Dear Church,
As I wrote last week to my Christian kinfolk, for those who are able and willing, there is an immense need for faith leaders to move out of mainstream marches and be present at more public direct actions. Whether we show up to challenge the behavior of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to protect those being targeted because of their skin color, accent, or employment, or to bear witness in support of those exercising political expression, having a faith presence is vital during these political days.
Again, being at a public action does not mean that you risk arrest or confrontation with law enforcement. There are many roles for folks to play in any public action: Red (high risk of arrest), Orange (possible risk of arrest), Green (no risk of arrest), Safety (crowd control), Deescalation (self explanatory), or simply being a visual and visible presence. That said, I also know that not everyone has the personality, is in the position, or feels called to any part of public protest. And while I do not claim to understand this for many who I know, I do honor the choices people make. I do not always know what is happening in people's lives that may create risk at any given time.
Then I had this idea for my faith-based colleagues, if you or others are not able or willing to be part of public actions, my guess is there are people in your community who would be. So why not bless them to do so on behalf of the community?
How about, Direct Action Deacons?
In my corner of the Christian world, the Presbyterian Church (USA), we have the office of Deacon. Deacons are ordained in our communities and are often charged with care of the congregation. Often Deacons are assigned roles of coffee hour or tea time, praying for members, hospital visits, and other important ways to tend to the community before them.
I am sure that there are many parallel offices/positions in other faith traditions, but here is the definition of a Deacons in the PC(USA).
From our constitution, G-2.0201 Deacon Defined:
The ministry of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of compassion, witness, and service, sharing in the redeeming love of Jesus Christ for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the lost, the friendless, the oppressed, those burdened by unjust policies or structures, or anyone in distress. Persons of spiritual character, honest repute, exemplary lives, brotherly and sisterly love, sincere compassion, and sound judgment should be chosen for this ministry.
I have always encouraged Deacons to live more fully into the calling of Deacon, not only to care for those who are part of our congregations, but to tend to the needs of all who are in need of healing action. We naturally focus on who is right in front of us, so we often confine Deacons to inward witness. Might it be a time to now also focus on those outside of our communities who are in deep and desperate need of Deacons who, ...witness...the redeeming love of Jesus Christ for...those burdened by unjust policies or structures, or anyone in distress?
This is not a radical departure from our church traditions or congregational practices. For instance, many of us created "Tech Deacons" during the chaos of shifting to online gatherings during the Covid pandemic. Many churches were being asked to do things that they had, so we got creative because it was demanded of us for the good of the body. We needed people who understood the technology and practices of online gatherings. People connected to our congregations were unique qualified and called to this role and they responding. I suspect the same thing would happen if the role of Direct Action Deacons was similarly created.
A Liturgy for Commissioning Direct Action Deacons
(Coming soon. I have an early AM Direct Action, so ran out of time.)
If you ordain do decide to bless Direct Action Deacons there are could be many ways to empower them: present them with stoles to wear on behalf of the community, provide support for direct action trainings, and create space for them to share back to the community all while building a culture of invitation for other to also engage.
Okay, that's the Hot Take for this Tuesday. I would love to hear what you think and/or if anyone else has done this, do tell.
Peace,
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