Photo: Courtesy of Hanover (Ind.) College
Lake Lambert (center), diaconal minister and president of Hanover (Ind.) College, poses with student graduates. Lambert said he always saw himself pursuing his call by teaching and working in higher education.
“I’m excited about the change from lay rosters
to ministers of word and service, largely because it will be less complicated differentiations to explain to people,” she said. “There will be a clearer understanding of what it means to have people called to pastoral ministry and leaders called to diaconal ministry. It will help us name, own and claim the crucial aspects of diaconally called ministers in our larger church body.” Part of Colver’s work deals with a network of
house congregations in the greater Seattle area. With small congregations being built in a variety of nontraditional ways in areas where paying for a full-time called pastor might not be feasible, she sees a future where a part-time pastor and part-time deacon would “nourish a community in partnership.”
‘Our expressions of faith are how the world gets to know who we are as a church.’
Varying paths of ministry That doesn’t mean the roles of deacons will all look the same. Lake Lambert always knew his service would be
connected to the church, but as a diaconal minister, he saw his route to word and service through edu- cation. Lambert, now president of Hanover (Ind.) College, said he always imagined teaching and work- ing in higher education institutions of the church. “I never saw myself in congregational ministry,”
he said. “When the ELCA was formed and study for ministry began soon after that, I was a senior in college and a first-year seminarian trying to understand my sense of call. When I read the report from the study for ministry about diaconal ministry, it was an aha moment. I said, ‘Oh, that’s what I am.’ ” Lambert said the unification process can help
the changing societal landscape. “It’s essential for the life of our church in an increasingly post- Christian world,” he said. “Our expressions of faith are how the world gets to know who we are as a church. We need leaders who can help the church in that. In this new age, we need diaconal leaders who can do that.”
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