By: Christa Meland, director of communications, Minnesota UMC with contributions by Kara Heagel, Dakotas Conference candidate for ordained ministry

By a vote of 448-240, General Conference delegates voted to grant sacramental authority to deacons. Deacons can now administer baptism and Holy Communion without having to obtain special permission to do so.

Deacons are clergy leaders who are called by God, authorized by the church, and ordained by a bishop to a lifetime ministry of word, service, compassion, and justice. Deacons exemplify Christian discipleship, nurture others in their relationship to God, and lead church people to respond to the needs of the needy, neglected and marginalized of the world.

Previously, a bishop could authorize a deacon to preside at a specific celebration of the sacraments or in a specific ministry context. But today’s vote changes the language in paragraph 328 of The Book of Discipline so that such authorization is no longer required. “For the sake of extending the mission and ministry of the church and offering the means of grace to the world, the deacon is authorized to preside at the celebration of the sacraments,” the sentence now reads.

This decision was met with joy and happy tears from deacons that were present at General Conference.

Kara Heagel, Dakotas Conference lay delegate and shares her ministry journey and the struggle she has faced to decide her ministry path. 

I am a certified candidate for ordained ministry, a coffee shop manager, and have a dream of opening a coffee shop as a place of ministry where all are welcome and can feel the spirits' presence. I thought, that was the correct path  I was on the deacon track until District Commiee on Ordained Ministry meeting.

I have been swaying between the two orders [order of the elders and order of the deacons] for seven years. The main reason I could not decide is because of sacramental authority. 
 
I see the need for it in my community. I see the need for it in the people I serve coffee to every day. I see the need for it in what one person calls her church, because she gets more out of our conversations than she does out of a 20-minute sermon. 

I believe the core tenants of a deacons work in word, service, justice, and mercy can only be enhanced by the sacraments.

The best way to bring grace and Christ to the world is through converting ordinances like communion.

Who are we to stop God's grace from intervening in the holy power of communion. Who are we to say a qualified clergy person is not qualified to give the sacraments. Who are we to stop a child of God from being baptized because she wants it to be done by this deacon candidate in her coffee shop church.