Liberating Service

In Christian Community and Diaconal Ministries

Abstract

Service is a challenging term in the history of Christianity and in centuries of relationships across race, gender, and social class. Service has been touted as a Christian value and also used as a way of stratifying the church as some were granted power (and often wealth) over others, and some were expected to serve, even suffer, for the larger good. In the larger society, service has taken the form of slavery, forced labor, patriarchal social structures, and physical and psychological oppression. This paper re-visions Christian service and diaconal ministries, drawing upon a case study of Norma Cook Everist, to whom this issue is dedicated, and the baptismal and diaconal traditions of the ecumenical church, animated by liberative theologies. The proposed vision of liberating service is shaped by five values: the sacrality of all life; love-in-community; daily witness to grace; mutuality and accompaniment; and the endless pursuit of justice and peace.