Enter your search text in the box above

Select a result to preview

On the Licensure of Deacons

#womens-ordination #diaconate #deaconess

Clipped from https://www.dwgc.org/s/BenSharpeResponse.pdf

January 16, 2026

(Updated with footnotes April 16, 2026)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Please receive the following responses to questions that I am informed have arisen in your diocese pertaining to some of my theological and pastoral positions.  My intent is not to convince you to agree with my theological convictions or to offer you an apologetic for my views. Rather my purpose in offering the following is to merely provide clarification and information.

Regarding the Diaconate

1.    I believe that called, gifted, and qualified men and women are eligible to pursue diaconal orders.
1. As it pertains to women called to the diaconate, I have had the privilege to serve with two female deacons under my leadership when I was the rector of Christ Church, Winston-Salem.  I was the endorsing rector for one of those women who entered the ordination process under me.  Likewise, I served as her advocate as she went through the ordination process.
2. I was instrumental in formulating our diocesan Constitution and Canons in the Diocese of Christ Our Hope that permitted women to be considered for diaconal orders.
3. In keeping with the above, my views, advocacy, and actions are in complete concord and agreement with the position of the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast as stated in your Constitution and Canons. I think our shared canonical statements are biblical and reflect the practice of the primitive church.

2.    My position regarding the role of deacons is exactly what the Ordinal states:
“It belongs to the office of a Deacon to share in the humility and service of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the strengthening of the Church, which is his body. You are to read the Gospel and proclaim Christ at all times through your service, to instruct both young and old in the Catechism, and, at the direction of the Bishop or Priest, to baptize and preach.
“You are to assist the Priest in public worship, to guide the intercessions of the Congregation, to aid in the administration of Holy Communion, and to carry the Sacrament to those who are kept from the Table by illness, infirmity, or imprisonment.
“Furthermore, you are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world. It is the Deacon's office to encourage and equip the household of God to care for the stranger, to embrace the poor and helpless, and to seek them out, so that they may be relieved. (BCP 2019, 477-478)”
1. I believe all deacons, male and female, share in what the Ordinal explicitly requires of a deacon.
2. However, preaching and baptizing are not actions pertaining to the essence of the order of deacons but may be done “at the direction of the Bishop or Priest.”  Thus, preaching and baptizing may be actions a deacon is allowed to perform, but they are not actions intrinsic to the diaconal office.  
3. Therefore, according to the Ordinal, there is no expectation that all deacons shall be licensed to preach.
4. Based on what we can determine through the practice of the ancient church, both male and female deacons were charged with offering the sacrament of Holy Baptism with chrismation in certain situations.  Yet, the normative practice for Anglicans is that, for baptisms, “The Bishop is the appropriate Celebrant, if present. (BCP 2019, 161)”  If the bishop is not present, then the act of administering baptism and chrismation normally falls the priest.

3.    My position is that gifted and qualified male vocational or transitional deacons may be allowed to preach in the eucharistic assembly.  It is a historic Anglican practice for transitional deacons to be permitted to preach as this is part of their formation for the priesthood as well as a tool for discerning their priestly calling.  The normative practice in the service of Holy Communion is that the bishop, if present, is the preacher.  If the bishop is not present, then it normally falls to a priest to preach.

4.    My position regarding female deacons preaching in the service of “The Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion, Commonly Called the Holy Eucharist (BCP 2019, 105 & 123)” is that this practice has no warrant of Scripture and is rather proscribed by the plain reading of the text (e.g., 1 Tim. 2:12-14, 1 Corinthians 14:33-35).  There is no instance in the New Testament of female deacons preaching when the church is gathered for worship. Likewise, in spite of my diligent search for an example of the practice, I can find no instance in the ancient church of female deacons acting as preachers. In the ancient sources where preaching in the eucharistic assembly is described, it is exercised by bishops and presbyters, even in communities where female deacons are clearly attested and honored. Far from being idiosyncratic, my position in concert with the ancient doctors of the Church.  For instance, my convictions are exactly that of St. John Chrysostom as expressed in Homily 31 on Romans and Homily 4 on Titus.[1]  Furthermore, female deacons preaching in an Anglican service was unheard of until the mid-twentieth century.  So, at the very least this is an innovation.
1. However, as I have stated on multiple occasions, if I am elected as your bishop I will not revoke the licenses of any female deacons who have already been permitted to preach in the service of word and sacrament in their particular parishes.[2] I will honor the decisions Bp. Clark made according to his conscience while also making decisions according to my own going forward.
2. I was unaware that female deacons preaching in the eucharistic assembly was an expected practice of your diocese as it did not appear in your diocesan profile, your survey of diocesan priorities, or in your Constitution and Canons.  My views on this particular practice were not sought in the Episcopal Questionnaire or in any of the interviews related to the nominating process.
3. I didn't realize we were not in alignment on this point. Given our current cultural moment, it would be much easier for my calling as an Anglican priest if I could support this theological and liturgical innovation, but my conscience is captive to the Word of God and I cannot recant my position. Indeed, I stand under the authority of the Jerusalem Declaration that states that Scripture is to be “to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church's historic and consensual reading.”
4. Outside of the eucharistic assembly it seems to me to be very meet and right for female deacons to engage in evangelistic, apologetic, and catechetical proclamation. Indeed, the longest proclamation in the book of Acts is preached by St Stephen, deacon and protomartyr. But this evangelistic and apologetic sermon was preached exactly where the church and the unbelieving world overlapped in the context of being examined before the Sanhedrin (Acts 6:12-15).  One might say that St Stephen was in a very diaconal space when he proclaimed his sermon.

