Deaconesses consecrated at Assembly 2018 and Annual Conference

Deaconesses Allison Francesco and Fawn McCallister were affirmed in their call and commissioned at the 2018 Susquehanna Annual Conference.

by Tara Barnes*
Reprinted with permission

“Called to Be What for God’s World?” was the theme of the deaconess consecration service May 18 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, part of UMW Assembly 2018. Twenty-four women from 19 conferences, including Allison Francesco and Fawn McCallister of the Susquehanna Conference, were consecrated for a lifetime of lay servant ministry in relationship with The United Methodist Church.

Deaconesses are laywomen who have responded to the call of God to full-time ministries of love, justice and service. Their life-giving work provides support and dignity to those in need and helps individuals and communities reach their full potential.

“Deaconesses and home missioners today, as throughout their history, serve in many areas of need, in places where the church has not been, was not aware it should be or was afraid or unwilling to be,” said Deaconess Megan Hale to open the service. “Their daily task of serving and empowering is a visible symbol of the link between the church and the world.” Hale is the executive for candidacy for United Methodist Women’s Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner.

Answering a call

Individuals consecrated and commissioned to the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner in The United Methodist Church form a covenant community in service as a lay order. After discerning a call to lay ministry, deaconesses and home missioners (laymen) finish a course of study to ensure biblical, theological and sociological grounding in their ministries. They are consecrated and commissioned full-time mission-oriented service as part of the lay diaconate.
“The first time I read a brochure about the deaconess calling, in the early 1990s, I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me,” said newly consecrated deaconess and photojournalist Laurel Akin. “Years later I attended a discernment event and learned more about the wide varieties of ways deaconesses and home missioners work in ministries of love, justice and service.”

Deaconesses consecrated on Friday will serve in such various vocations as parish nurses, social services, photojournalism and Christian education in various communities across the country.

***

Barnes is editor of Response, the magazine of (United Methodist) women in mission. For more information about the ministry of Deaconess and Home Missioner, visit www.unitedmethodistwomen.org/dhm

***

“I felt called as young as five to be a missionary,” said Deaconess Allison Francesco. “As a teenager, I knew I was called to ministry, but not in the traditional way. I served my local community and church, but still felt a call to something more. Many years later I attended a United Methodist Women’s leadership event and found out about the Deaconess and Home Missioner Program while attending a workshop. One year later, I attended another leadership event with my college-aged daughter and learned there was a Deaconess/Home Missioner Discernment Event, and the rest is history!”
Bishops Gregory Palmer of the West Ohio Conference, in which Assembly 2018 took place, and retired Bishop Ann Sherer-Simpson took part in the consecration service.

“When I heard a talk about what a Deaconess is, what they are called to do, I truly sat up straight and listened,” said Deaconess Fawn McCallister. “A moment later is when I heard God’s voice, felt His breath on my neck, with the words, “This is what you are meant to do.”