The MDO as a Religious Order
The Methodist Diaconal Order is both an Order of Ministry and a Religious Order within the Methodist Church in the UK. It was formed in 1989 as a successor to the Wesley Deaconess Order and is open to both women and men. Diaconal ministry is one of two ordained ministries within the Methodist Church. Deacons and Presbyters, Equal but Different.
A Dispersed Religious Order
Currently the Order has over 250 deacons dispersed throughout the British Isles who live by a common Rule of Life. A full time Warden and Deputy Warden are appointed from among their number. Deacons meet annually in Convocation and support each other through prayer, friendship and regular Area Groups.
The deacon's role focusses on bridging the gap between the church and the world
Deacon’s Story - Living by a Rule of Life
As deacons ‘we follow this Rule of Life to deepen our fellowship and bind us together as a dispersed community, that we may continue to become the people God wants us to be, both individually and as an Order.’
In these ways, the servant ministry of Jesus Christ and of his Church is strengthened.
Deacons have a public role representing the Church to the community, working on behalf of God and the Church. They have been called by God, trained and ordained to the ministry in which they remind and help the Church to live out their role as servants of God in the world.