Deacon - Phoenix of the Clergy brings brilliant theological clarity to true diaconal ministry by
engaging the reader with an intense and readable look into its history. The
prescription for success is simply defined and canonically faithful. This is a
must-read for deacons, the laity and the church hierarchy - for all who
appreciate that church must change …
E.C. Andercheck looks at the church's ministry through the lens of the diaconate. What he sees, and enables us to see, is what a gift the diaconate is to the church's mission today. The church must utilize the ministry of Deacon in more fruitful, creative ways in the church of the future; Ed's insightful, wise, and challenging book shows us why and how.”
Will Willimon, United Methodist Bishop, retired
Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry
Duke Divinity School
An excerpt from the introduction of the book:Among the twentieth-century landscape of crumbling mainline churches and secular storms denying Christianity’s central messages, the Roman Catholic Church prepared the nest of ashes for a diaconate rebirth.
The ancient mythological phoenix is a great and powerful creature that obtained new life by rising out of the ashes of its predecessor; this regal avian-like creature appeared in a manner much akin to the succession in a human, royal dynastic line. So it is our quest to discover the nature of the theologically endowed ashes from which our new diaconate should arise. The first office of deacon was born of the apostles’ need for assistance to serve the people of God at table—this within the human and secular temporal needs that could not be administered by the apostles without sacrifice of their priestly functions.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.