Deacons create new website

For Deacon Frank Berning, assistant to the director of the Albany diocesan Office of Formation for the Diaconate, a recent achievement highlights just what can happen when people "allow the discernment process to happen."

He was referring to the new diocesan website for deacons, a product of months of meetings and emails exchanged by a committee of men and women from the diaconate community. The site is a comprehensive look at the purposes and functions of the permanent diaconate in the Albany Diocese.

The formation process is showcased, as are events, resources for men in discernment, the history of the diaconate, homily-preparation and prayer links, and resources for the wives and families of deacons.

The site's designers also wanted to highlight the Albany Diocese's new formal program for deacon aspirants. Aspirancy is a period of discernment in which men considering a vocation to the diaconate attend retreats, pray and speak with current deacons before entering the formal three-year candidate program.

Exploring call

Most of all, said Deacon Berning, the committee wanted to develop a place where interested men could go to explore a possible call to ministry and see if the diaconate was the right fit for them -- to "understand the role of a deacon in the parish life of the Diocese."

The 11-member committee met every two weeks for more than seven months to draft text and trade ideas for the website.

"During our first session, we [made] a commitment that our meeting itself would be a prayer, so that we would be able to embrace all thoughts, and even the wildest ideas. And it was the Spirit moving within the group that allowed it to happen. It was an incredible experience of people being connected," Deacon Berning said.

No techno-know

Since not everyone on the committee was computer-literate, they began by learning about technology and defining terms that they'd need to proceed, as well as learning how to attach files to email.

They also invited members of the diocesan Information Technology Office to speak on site creation, and looked to an outside web designer for hints and tips on putting the site together.

More additions to the site are planned, including a photo gallery of deacons working in their ministries. While a deacon is most visible to Catholics in his liturgical role, preaching homilies and standing beside a priest at Mass, Deacon Berning said the diaconate is more often a service ministry. Its members spend 80 percent of their time in ministries as varied as soup kitchens, hospitals, prisons, and schools, he said.

Reaching out

Deacon Berning hopes that the growing site can become a resource for diaconate programs in other states and countries and for men who are discerning a call next door and halfway across the world.

"We're happy with the site," he said. "The deacon community is growing around the world. Perhaps, if they look at a site like this, it will give them the courage to overcome any fears they have about moving forward. There are people in the community that are being called forth; they just, for whatever reasons, haven't raised their hands."

(The deacons' website is located at www.rcda.org/Offices/deacons.

Among the website's features is a section on the role and influence of a deacon's wife on the ministry. "There is no question that in the ministry of a deacon, if the deacon is married, the wife is involved," Deacon Berning said. "Their wives are spiritually with them.")

(4/6/06) [[In-content Ad]]