Rural deacons mix family life and work with ministry

Published: 2003-10-01

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Deacon Joe Pickens, who serves at St. Thomas Parish in remote and rural central Oregon, knows what it's like to mix family life with church ministry. One time he had to lead a parish Lenten service and had to bring his then 4-year-old daughter along. She agreed to sit in the sacristy while he presided at the rite, but during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, a highly sacred moment, she belted out the words to a children's song, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." All Deacon Pickens and the congregation could do was burst out laughing. When family, ordained ministry and work mix, there are surprises, said the deacon, who works full time as a state supervisor in child protective services. "When you are ordained, you want to serve, but you need to know what kind of imposition service might mean on the members of your family," he told the Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland and the neighboring Diocese of Baker. "We're still trying to figure that out," he added. Permanent deacons preside at baptisms, marriages and funerals and also do many other tasks.

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