View source for Religion:Methodist Diaconal Order

In the Methodist Church of Great Britain, [[Religion:Deacon|deacon]]s (a term used for both men and women) are members of an order called the '''Methodist Diaconal Order''' ('''MDO''').<ref name="About">{{cite web |title=About the Diaconal Order |url=https://www.methodist.org.uk/about-us/the-methodist-church/the-diaconal-order/about-the-diaconal-order/ |website=www.methodist.org.uk |publisher=Methodist Church in Britain |accessdate=20 December 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The MDO is both a [[Religion:Religious order|religious order]] and an order of [[Religion:Minister (Christianity)|ministry]] (or in other words, an order of clerics regular). One distinctive feature of the Methodist [[Religion:Ecclesiology|ecclesiology]] is that a deacon has a permanent ministry and remains as a deacon – it is not a transitional step toward becoming a [[Religion:Presbyter|presbyter]]. The diaconate is seen as an equal but offering something different from that of the presbyteral ministry.<ref>{{cite report |title=What is a Deacon? |url=https://www.methodist.org.uk/downloads/conf-what-is-a-deacon-2004.pdf |publisher=Methodist Conference |accessdate=20 December 2019 |date=2004}}</ref>
Currently the order reports to have about 280 deacons,<ref name="About"/> who follow a common Rule of Life.

==History==
[[File:Stephenson RevBowman.jpg|thumb|upright|President of the Conference Thomas Bowman Stephenson founded a deaconess order]]
Wesleyan Deaconesses and the Wesley Deaconess Order were founded by the Rev. Thomas Bowman Stephenson in 1890.<ref name="history">{{cite web | title=History of the MDO | url=http://methodistdiaconalorder.org.uk/index.php?page=history-of-the-mdo | accessdate=8 October 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012085958/http://methodistdiaconalorder.org.uk/index.php?page=history-of-the-mdo | archive-date=12 October 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Deaconesses began to work overseas from 1894 following a request for a deaconess to serve in South Africa.<ref>Graham, Dorothy (2004). [http://www.methodistheritage.org.uk/missionary-history-graham-wesley-deaconess-ceylon-2004.pdf Relations between the Wesley Deaconess Order and the Missionary Society]. ''Methodist Heritage''. Accessed 26 December 2016.</ref> 

In the 20th century, the diaconate was restored as a vocational order in many [[Religion:Western Christianity|Western churches]]. Deacons were recognised as an order equal to presbyters. Accordingly, the Methodist Conference of 1998 admitted all existing members of the Methodist Diaconal Order into "full connexion"—becoming [[Religion:Ordination#Protestantism|ordained]] to a full-time, life-long ministry.{{sfn|Orton|Stockdale|2014|p=6}}

==Form of address==
Formerly, deaconesses were addressed as ''Sister'', but since the admission of men to the order, and once it became an order of ministry as well as a religious order, all members are now officially titled "Deacon".<ref name="history"/> The term "deaconess" is no longer used.

==Habit==
There is no formal [[Philosophy:Religious habit|habit]] or uniform for a Methodist deacon: some deacons may decide to wear what is regarded as 'traditional dress' for the MDO – a navy blue suit and a white shirt of blouse, particularly for formal occasions, while others may feel that they would prefer to wear the polo shirts and sweat shirts commissioned by the MDO particularly if the circumstances are less formal.{{sfn|Orton|Stockdale|2014|pp=67–68}} Deacons are permitted to wear clerical shirts; however, these must be navy blue or white and deacons must wear the diaconal order badge they were presented with at their Ordination.{{sfn|Orton|Stockdale|2014|pp=67–68}}

Deacons are presented with a pectoral cross at their ordination. The cross of the MDO is an important identifier for Methodist deacons.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}

==Footnotes==
<references/>

==References==
*{{cite book |last1=Graham |first1=E. Dorothy |title=Saved to Serve: Story of the Wesley Deaconess Order, 1890–1978 |date=2002 |publisher=Methodist Pub. House |location=Werrington |isbn=9781858522241}}
*{{cite book |last1=Orton |first1=Andrew |last2=Stockdale |first2=Todd |title=Making Connections: Exploring Methodist Deacons’ Perspectives on Contemporary Diaconal Ministry |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/12956/1/12956.pdf |publisher=Sacristy Press |accessdate=20 December 2019 |isbn=9781908381194 |date=2014}}

==External links==
*[https://www.methodist.org.uk/about-us/the-methodist-church/the-diaconal-order/ The Diaconal Order] – The Methodist Church website

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