DUCCs are meeting

DUCCs attending Chicago Assembly 2017

DUCC (Diakonia of The United Church of Canada) is meeting March 3 and 4, 2021, 12 pm—3 pm CST. That’s early morning in the DAP region and evening in the DRAE region. As you start the day or end the day in DRAE or DAP, or wherever you are in the DOTAC region during the day, please remember in prayer our brothers and sisters in DUCC as they meet together (virtually). 

Statement of Vision:

God calls us to diaconal ministry. 

The gospel of Jesus invites all to this ministry:

to offer compassion and accompaniment,

to work for liberation and justice,

to act as advocates of creative transformation.

Diaconal ministry, as a recognized order, is rooted

within our faith tradition and history,

and it is continued and embodied

in an ecumenical, world-wide community.

This vocation is a journey

involving Spirit-filled enrichment and learning,

requiring humble offering of self,

demanding prayerful discernment and courageous risking,

exercising visionary and communal leadership,

promising joy and meaning,

and daring to imagine God’s abundance

in a world of love and respect.

Through education, service, social justice, and pastoral care,

diaconal ministry in The United Church of Canada,

encourages a growing faith,

speaks truth to power,

seeks mutual empowerment,

proclaims prophetic hope,

nurtures life-giving community,

fosters peaceful, right relationship,

within the church and the whole of creation

wherever the Spirit may lead.

Adopted at DUCC National Gathering, April 2009.

Canada continues to have public health restrictions to deal with COVID19 and variant strains that are causing concern because they spread more easily, cause more severe illness, or current vaccines may be less effective against them. It’s been a long winter in largely lockdown conditions. 

Wildfires in Alberta

Living in a country that experiences the horrors and devastation of what we call bushfires in Australia, it is shocking to see the wildfires in Alberta Province in Canada - and the devastation of whole communities. Our thoughts and prayers are with the firefighters, those who have been evacuated and fled their homes, those who are supporting them, and those who have lost homes and livelihoods. It may be quite some time before people will be able to return to their communities to see what remains. We pray for the diaconal ministry agents in the area, and practical responses of the churches to support the people impacted by the fire.

A Minister in the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev Cathie Lambert, wrote this prayer after fires devastated the Margaret River region of Western Australia in 2011 in which she lives:

A prayer for the fires
We lament the devastation of the fires....
of tragic loss....
of homes reduced to ash....
of mementos that held treasured memories...
of treasured possessions and everyday necessities....
of livelihood...
of vegetation and animals....
of the beauty of the landscape....
We bring these images of loss into Your Presence,
sharing Your grief and sharing the grief of Your people and Your land.
We pray for those affected - for courage, strength, patience and hope, to face the days and weeks and months ahead, even when the story no longer has media attention.
We give thanks for those who have fought hard to contain the fire and bring it to an end, and for those who have supported residents - for firefighters, police officers, ambulance officers, and emergency workers. We are thankful that no lives have been lost in this catastrophe.
We give thanks that the people are not alone in their time of grief, anger, confusion and sorrow, and that the sense of goodwill in the community, and across the nation, offers them encouragement and practical support in their time of need.
We give thanks that the God we know in Jesus Christ journeys with us and remains with us all the days of our life, even through the dark valleys and times of sorrow and lament. Amen.

Anglican Church in Canada also has posted prayer points....
This is a terrifying time for the residents of the City of Fort McMurray, all of whom have had to evacuate. I think particularly of how stressful this is for those who are critically ill and those who tend them under these very difficult circumstances. Pray for all who are fleeing the fires that they may travel in safety. Pray for those who will receive them in emergency shelters. Pray for those who, against the odds given the unusually high seasonal temperatures and high winds, are battling the blaze and attempting to curtail its reach. Pray for all the firefighters, police and emergency service workers. These are exhausting days for them. Pray for all who face the loss of their homes, businesses, and livelihoods. Pray for all who are trying to protect City Hall and other public service buildings with an eye to the huge task of rebuilding the city in time. Let us continue to hold Fort McMurray in prayer, as we as a Church and a nation responding to this unfolding crisis.
The Most Rev Fred Hiltz, Archbishop and Primate.

Anglican Deacons in Canada gather

adapted from an article by Cydney Proctor

Anglican Deacons in Canada

A group of about 55 Deacons from the Association of Anglican Deacons in Canada (AADC) met in August to reflect on their ministry and support each other in their vocation, as part of the 2014 Conference, Servants by the Sea.

In the Anglican Church of Canada, there are about 340 ordained vocational deacons who work in the parish context and do not draw a salary. In the ordination process, the bishop sums up the role and duties of a deacon by saying, “God now calls you to a special ministry of servanthood…You are to study the Holy Scriptures, to seek nourishment from them, and to model your life upon them.”

The association was formed in 2003 after the need for a community of Canadian deacons became clear a few years prior to the 1999 meeting of the North American Association of the Diaconate (NAAD). It has since hosted five conferences across the country and its membership has grown to 77. Members of the AADC can also become members of its sister organization, the Association of Episcopal Deacons (AED), formerly part of NAAD. Five members of the EDC have joined the AADC to support their Canadian counterparts.

The 2014 conference, Servants by the Sea, opened with an address from the primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, who spoke passionately about what deacons are called to do, including to struggle against poverty and inequality. “What I want to dwell on is your ministry in the name of the compassionate Christ,” said Hiltz. “In all you do, to those you tend, you are the feet, the hands, the heart, the voice of Jesus…you are that salt, that flavours for good. Thank you for all you do.”