Deacons included in new ELCA, Episcopal clergy exchange guidelines

Marking a quarter-century of full-communion partnership, The Episcopal Church and the ELCA now welcome the exchange of deacons in updated clergy exchange guidelines.

Available in English and Spanish, the new “Principles for the Orderly Exchange of Pastors, Priests and Deacons Through ‘Called to Common Mission” offers practical guidelines to help churches and dioceses implement all such exchanges between the two denominations.

On Jan. 6, 2001, after decades of dialogue, the two churches entered into full communion through joint adoption of a document titled “Called to Common Mission.” Full communion entails working together for joint mission and witness in the world, especially through the exchange of ordained ministers.

The updated exchange guidelines—developed by the Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee, affirmed by the ELCA 2023 Church Council and approved by The Episcopal Church’s 2024 General Convention—note that the churches recognize each other’s order of deacons as authentic, although practiced differently. This mutual recognition, the guidelines state, acknowledges that “each other’s deacons may be interchangeable in counterpart ministries and joint ministry settings.”

The document includes a glossary of key terms, where the churches mutually define a deacon as “a person who is set apart by the Holy Spirit and ordained by the Church to equip the diakonia of all the baptized and to bring the concerns of the world to the Church, a minister of Word and Service.”

It notes that since The Episcopal Church and ELCA practice the diaconate in different ways, exchange is intended for “nontransitional” Episcopal deacons, not those seeking ordination to the priesthood.

“The exchangeability of deacons will present new opportunities to learn and grow together as we expand our capacity to engage in our ‘call to common mission,’” the guidelines state. “We rejoice in our relationship and are encouraged that it continues to grow and deepen as we go forward into Christ’s future and find new opportunities for evangelism, witness, and service.”