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Formation
Program Goal The goal of
the Diaconal Formation Program is always to provide direction and support
for its candidates. Courses are reviewed and evaluated and evaluated on a
regular basis considering both the needs of the candidates and the Church
they will serve. The formation team encourages candidates to share
questions, concerns, and suggestions as they journey through the formation
process. It is the
desire of the program to form candidates who are deeply committed and
rooted spiritually, as well as, academically. No one part of the formation
process is more or less important than another. An evaluation will be done
on each candidate at least once a year to determine his suitability for
remaining in the program. Consultation with instructors, pastors, mentors
and class deacons will be part of the ongoing evaluation process.
Evaluation is both spiritual and academic. Candidates will also be
evaluated on how well they possess the three qualities of a good minister,
namely; 1) They must have an attitude of service; 2) Have the necessary
competence; and 3) Be a team player. 1.
An Attitude
of Service – Those who
minister do so because they follow Christ who “came no to be served, but
to serve.” They should not enter into ministry to get their own needs met,
but to serve the needs of the community, to aid their prayer, to help the
community become a place all can contact the living
God. 2.
Competence
– A minister
must be competent. Competence is a combination of specialized education,
training, and natural ability. Ministers
must know what things they do best and be willing to participate in other
training to expand and enhance their ministry. There is no substitute for
competence. 3.
A Team
Player – Ministry is
never a solo performance. It is
the collaborative effort of the entire believing community: clergy,
religious, and laity working together. It is of paramount importance that
the lay minister to understand, appreciate, affirm, and accept the
ordained. It is equally that the ordained understand, appreciate, affirm,
and accept the lay minister. As “The Deacon
is called to the fullness of Holy Orders to be an agent of service, one
who personally and directly is satisfying the immediate and real needs of
the people. The entire range of corporal and spiritual works or mercy, as
well as sacramental and liturgical ministry should be integral to a deacon
as an ordained minister of the Church.” (1988 Statement of the Bishops’
Committee on the Diaconate #44) |