Reflective practice of diaconia from the margins: Ecclesiological and professional implications

Abstract

One of the characteristics of the practice of diaconia is working at the margins of society.However, do we fully understand the complexity of the margins in diaconal practices? Thispaper expands the notion of the margins and look at some of the ecclesiological and pro-fessional implications for deacons’ work. I argue that there exists a double marginalization,at least for deacons working in the Church of Norway. An analysis of the document “Dea-con Ministry in the Church of Norway” indicates that suffering is not placed in the centerof the ministry of the church, and neither are the deacons placed in the center. However,if we do a thought experiment and place the margins in the center, what happens then? Inthis paper, I sketch some ecclesiological and professional implications of this “upside down”experiment. Furthermore, I argue for an expansion of the Church of Norway’s definition ofdiaconia