Female Deacons

It’s way past time to ordain women as Catholic deacons. Now, the Liberal Catholic Church has done just that. On Sunday, May 23, 2004, the Rev. Maria C. "Sally" Jose became the first woman in the Liberal Catholic Church International to be ordained to the diaconate, and also the first deacon at St. Michael’s since the founding of our congregation in 1996. And while she’s been performing this next function unofficially for years, "Reverend Sally," as everyone knows her, has now officially attained to the rank of "associate pastor" of St. Michael and All Angels Liberal Catholic Cathedral.

Reverend Sally joins the ranks of female deacons in many other Christian churches. These include the Episcopal Church, the Old Catholic Church, the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch, the National Catholic Church, and many more. In her new role, Rev. Sally can now bring the sacrificial gifts to the altar, baptize in the absence of a priest, and distribute Communion with the Reserved Sacrament. In addition, Rev. Sally now holds a license to preach, and teach, and in many more ways fulfil the Great Commandment of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

But the ordination of women is still controversial in many churches. Let’s look at the history and Scripture behind this controversy, for clues as to where we’ve come from, and where we’re going.

If we read about Phoebe in the New Testament, we see her described as a "servant of the Church." But the Greek describes her as a "diakonos" of the congregation, using exactly the same word used elsewhere for men. But while the Eastern church made considerable use of women in ministry, the Western church eventually restricted the diaconate to men, with the exception of female "deaconesses" who ministered to women in the highly gender-segregated societies in ancient days. In those restrictive times, the deaconess cared for the sick and needy among the women of the congregation, instructed and evangelized families, and brought women to baptism, all areas of ministry closed to male deacons. But in reality, it was not Scripture that barred women from the diaconate. It was simply a reflection of the custom of the time, as it was to bar women from equality in many areas of life.

Now there will be those who quote Paul, in 1 Timothy 1:12, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man." But he did not say others could not do it – he simply described his own practice. And in our modern society, we have given up the notion that a woman cannot have authority over a man – look, for example, at the Governor of our own state of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, and at the thousands of women who serve in leadership roles in business, government, education, and virtually all areas of human endeavor.

Now, in the 21st century, we are seeing a long-overdue revival of equality in the church, too, in the opening of the diaconate to both men and women. In addition to the churches mentioned above which ordain women to the diaconate, in 1971 the Catholic Theological Society of America, in a study commissioned by the U.S. Roman Catholic Bishop’s Committee on the Permanent Diaconate, recommended the ordination of women to that office, stating "there is a growing conviction that women would strengthen the diaconal ministry immeasurably." I couldn’t agree more! It’s hard enough to find suitable candidates for the ministry, to do God’s work, to serve His people, and to grow His Church. How can we simply exclude half the available candidates? How can we deny the importance of women in our Church through their educational, pastoral, social, charitable and administrative work?

Now, it’s time for Christian Churches everywhere to recognize the importance of broadening the ministry to women. And since many like to quote Scripture to deny such equality to women, let’s not forget to quote the Scriptures which clearly speak to me of the Church’s goal – equality for all. Listen to what Peter said at the birth of the Christian Church at Pentecost, quoting the prophet Joel:

"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy" (Acts 2:17,18).

And let’s finish with Paul himself, who spoke in Galations 3:28 of the walls our faith in Christ breaks down:

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."