By Thea Jarvis

Sixty-four men from around the Archdiocese of Atlanta gathered at St. Pius X High School last weekend to begin a three-year course of study that may ultimately lead them to the ordained ministry.

The group represents the largest number of candidates for the permanent diaconate since the archdiocese began the program in the early 1970’s. There are presently 19 permanent deacons ordained for ministry in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Those who are ordained permanent deacons become part of a ministry which began in the early Church. Sacramentally, permanent deacons are permitted to celebrate marriages and baptisms. They can preach at Mass and lead a wide variety of ministries that aid in the parish and community.

Father Bill Hoffman, director of the Archdiocesan Office of the Permanent Diaconate, indicated that the latest group, which has been preparing for the start of their formation through discernment sessions, screening interviews and psychological testing, has committed to a rigorous schedule of classes two Saturdays each month through May. The classes will include biblical studies, ecclesiology, spirituality, liturgy, morality, pastoral skills, prayer, church social teaching, ministries, catechetics, church history, canon law, Christology, sacraments, and counseling. The courses will be taught by priests and religious of the archdiocese.

Each Saturday session will feature a pre-lunch communion service led by a deacon; a spring retreat will conclude the first year’s classes.

The actual preparation for the September schooling began last January, when Father Hoffman sent a letter to priests of the archdiocese requesting names of men in their parishes who might be interested in the ordained ministry. Most of the candidates have, in fact, been referred by local pastors, although some applied for admission because they had learned of the program through publicity in The Georgia Bulletin or word of mouth.

A series of three discernment sessions were held at the Catholic Center in the spring by Father Hoffman and some permanent deacons and their wives. The talks were aimed at helping potential candidates determine if they were ready to commit themselves to a broader role of service in the church. Ninety applications were requested at that time, although just over 60 applications were sent back in.

While applications were being filled out and returned, Father Hoffman and members of his advisory board sought laypersons who could assist in the screening process, conducting an in-home interview with the candidate and his family and generally rounding out the information given in the application form. Letters of recommendation from the candidates’ pastors were also solicited.

“The big thing was the interview,” Father Hoffman said, adding that “there was no way I could have done them all myself.”

The idea of team interviews grew from a meeting Father Hoffman attended with directors of permanent diaconate offices across the country. He remembered one director’s observation that “people know what kinds of people they would like to see in ministry.”

The team notion made sense. Ultimately, the Archdiocese of Atlanta trained nine teams of one man and one woman for the screening interviews. The teams will continue to follow the candidates through their studies, gathering their input and insuring that they are progressing comfortably with the program.

Over the summer, the teams traveled all over north Georgia. Their in-depth interviews included wives and children of the candidates as well as the candidate himself.

“Anybody in ministry has to have reinforcement,” Father Hoffman pointed out, and opposition to a man’s call to the diaconate from those closest to him “can be an irritant” to a marriage or family situation.

When the interviews were completed, the teams assembled to review the candidates and jointly determine their acceptability for the program. Once a candidate was accepted, psychological testing was requested. (Out of the 64 men presently studying for the permanent diaconate, 60 or more are married.)

Such testing was not the basis for acceptance or rejections, Father Hoffman explained, but a tool for understanding individual personalities and a guide for future spiritual direction on his part.

Although deacon candidates have begun their journey in earnest, the step from acceptance to ordination is not automatic.

“They need some sort of ministry they can go to,” Father Hoffman emphasized, some need that must be fulfilled. This is why the candidates are urged to consider avenues of ministry early on, he said.

Such opportunities are broad in an archdiocese the size and scope of Atlanta; hospitals, prisons, parishes, ethnic communities, the homeless and suffering all can be served by the gifts a deacon brings to his vocation. Marriage and family counseling, work with the elderly, parish education programs and youth involvement might also be naturals for many deacons.

Father Hoffman even foresees the possibility of deacon-led weekend communion services in one-priest parishes where pastors are often stretched to the limit and can rarely carve out time for rest and renewal.

In the broadest sense, “all kinds of people can have roles in ministry – ordained and not ordained,” Father Hoffman said. The permanent diaconate is like “a foot in the door” for expanded lay involvement, he believes.

“Down the line, I hope a good program for deacons will lead to a full-blown program that promotes lay ministry,” Father Hoffman observed. “If this is done well, deacons will be accepted and appreciated for their training and dedication,” encouraging other laypersons to become more involved and laying groundwork for the formation of a lay ministry training program within the archdiocese.