Full and Equal Order: 25 Years of the United Methodist Order of Deacon

Rev. Dr. Margaret Ann Crain was consecrated as a Diaconal Minister in 1986 and ordained as a deacon in the United Methodist Church in 1997. Crain served churches in Missouri and North Georgia for 20 years before joining the faculty at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1998. She worked tirelessly to make Garrett as a center for training and supporting Deacons within the UMC. In addition, she helped to establish The Ecumenical Network for the Diaconate. She is co-author of A Deacon’s Heart: The New United Methodist Diaconate (2001) and author of The United Methodist Deacon: Ordained to Word, Service, Compassion and Justice (2014). She has just completed a book that narrates the history of The United Methodist Church’s shift to ordaining deacons in 1996, tracing both the political realities and the theological foundation for that re-ordering of ministry.