Tomorrow, our bishop will ordain Deb Lugihbuhl to the sacred order of deacons. This will mean Christ Church has two deacons serving in our midst again, as Deb will serve alongside Deacon Becky Dorrell. The last deacon duo at Christ Church was Deacon Jim Wethern, now retired, and Mother Becky Rowell, before she was ordained a priest. In my first years at Christ Church, we had three deacons, back before Dean Jan Salzgaber moved to Portugal. We are truly blessed to worship and work alongside those who have been called to diaconal ministry, a blessing that is not as common in Episcopal churches as I might hope.
In some dioceses, deacons are rare. Seeing one in its natural habitat is like glimpsing an Indigo Bunting. We know they are around, or at least we’ve heard of them, but they are mostly creatures that live on the page of a book somewhere. There are some interesting reasons why they aren’t as prevalent in some parts of the church, but it is a joy to serve in a diocese and with bishops who understand the importance of deacons and their role in the church. It’s not that priests can’t read the Gospel, or no longer care about servant ministry. Priests are also deacons, and must be ordained as transitional deacons for at least six months before ordination to the priesthood. That’s not the same as a calling to the vocational deaconate, however, which means that God’s call is specifically to the ministry of a deacon, and not as a precursor to becoming a priest. Deacons take the Gospel and the church out into the world, and bring the needs of the world back to the church.
Deb’s ordination, as one of three ordinations at our convention, marks a return to a tradition that was once the norm in our diocese. Both Mother Ashton and I were also ordained to the diaconate at our respective diocesan conventions. It’s a special moment for the wider church to celebrate this ministry together, and to remember that a deacon is ordained “for the church” in a way a priest isn’t. Priests are ordained for the church, too, but deacons are sent out into the world by their bishop and can be relocated if the ministry demands within the diocese require it. “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests,” but deacons are like our Lord; they don’t always have a place to lay their head, either. The discernment path for all those called to ordination is a community endeavor, so ordinations taking place within the larger community of the diocese are meet and right.
When Deacon Becky Dorrell was ordained here at Christ Church, I was honored to preach at her ordination service. I had the opportunity to celebrate her gifts and her history with FedEx at the same time – relishing the chance to plug my pro-UPS roots, of course. I won’t be able to offer Deb the same homiletical reflection. Still, I have thought about how her unique gifts will continue to grow from a lifetime of vocation and experience, and how the church will be better for it. Her career as an award-winning television producer is actually highly applicable to ministry. The ability to conceive a vision and then figure out how to bring it to life —from design and talent to budget and editing —is a valuable gift, to be sure. Especially in the world of sports, as things move quickly and don’t always go according to plan.
Ministry rarely works out the way we think it will. We always have a plan, but often things just go their own way. Sometimes the Spirit throws us a curveball, and we have to scramble to keep up. That doesn’t mean we give up on trying to see a vision of what we’re called to do and to be, but it does require some creativity and persistence to allow a vision to be reshaped, reformed, and revised. It’s a process of faithfulness: doing the best we can in a given moment, relying on God’s assistance to bring beautiful realities to life. Producers do what they can with what’s in front of them – planning notwithstanding – and in the end, hopefully they have captured the moment effectively. I have no doubt Deb’s diaconal ministry will produce beautiful and faithful moments, too.
Deb’s close affiliation with auto racing will also provide a helpful perspective on her ordained ministry. When cars go around the track at incredible speeds, they will always return to the start-finish line. It doesn’t matter how fast they go; that line defines the beginning and the end of each lap and the entirety of the race. In the second letter to Timothy, the author describes life as a race—a race to be completed while keeping the faith. Deacons have a unique relationship with Jesus. One that all Christians are called to share, for sure, but in a unique way. Deacons have been called, or set apart, for a special role that embodies Jesus’ life and teaching in a way that is unlike any other order of ministry or service to the church. Jesus is their beginning and their end in a way that I find inspiring, though some might assume priests already have a similar orientation. Deacons have a special relationship with Jesus, and that’s what makes their work so vitally important.
Deb, like Becky, and all the deacons that have served before her at Christ Church, is being ordained tomorrow, not so that she can suddenly become a deacon, but because the church has acknowledged that God has already made her a deacon. She has already shaped her life around Jesus in terms of service and care for others, an example that has inspired those who work with her and made it so easy to affirm a calling to a vocation of diaconal ministry. Through the prayers of the church, the laying on of hands, and the gathering of the body of the faithful around Deb and the other ordinands tomorrow, the community completes the work that God has already begun in Deb. After tomorrow, however, she will be set apart for this work at a new and deeper level.
Deb might want to view her ordination as another start-finish line of sorts. As we used to say in our family when we watched cars on a formation lap, “Let’s go racing!” We knew the green flag was about to drop and the cars would take off in pursuit of a win as they crossed the line. Deb’s already been moving pretty quickly, working hard at ministry in several forms. And it’s also true that she is about to start off on a new endeavor. Her ministry is about to find a new gear. Together with Deacon Becky and all of us at Christ Church, she’s off – not to pursue a trophy, but to share the prize of God’s love with everyone she meets along the way. Imagine a driver sharing literally their wins with the spectators! That’s what deacons do – share whatever gifts God has given them with others.
Deb’s ministry won’t have spectators, though. We won’t spectate, we’ll be joining with her and working alongside her. There will also be those who receive her ministry. In both groups, I’m sure she will also develop a fan base. I know her well enough to know that she won’t want the attention or the credit and will simply point to God instead. As we prepare for tomorrow, I can see the starter on the platform, flag in hand, ready to wave it furiously. So, to Deb, I say, “Let’s go racing!” To Christ Church, I say, “Good luck trying to keep up!”