5.    As it pertains to the oversight of deacons within the parish it is my conviction this is best accomplished through the local vicar or rector.  Many of us are familiar with the aphorism that every deacon is the bishop's deacon. However, in my view a wise bishop will entrust the day to day oversight of deacons to godly and wise pastors.  It goes without saying that the bishop has ultimate oversight over all the clergy in his diocese.

Regarding My Views on “Three Streams” Christianity

  1. My theology, teaching, and practice as a Christian minister since 1987 have been thoroughly within the framework of evangelical, charismatic, and catholic Christianity.  A cursory listen to any of my many sermons on the Christ Church, Winston-Salem website will attest to this.
    1. Evangelical: I believe every word of Holy Scripture is inspired by God.  Frankly speaking, my radical commitment to biblical fidelity frequently puts me in difficult situations in the church and the world.  With Charles Simeon I am “a Bible Christian…, and if any tell me, 'You are wrong,' I reply, 'Tell Paul so, and Peter so, for I am misled by them.' (Simeon to “Rev. Mr. T July 9, 1825.)” I am very much the product of the English Reformation and the Anglican revivals of the 18th and 19th century. I preach and teach for conversion.  I want to see sinners repent and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  I have seen many men, women, boys, and girls born again and receive the sacrament of Holy Baptism under my ministry.  The very fact that I have been planting churches since 1995 is the direct result of my zeal for reaching the lost for Jesus Christ.
    2. Charismatic: I believe in, teach about, and preach about the Person and ministry of God the Holy Spirit.  I believe, teach, and preach that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit revealed in Holy Scripture are operative today for the edification of the church and for the mission of expanding God's kingdom reign in the world.  I personally have operated in the gift of tongues (both glossolalia and the ability to supernaturally understand and speak in a foreign language), prophecy, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discernment, healing, as well as others. At my conversion I was given a particular gift to understand, retain, and recall Holy Scripture.  The Bible clearly teaches that believers are to seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Every time the church gathers for worship I pray that there would be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
    3. Catholic: I am deeply rooted in and formed by patristic Christianity. While we may quibble with St Vincent of Lérins as to what exactly pertains to the categories he presents as defining the church's catholicity, I believe his “canon” is still relevant today: quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est.  Likewise, I think that Lancelot Andrewes' little dictum is helpful for expressing how Anglicans think about the catholic faith: “One canon reduced to writing by God himself, two testaments, three creeds, four general councils, five centuries, and the series of Fathers in that period—the centuries, that is, before Constantine, and two after, determine the boundary of our faith.”  As the Anglican formularies attest, I believe that the sacraments are not merely signs, but effectual means of grace. I am comfortable with a wide range of churchmanship within the generous boundaries of “the worship of Christ as this church has received [it]. (BCP 2019, 473, 484, 499.)”  I am not convictionally an Anglo-Catholic as I understand the term or as I have seen it embodied in my time at Nashotah House.  However, as long as the theology and expression of Anglo-Catholicism is consistent with the Anglican formularies I find it a legitimate expression of our way of following Jesus.  If you had to press me on my personally preferred churchmanship I think perhaps I would say I am a high church evangelical.

Respectfully submitted,

The Revd. Dr. Ben Sharpe

  1. St John Chrysostom is commenting on the role of the Deacon Phoebe when he writes: “In what sense then does he say, I suffer not a woman to teach? 1 Timothy 2:12 He means to hinder her from publicly coming forward 1 Corinthians 14:35, and from the seat on the bema, not from the word of teaching. Since if this were the case, how would he have said to the woman that had an unbelieving husband, How do you know, O woman, if you shall save your husband? 1 Corinthians 7:16 Or how came he to allow her to admonish children, when he says, but she shall be saved by child-bearing if they continue in faith, and charity, and holiness, with sobriety? 1 Timothy 2:15 How came Priscilla to instruct even Apollos? It was not then to cut in sunder private conversing for advantage that he said this, but that before all, and which it was the teacher's duty to give in the public assembly; or again, in case the husband be believing and thoroughly furnished, able also to instruct her. When she is the wiser, then he does not forbid her teaching and improving him. And he does not say, who taught much, but who bestowed much labor, because along with teaching (τοὓ λόγου) she performs other ministries besides, those in the way of dangers, in the way of money, in the way of travels. For the women of those days were more spirited than lions, sharing with the Apostles their labors for the Gospel's sake. In this way they went travelling with them, and also performed all other ministries. And even in Christ's day there followed Him women, which ministered unto Him of their substance Luke 8:3, and waited upon the Teacher.”  (St John Chrysostom, Homily 31 on Romans)  It should be noted that the deacon, St Olympia was a cherished and critical personal assistant to St Chrysostom throughout his life and ministry. Also see Homily 4 on Titus. ↩︎

  2. This is equivalent to the practice adopted in the Latvian Lutheran Church in 1993 when they returned to the orthodox position on women in holy orders.  Women who were already ordained and serving as pastors were allowed to continue in their positions until retirement.  I think that this is a generous and prudent approach.  The license to preach is to be renewed annually. ↩︎