Ordination of Deacons (1928 BCP)

Ordination of Deacons (1928 BCP) is the rite in the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer by which a bishop admits candidates to the diaconate. In the 1928 Ordinal, deacons are not treated as generic church workers. They are publicly called, examined, prayed for, and ordained for a ministry of Scripture, liturgical assistance, catechesis, pastoral search, and ordered obedience under episcopal authority.

The rite is best read with the Holy Communion (1928 BCP), the Catechism (1928 BCP), the Litany, and Article XXXVI. Together they show the classical Anglican claim that deacons belong to the Church's ancient threefold ministry, but that their authority is exercised under Scripture, public examination, common prayer, and the discipline of the Church.

Place in the 1928 Ordinal

The 1928 rite appears under the title "The Form and Manner of Making Deacons." It follows the Ordinal preface, which says that bishops, priests, and deacons have existed "from the Apostles' time" and that no one should exercise these offices without lawful calling, examination, public prayer, and imposition of hands. The deacon rite then begins by requiring a sermon or exhortation on the order itself:

When the day appointed by the Bishop is come, there shall be a Sermon, or Exhortation, declaring the Duty and Office of such as come to be admitted Deacons; how necessary that Order is in the Church of Christ, and also, how the People ought to esteem them in their Office.

This opening makes ordination an act of public teaching before it is an act of admission. The people are not bystanders to a private clerical transaction; they are instructed in the order, asked to pray, and invited to object if they know an impediment or notable crime. The candidate is therefore set before the Church as one whose call must be recognized, tested, and prayed over.

Public Presentation and Litany

After the sermon, a priest presents the candidates to the bishop near the Holy Table. The bishop asks whether they are "apt and meet" in learning and godly conversation, and then addresses the congregation concerning possible impediments. The rite then turns to the Litany, adding a suffrage for those about to be admitted to the diaconate:

That it may please thee to bless these thy servants, now to be admitted to the Order of Deacons, and to pour thy grace upon them; that they may duly execute their Office, to the edifying of thy Church, and the glory of thy holy Name;

The suffrage places the diaconate inside the Church's intercession rather than inside private ambition. The grace requested is for execution of the office, not for status. Its end is the edification of the Church and the glory of God's name.

Collect and Scriptural Pattern

The collect for making deacons interprets the order through Acts 6 and the memory of St. Stephen. It speaks of "divers Orders of Ministers" and asks that the candidates be equipped in doctrine and holiness:

Almighty God, who by thy divine providence hast appointed divers Orders of Ministers in thy Church, and didst inspire thine Apostles to choose into the Order of Deacons the first Martyr Saint Stephen, with others; Mercifully behold these thy servants now called to the like Office and Administration: so replenish them with the truth of thy Doctrine, and adorn them with innocency of life, that, both by word and good example, they may faithfully serve thee in this Office, to the glory of thy Name, and the edification of thy Church; through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and for ever. Amen.

The collect is the rite's concise theology of the diaconate. It joins doctrine and life, word and example, service and edification. The reference to Stephen does not reduce the office to charity alone; in Acts, the seven are chosen so that ordered service and the ministry of the word both flourish. The 1928 rite keeps that double emphasis by appointing either 1 Timothy 3:8-13 or Acts 6:2-7 as the Epistle.

Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.

The appointed Epistle explains why the earlier public examination matters. Deacons must first be proved; character is not ornamental to the office. The rite's repeated concern with doctrine, conscience, household life, and obedience makes the diaconate a spiritual and moral charge, not merely a useful apprenticeship.

Examination of the Candidate

The bishop examines each candidate in the presence of the people. The first questions concern inward vocation, canonical calling, and Scripture. The 1928 form asks whether the ordinand is persuaded that Scripture contains all doctrine required for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and whether he will diligently read Scripture to the people. It then defines the office:

It appertaineth to the Office of a Deacon, in the Church where he shall be appointed to serve, to assist the Priest in Divine Service, and specially when he ministereth the Holy Communion, and to help him in the distribution thereof; and to read Holy Scriptures and Homilies in the Church; and to instruct the youth in the Catechism; in the absence of the Priest to baptize infants; and to preach, if he be admitted thereto by the Bishop.

The office is therefore both liturgical and pastoral. A deacon assists at Divine Service and Holy Communion, reads Scripture, helps teach the Catechism, may baptize infants in the absence of a priest, and may preach when licensed by the bishop. The words "where provision is so made" then extend the office toward parish need:

And furthermore, it is his Office, where provision is so made, to search for the sick, poor, and impotent people of the Parish, that they may be relieved with the alms of the Parishioners, or others.

