Summer “Ordination Season” adds a new variation

Seminarian “Middlers” to be ordained to the diaconate on July 26 before their final year of course work

Thursday, July 26, 2007
7:00 pm

St. Mark's Cathedral
519 Oak Grove
Minneapolis

Elizabeth (Betsy) Ann Baumgarten
Justin Paul Chapman
Anna Clay Doherty
Mary Lou Hudak
Sally Dawn Maxwell

Clergy vest in white alb and red stole, and gather in the undercroft no later than 6:45 pm.

The summer ordination season is in full swing! During the month of June, five people were ordained to the “transitional” diaconate, two to the permanent diaconate, and one to the priesthood.

On Thursday, July 26, however, another ordination will be held, one which our diocese has not done before. Five seminarian “middlers” (students about to enter their final year at seminary) — Elizabeth Ann Baumgarten, Justin Paul Chapman, Anna Clay Doherty, Mary Lou Hudak, and Sally Dawn Maxwell — will be ordained to the so-called “transitional” diaconate, meaning that they will already be deacons during their final year of studies.

A few definitions
The diaconate is a distinct order of ordained ministry, separate from the priesthood. You can read about the similarities and distinction between these orders on pages 825-855 in The Book of Common Prayer. In fact, the diaconate was the first order of ministry in the Christian Church. However, in the Episcopal Church today, all those who wish to become priests must serve fas deacons for a minimum of six months. Those who are called to the ministry of a deacon are often referred to as “permanent” or “vocational” deacons, and we in Minnesota are blessed with the presence of many such people. Those who are serving as deacons for a time before being ordained to the priesthood are sometimes called “transitional” deacons.

It has generally been the practice in most dioceses to ordain potential priests to the diaconate after they have been graduated from seminary, passed their “G.O.E.’s” (General Ordination Exams) and been approved by their diocesan Standing Committees. This sequence is not required by national canons. In all cases, however, the Standing Committee must recommend any candidate for ordination. Several dioceses have begun ordination to the transitional diaconate before, not after, the final year of seminary, so that the students are already serving as deacons during their last year and can be ordained to the priesthood following graduation and the fulfillment of the other requirements noted above.

An involved process
The idea of ordaining middlers has been in the works in the Diocese of Minnesota for 3½ years, according to Vocations Coordinator Diana Rogers, and Gayle Marsh and Ted Nelson, former co-chairs of the Commission on Ministry. There were a number of technicalities and logistics to be worked out. Fortunately, seminarians in this first middler ordination group have known throughout their studies that the process was underway, and that they would be the pilot group for the plan.

Here is an example of things that needed to be worked out. G.O.E.’s are not given until after the ordination to the transitional diaconate, so a tracking mechanism had to be worked out to be sure that the seminarians stood a good chance of passing these exams. In part, this meant designing a January Seminarians’ Conference to monitor their work with the Examining Chaplains. Timelines for candidacy interviews were adjusted.

Work also had to be done with the various seminaries. Although Minnesota’s seminarians are not the first in the Episcopal Church to be ordained to the diaconate as middlers, they are still a large minority in the church as a whole. They also attend different seminaries in different parts of the country, and communication was needed with each institution. Each institution had to agree to a social ministry component for the students’ diaconal year, because deacons serve as a bridge between the needs of the world and the Church.

The deacon-seminarians will serve in congregations or in church-related organizations in the vicinity of the seminaries, in addition to completing their final year of course work. This could be compared to the student teaching that is done by education majors during the last months of their studies. The current ordination group has been aware of this arrangement so they could plan their course loads.

Why have early ordination?
What are the advantages of this new system? The seminarians will have the opportunity to serve as deacons, with a greater respect and understanding for the role of deacon. They can be ordained to the priesthood after graduation and begin serving as priests sooner. This can be an advantage to congregations that can now hire new priests before fall. Last, but certainly not least, this system may eventually eliminate those hectic pre-Christmas ordinations to the priesthood!

Watch the Weekly News and/or Soundings for more news on this new ordination program in our diocese.