A woman stopped her in a hospital hallway and said: what you do is not a job. What you do is a ministry. CJ Van Slyke had been a nurse, a licensed counselor, a Red Cross mental health specialist deployed to flood zones, a Haiti mission worker, and a volunteer at a women's overnight shelter. She had been doing the work for years before she had a name for it. The name, it turned out, was deacon. This week Mary Balfour sits down with her friend the Reverend Deacon CJ Van Slyke for a conversation about one of the most ancient and most misunderstood vocations in the church. A deacon is ordained to serve, specifically to carry the needs of the world into the church and the ministry of the church out into the world. CJ describes it as being called to work in the margins, in uncomfortable places, and still finding joy there. Not to fix things. To be present. They talk about what it actually takes to become a deacon, including four years of theological education, a year and a half of discernment, psychological testing, oral and written exams, and an assignment process that CJ compares to joining the military. They talk about immigration advocacy, food deserts, free laundry ministry in a low income neighborhood in Woodlawn, six acres of native plant restoration, and what it means to be the eyes and ears and feet on the ground for a congregation trying to figure out who its neighbors are. CJ said no for a long time. She didn't want people telling her what to do. Then a friend took her to a listening session and she was just in, immediately and completely. That turn, from resistance to recognition, is one the guests in this summer series keep describing in different words. At some point you stop trying to lift the burden yourself and discover it has already been lifted. In retirement, CJ is still on the pastoral care committee, the outreach committee, and the grants committee. She serves at the altar at least once a month. The joy, she says, has not gone away. She hopes it never does. Prayer for Mission (Morning Prayer, the Book of Common Prayer, pg 100) Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Links mentioned in this episode: - The Rev. Deacon CJ Van Slyke (https://www.ssechurch.org/clergy-staff-1) - Check us out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@biblelovepodcast)
