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Diaconal Formation Program
Faithful to the National Directory of the Permanent Diaconate, we train men for ordained service to the Roman Catholic Church through coursework and hands-on experiences in ministry.
An Ecology of Ecclesial Co-Responsibility
Fully integrated into the School of Theology and Seminary, our deacons in formation study alongside lay students, ordained priests, seminarians, and religious women & men. This intergenerational, inter-vocational, and intercultural learning environment replicates the realities of the Catholic Church in the United States, where all God’s people are called to serve together.
Mindful of the many obligations and commitments of deacons in formation, Saint John’s offers evening courses, weekend courses, and summer intensives to accommodate busy schedules. Deacons in formation have a dedicated faculty advisor and are supported by the Office of Ministerial Formation.
“It is the duty of the deacon, according as it shall have been assigned to him by competent authority, to administer baptism solemnly, to be custodian and dispenser of the Eucharist, to assist at and bless marriages in the name of the Church, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the Sacred Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and prayer of the faithful, to administer sacramentals, to officiate at funeral and burial services.” (Lumen Gentium, 29)
Diaconal Ministry Program
I greatly appreciated the classes of Christology, Grief, Illness and Healing, Homiletics, and Moral Theology. I can’t say enough how comfortable and welcoming the staff and faculty made me feel during my time at the SOT/Sem. It not only stretched my thought process and how I encounter each person, but helped me see Christ clearer in each and every person. This is a gift from the SOT/Sem that is priceless!
A Benedictine Approach to Diaconal Ministry
The mission and identity of Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary has deep roots in the Benedictine tradition, which shapes our deacon formation inside and outside of the classroom. The following Benedictine values demarcate our approach:
• Contemplative influences in the classroom: Our classes incorporate prayer, reflection and space for ongoing vocational discernment, relying on monastic practices such as statio and lectio divina.
• Location and community: Our approach to pastoral theology understands stability as commitment to the cultural locations and communities where ministry unfolds.
• Hospitality and conversatio morum: We form current and future clergy to gain a disposition of deep listening for pastoral work and to discover Christ in pastoral interactions, especially when “welcoming the stranger”(RB 53). Committed to daily practices of reflection, prayer, dialogue, and attentiveness to those in the margins, we aim to make theological formation part of a Benedictine commitment to a holistic conversion of life (RB 58).
• Formation in God’s Word: Centered upon the Liturgy of the Hours, informed by a theology that is attentive to the liturgy and to Revelation, and grounded in a commitment to peer companioning and spiritual direction, we see formation as a manifestation of God’s living Word and an experience of Christian communion.