Rostered Ministry in the ELCA

2. Rostered Ministryin the ELCA

3. What is �Rostered� �Rostered� simply means that every Synod and, therefore, every congregation of the ELCA has access to your name. �Rostered� means making yourself available to God�s call wherever God has need of you and your gifts.

5. But first . . .

7. Who Me ?!?!

8. What is dee-ak'-on-os ? Often translated as �servant� but so much more: an attendant: a waiter (at table or in other menial duties) a Christian teacher and pastor (deacon or deaconess) minister, servant to be an attendant: wait upon Menially / as a host friend / teacher to act as a Christian deacon (ad-) minister (unto) Serve use the office of a deacon

9. Every time you . . . Serve a funeral dinner Prepare a meal for a community luncheon Add your voice to that of others in worship Sing in choir Read lessons Greet or Usher Set and clear the Eucharist table

11. Anytime you act as servant or helper or friend . . .

12. So what makes rostered leaders different? What are the requirements?

13. The only things that make rostered leaders different are the rostering, the education, the accountability, and the �professional� nature of the call. Rostered leaders are paid by a congregation or agency to do what they do.

15. Pastor / Reverend Bachelor�s Degree 4 years of seminary including a full year of internship in a congregation Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE � chaplaincy) Rigid academic requirements Master�s of Divinity (MDiv)

16. Associate in Ministry Bachelor�s Degree Proof of expertise in some aspect of ministry Administration (Secretary or Accountant) Music and the Arts Education Service / General Ministries Parish nursing Outdoor / Camping ministry Parish Worker Counselor / Lay chaplaincy Seminary and independent study defined in numbers of hours (20) and required classes 600 hours of field work Certification, no degree

17. Academic Requirements One course in each of the following: Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) New Testament Lutheran Theology & Confessional Writings Systematic Theology Lutheran Church History

18. Deaconess Bachelor�s Degree Acceptance into a deaconess community Discernment period at the Motherhouse in Chicago or Valparaiso, IN Biblical training defined in terms of hours (60+) and required classes 1-year congregational internship Continuing, annual education through the Motherhouse

19. Diaconal Minister Bachelor�s Degree Discernment retreat (2 weeks) in Gettysburg, PA Seminary training defined in terms of hours (60+) and required classes 700 hours of field work Master�s Degree

20. Academic Requirements One course in each of the following: Old Testament New Testament Church History Systematic Theology Ethics Lutheran Confessions Church in Society

21. Entrance � acceptance into the program Begin seminary studies Endorsement � approval to continue studies Internship Fieldwork Approval � final acceptance into ELCA rostered ministry Assignment Regional Synod Call to service

22. What is a Diaconal Minister? As a rostered ministry DMs: Serve as a �bridge� between the world and the congregation Bring the needs / problems of the world to the attention of the church Bring the resources and problem-solving capabilities of the members of the church to the world

23. What is the difference between They are different calls DMs are called to �Word and Service� Pastors are called to �Word and Sacrament� Rite is different DMs are consecrated Pastors are ordained

24. What is the difference between The foci are different AiMs serve directly within particular congregations DMs serve within congregations and within the world Rites are different AiMs are commissioned DMs are consecrated

25. What is the difference between The call is the same Deaconesses are part of a central �Motherhouse� The main ELCA house is in Chicago Deaconesses also come to us from Valparaiso University in Indiana Deaconesses attend community events for a week every summer DMs are a more loosely-knit community formed at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, PA

26. As a deaconess, I am part of a community of women who serve the church. This is much more than a professional organization. It is a true community. Sister Carol Burk

27. The histories are different. But they start in the same place.

28. The first deacons were men�

29. �It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men . . . whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.� What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus. Acts 6:2 (NRSV)

30. But women soon followed . . .

32. Continued in the early church Degenerated into a purely liturgical office and �stepping stone� to the priesthood around 325. The Bruderhaus appeared in Germany in 1833 as a group of unmarried Lutheran men who lived together and took care of young orphan boys (the Salvation Army and YMCA came out of the same movement)

33. Theodore and Fredericke Fliedner started a halfway house in Kaiserwerth, Germany, for freed female prisoners (1836) Organized to care for children, the poor, and the ill All trained as nurses 14,000 women joined in the 1st 50 yrs William Passavant imported a group of Kaiserwerth deaconesses in 1849 and another group in 1884 to work in hospitals to shelter orphans from our own Civil War �You sisters are the Bible that your patients read.� Elizabeth Fedde (1910)

34. Several more houses opened around the US during the next 100 years Women worked as teachers, nurses, orphanage administrators, church workers �Lutheran nuns� Remained single or left when they married Most houses closed in the mid-20th century when more opportunities for service became available to women

35. In the late 1980�s the LCA and ALC voted to postpone decisions on ministry until after the merger (1988) Created a task force to study National Assembly (1993) accepted most of the task force�s recommendations and created an office of Diaconal Ministry First consecrations took place in 1996.

36. SO . . . The diaconate is both one of the oldest and one of the youngest ministries in the church.

37. Where are Diaconal Ministers? Consecrated Diaconal Ministers in the ELCA (as of September 2006) 106 serving in 35 Synods in all 9 Regions 141 Candidates in 52 Synods in all 9 Regions

38. 40 Congregational Calls in 16 Synods in 7 Regions Lay Minister (5) Christian Education (1) Youth & Family (7) Parish Ministry (25) Community (2)

39. Chaplaincy (26) College Hospitals Nursing Homes Synod Staff / Ecumenical (14) Interim Ministries (2) Social Services (3) Government advocacy (1) State of Colorado Healthcare Advocacy (2) 48 Synodical Calls in 26 Synods in 9 Regions

40. Churchwide Calls Regional Coordinators for Ministry Leadership (2) Lutheran Disaster Response (1) Churchwide Office in Chicago (2) Lutheran School of Theology (1)

41. Where are Deaconesses?(as of August 2000) 160 deaconesses in the ELCA 35 rostered as Associates in Ministry 17 serve as pastors 1 serves in Diaconal Ministry Remainder are retired or without call

43. In the rite of consecration, Diaconal Ministers are asked to �Seek out those places where the Gospel of Jesus Christ meets human need. Serve Christ with pastors and bishops, other diaconal ministers, and associates in ministry. Empower, equip and support all the baptized in the ministry of Jesus Christ.