50 Years a Deacon
The Reverend Ted Witham tssf
The Church 50 years ago was a very different church than today. Churches around Perth were generally full on Sundays. Men still wore suits to church, and women wore Sunday best dresses. Fewer women wore hats. The declining attendance of hats was a sign that the Church was about to change. We were still ‘The Church of England in Australia’ – our name didn’t change until 1981.
Sunday Schools around the city were huge, 70 or 80 kids and a dozen teachers turned out every Sunday at parishes like Christ Church Claremont. Adults argued whether children were really ‘people’ for the purpose of attendance numbers!
By 1975, the once-flourishing YAF – the Young Anglican Fellowship – had shrunk and died.
This was the Church to which five of us were called to be deacons in 1975. The church appeared to be flourishing, but there were signs that we were about to be pruned – enormously.
The Diocese tried big things to stop the runaway numbers. ‘Celebration 75’, a huge Diocese-wide mission, culminated in 10,000 Anglicans gathering at Perry Lakes stadium for the Eucharist on Palm Sunday.
The Diocese set goals – 24 new parishes to be planted in 24 months.
Archbishop Sambell’s parlour game was to have us state as many new suburbs as possible (Kallaroo- Mullaloo- Heathridge- Connolly). Then the Archbishop would comment: ‘And that is our mission field.’
The painting by the 14th Century Italian painter Duccio di Buoninsegna is a sermon in oils. Duccio teaches that what is true for Simon and Andrew then is true for us now. First, Jesus continues to invite us into a life-giving relationship with God.
Secondly, Simon needed others to haul in so many fish. Jesus rarely invites single heroes to do the work of ministry. It’s too hard. It’s too big. All ministry requires hauling in people. ‘Hauling in’ people may not be the best image. The church is not a circus hauling suckers into the Big Tent! Rather the church invites people respectfully. Even so, God’s church is a Big Tent.
The third idea is that ministry is always about people. This was underlined during our deacon year. In the Deacon’s Training Program in 1975, we experienced every ministry in the Diocese.
Ten weeks in an established parish: I was assigned to the Parish of Kelmscott, and then to the Parish of Balga. New area parish Balga was more catholic, Kelmscott an evangelical parish, so we participated in different worship styles.
Four weeks in hospital chaplaincy, taking communion to patients and a fascinating five weeks in mental health.
A day in Industrial Chaplaincy was a visit to the Alcoa Refinery to meet John Bowyer the then chaplain!
We resided at Wollaston College. We took turns choosing music and leading worship in that wonderful big tent Chapel. Following the Benedictine Rule, we did manual work, cleaning windows and sweeping paths.
I don’t like manual work, so I enjoyed restoring the old harmonium which provided our music in Chapel, cleaning reeds with toothbrushes and fixing wires and bellows. It took me the whole year to complete – conveniently!
The Deacon’s Year was fast paced. Two weeks in a country parish, where I watched with amazement Henry Tassell, who had the rare knack of ministering to farmers.
Two weeks in a church school. I was anxious to be a school chaplain. When I was about ten, I had had a dream that I would be a teacher and priest. I interpreted it to mean that I would be a school chaplain.
I learned a lot at Perth College. I saw how the chaplain Terry Curtis led Chapel services, his opportunities for pastoral care for girls and staff – and a scary Headmistress!
We had a tough 36-hour Urban Training course, where we survived in the city without money. We pretended to be homeless, to experience society’s care for the needy.
Anglicare, Anglican Homes, how to conduct weddings: much was a blur. But the point was: ministry is about people – worshippers, hospital patients, school kids, brides and grooms, street people and families.
Luke doesn’t tell us that Jesus ordained deacons. Jesus calls all the baptised to ministry. Matthew writes a parable about sheep and goats. (Matthew 25:31-46) When we minister to the least of these, we are loving Jesus. The ministry of service is for all of us.
Most deacons become priests. We are deacons first. We are the church’s sign to itself of helping the needy. Our life of service shows that all of us rely on God for ministry. The church is a serving church, a church of deacons, and our holy task is to love God by serving people.
Ted Witham in 1975
