After meeting the requirements listed in the application portal, you must meet with the District Ordained Service Committee for an interview to obtain approval to become a certified candidate and receive theological training. Although all deacons and elders are required to complete basic theological studies in the Christian faith, they follow slightly different educational paths. Here are the three available collegial pathways that future deacons can use: All deacons and elders must complete basic higher theological studies in the Christian faith, a minimum of 27 semester hours. These can be completed as part of a theological degree or in addition to a master`s degree and/or professional certification in the specialized service. The General Council for Higher Education and Service of The United Methodist Church (UMC) joins congregations and congregations around the world in honoring the 25th anniversary of the UMC Order of Deacons. Deacons were founded in 1996 and are called to serve those on the margins of society, to witness to the Word in their words and deeds, and to embody and guide the ministry of the community in the world to realize God`s mercy and justice. Church support is available to deacons who work as pastors or in pastoral and pastoral services. As an ordained United Methodist deacon, you offer a ministry rich in compassion and justice. Your leadership will impact your community and help your parishioners discover and develop their faith. Deacons are people called by God, authorized by the Church, and ordained by a bishop to render a ministry of word and service for life to their community and church. Deacons are teachers, leaders, and students.
There is an important intermediate step between candidacy and ordination as an elder or deacon. Before being ordained, a person is responsible for preparing and gaining the experience required for ordination prior to approval. Similarly, before becoming a full member of the Conference, a Minister-designate becomes a provisional member of the Conference. We see the interim period as a crucial moment in the minister`s life. We often talk about a person who has been appointed as a provisional elder or provisional deacon, depending on the minister`s ultimate objective. At St. Paul`s School of Theology, the Master of Arts in Christian Ministry (MACM) and Master of Theology (MDiv) provide students with the knowledge and training necessary to become ordained deacons. Both degree programs allow you to choose a specialization. If a student is interested in becoming a deacon, he or she can focus on the appropriate area of specialization.
By choosing this specialization, St. Paul can tailor the teachings to the needs of students and prepare them for a bright future in ministry as deacons. In the church, deacons teach, preach, officiate, officiate at funerals and weddings, provide pastoral care, assist elders with baptism and Holy Communion, lead discipleship development ministries, and help lay people identify and claim their own ministries. Deacons lead the church in their ministry and equip and support all baptized Christians in their ministry. Through the Order of the Deacons, The United Methodist Church affirms this historic, central, and special service. The Department of Ministry, as a member of the General Council for Higher Education and the Ministry, is responsible for setting the standards by which deacon training is taught at The United Methodist Church. Once you have qualified as a provisional deacon and on the recommendation of the ordained ministerial council, your annual conference will elect you a full member and you will then be ordained a deacon by your bishop with all the rights and duties entrusted to you (330.6). You can be called into an environment that allows you to fulfill your calling, whether in a church or not, while continuing to be in contact with the church, the bishop, and the Council for the ordained ministry (“331.4.a”). The first step is to consult with a pastor or deacon and study the appropriate documents to better discern the call. This is followed by further consultations with parish staff/neighbourhood relations committee and district superintendent, mentor assistance, and certification by the district committee for ordained service. The candidate must then be recommended and approved by the conference committee of the ordained ministry. Once the educational requirements are met and approved by the ordained ministry board, a candidate is assigned and completes a three-year probationary period, which is considered a probationary period leading to full membership in the annual conference.
Outside the walls of the Church, deacons share the good news in word and intercession for the poor, the neglected, the oppressed and the discouraged; provide mercy services; and invite Christians into these ministries. If the ordained ministry council approves the ordination of a person as a deacon or elder and full member of the conference, then the entire clergy session votes in June at the annual conference. At the ordination service at the annual conference, the person receives the long-awaited stole, symbolizing the yoke of authority and the blessing of doing the service as a lifelong call. In other faith traditions, individuals are ordained in a local church, but we ordain men and women at the annual conference before clergy and lay delegates representing all United Methodist churches in South Georgia. We do this because we are a unifying Church, because many people have accompanied each ordinand on his path, and because each ordinand has returned to the whole Church to be available to be appointed and serve in the Church, the Body of Christ. Like the elder, the deacon is called to the office by a bishop. Unlike an elder, however, a deacon is not itinerant. His appointment may be initiated by the deacon, a department, the bishop or the district superintendent. The Ordained Ministry Division provides a website where United Methodist churches, related religious institutions, and United Methodist colleges and universities can post vacancies in ministry.