee on Pastoral Development, General Board of Examining Chaplains, Conference of Deans, and groups relating to lay and women's ministries -- together with representatives of each of the nine provinces of the Episcopal Church and members at large.
Bishop Sorge said that he hoped that this study of the diaconate would provide a pattern for constructive and innovative projects to be undertaken with the sponsorship of the Council.
Members of the committee are:
- Bishop James W. Montgomery of Chicago, chairman of the House of Bishops Committee on Ministry, Bishop William J. Gordon, Jr., Assistant Bishop in Michigan, Council for the Development of Ministry, Frederick L. Redpath, Executive Vice President of the Episcopal Church Foundation, The Rev. Frances Zielinski, National Center for the Diaconate, The Rev. James L. Lowery, Board member of National Center for the Diaconate, The Rev. Henry N. F. Minich and Bishop David E. Richards, Council for the Development of Ministry's ad hoc study group on the Diaconate, Dr. Malcom Talbot, House of Deputies Committee on Ministry, The Rev. H. Boone Porter, Associated Parishes and Bishop Elliott L. Sorge, Field Officer for the Development of Ministry.