Ordination of Deacons in the Churches of the Porvoo Communion
Ordination of Deacons in the Churches of the Porvoo Communion A Comparative Investigation in Ecclesiology Tiit Pädam Uppsala 2011 Designed by Kadi Pajupuu Kirjastus TP Uppsala/Tallinn 2011 ISBN 978-9949-21-785-4 Abstract The thesis investigates the rites of ordination to the diaconate in the churches of the Porvoo communion. The research includes, in total, four Anglican churches of the British Isles and six Lutheran churches in the Nordic and Baltic countries – all of the churches which signed the Porvoo Declaration in 1996 and thus founded a new communion: Church in Wales, Church of England, Church of Ireland, Scottish Episcopal Church, Church of Norway, Church of Sweden, Estonian Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Ice- land and Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Lithuania. The aim of the research is to discover whether the ecclesiologies implicit in those rites are compatible with one another and whether they contribute to a common understanding of the deacon’s ministry in the churches of the Porvoo communion or not. The ordination rites are considered from three perspectives which to- gether comprise the ecclesiology in the rites. The first is the theologi- cal content of the rites. Here the analysis is based on a detailed reading of the liturgical texts of the rites. The second, closely related to the first, is the liturgical performance of the ordination during the Sunday service in the local church. The roles and participation of different actors in the rite is analysed and the meaning of the liturgical acts which make up the rite is interpreted. The third perspective takes into consideration the church’s position in society and the socio-cultural context of the local church where the ordination takes place.
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