Worship Ministries | Servant Ministries | Fellowship Ministries | Children & Youth Ministries
Ministries
We have four groups of ministries at St. Peter's including Worship Ministries, Servant Ministries, Fellowship Ministries, and Children & Youth Ministries.
The Ministry of Deacons
"As a deacon in the Church, you are to study the Holy Scriptures......and to model your life upon them. You are to make Christ and his redemptive love known..... to those among whom you live, and work, and worship. You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world. You are to assist the bishop and priests in public worship.......At all times, your life and teaching are to show Christ's people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself." (Book of Common Prayer p.543)
The above is an excerpt taken from the service of the Ordination of a Deacon in our Prayer Book. It is a description of the ministry of deacons in the Episcopal/Anglican tradition. As you may know, there are two types of deacons in our tradition. Transitional deacons serve for a period of 6 months to a year as they prepare for ordination to the priesthood. Vocational deacons, on the other hand, typically do not sense a call to the priesthood, but rather have a life-long call to the ministry described above. The ministry of deacons is vital and plays an important part of the Church's call to minister to and transform the world.
I am pleased to announce that Dana Vanvliet will be serving with and among us. Dana is a member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Virginia Beach and her time with us (9-12 months) will be part of her preparation for ordination as a vocational deacon. Dana is a manufacturer representative for W. G. Gillenwater and Associates Inc. (her full-time job in the world) and is also a chaplain for the Virginia Beach Police Department. She will worship with us each Sunday, accompany me on some pastoral visits, and perform other tasks that will help define for her the ministry of a deacon.
You'll be learning more about Dana (and the ministry of deacons) in the weeks and months to come.