This language gives the 1928 diaconate a concrete parish shape. The deacon's service is not detached from the altar or from doctrine; it carries the Church's common prayer outward toward the sick and poor. The same pattern appears in the 1928 catechetical instruction concerning the ministry:

The office of a Deacon is, to assist the Priest in Divine Service, and in his other ministrations, under the direction of the Bishop.

The catechetical summary is shorter than the Ordinal, but it confirms the same ordering: deacons assist priests, exercise ministry under the bishop's direction, and are part of the threefold ministry taught to the people.

Laying on of Hands and the Gospel

The ordaining act is the bishop's laying on of hands. The words are spare, Trinitarian, and office-specific:

Take thou Authority to execute the Office of a Deacon in the Church of God committed unto thee; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The bishop then gives the New Testament to each new deacon:

Take thou Authority to read the Gospel in the Church of God, and to preach the same, if thou be thereto licensed by the Bishop himself.

The gift of the New Testament interprets the deacon's authority. The deacon is not ordained to an undefined helpfulness, but to a ministry bound to the Gospel. That is why one of the newly ordained deacons reads the appointed Gospel, Luke 12:35-38, immediately after the ordination. The deacon who has received authority to read the Gospel exercises that ministry at once in the Communion service.

Communion and Continuing Formation

The rite takes place within Holy Communion. After the Gospel, the bishop proceeds in the Communion, and all who have been ordered receive Communion with him the same day. The post-communion collect asks that the new deacons be "modest, humble, and constant in their Ministration" and "stable and strong" in Christ. The closing declaration then sets a period of continuing formation:

And here it must be declared unto the Deacon, that he must continue in that Office of a Deacon the space of a whole year, (except for reasonable causes it shall otherwise seem good unto the Bishop,) to the intent he may be perfect and well expert in the things appertaining to the Ecclesiastical Administration.

This final rubric shows that the diaconate is an order in its own right and also, for many candidates, the first stage toward priesthood. The year is not merely a waiting period. It is ordered toward experience in ecclesiastical administration, tested faithfulness, and diligence.

1662 Continuity and 1928 Revision

The American 1928 rite stands in substantial continuity with the 1662 English rite. The office definition, the laying on of hands, the delivery of the New Testament, the Luke 12 Gospel, and the Communion setting are all recognizably inherited. One important revision concerns the examination on Scripture. The 1662 rite asks:

Do you unfeignedly believe all the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament?

E. Clowes Chorley, writing soon after the 1928 American revision, identified the changed question as one of the significant alterations in the ordination services:

The changes in the Ordination services for deacons and priests are few, but significant. This is especially so in the change in the form of the question put to the deacon concerning the Bible.

Chorley then quotes the 1928 form, "Are you persuaded that the Holy Scriptures contain all Doctrine required as necessary for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ?" His observation is important because the 1928 wording aligns the deacon's examination with the Anglican formularies' doctrine of scriptural sufficiency. The revision does not weaken the rite's biblical character; it states the question in doctrinally precise Prayer Book language.

Doctrinal Status

Article XXXVI gives the Anglican doctrinal boundary for the Ordinal. In the American Articles printed with the 1928 BCP, the Ordinal set forth by General Convention is declared sufficient for consecration and ordering:

The Book of Consecration of Bishops, and Ordering of Priests and Deacons, as set forth by the General Convention of this Church in 1792, doth contain all things necessary to such Consecration and Ordering; neither hath it any thing that, of itself, is superstitious and ungodly.

For classical Anglican use, this means the rite should not be read as a free-standing ceremonial text. It is part of the Prayer Book's doctrinal settlement. For High Church use, it preserves visible episcopal ordination, public laying on of hands, and the ancient threefold order. For Reformed and evangelical use, it binds the deacon's ministry to Scripture, preaching when licensed, catechesis, holy living, and service under discipline.

The 1928 Ordination of Deacons therefore presents a restrained but full Anglican theology of the diaconate: apostolic and ecclesial in order, evangelical in its Scripture test, eucharistic in setting, pastoral in service, and accountable through bishop, priest, congregation, and canon.

See Also

• Book of Common Prayer (1928)
• Ordinal (1928 BCP)
• Ordination of Priests (1928 BCP)
• Consecration of Bishops (1928 BCP)
• Holy Communion (1928 BCP)
• Catechism (1928 BCP)
• Occasional Offices (1928 BCP)

External Links

• The Ordinal in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer
• Articles of Religion in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer
• The Ordering of Deacons in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer
• E. Clowes Chorley, The New American Prayer Book, chapter VII