Allison Dean ordained into the Diaconate

Allison Dean has always been involved in church life in some shape, fashion or form – youth ministry to music ministry and communications ministry – but she did not grow up thinking she could be ordained into the Diaconate. She never thought she would one day serve as deacon. On Sunday, she was ordained in an historic service at her home church, St. Agnes.

Dean, 31, is the first female member of the parish to be ordained at the church in Grant’s Town.

She was also the second woman to be ordained into the Diaconate in the space of a week. Disiree Johonson was ordained on Wednesday, October 28, at Christ Church Cathedral.

“It was a joyous moment, to be sure, and also relief, because it’s been a long road to this point,” said Dean.

Dean’s consecration and ordination was conducted by Reverend Drexel W. Gomez (ret.), assistant bishop of the Anglican Diocese of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Rev. Laish Boyd, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

She said Gomez has been a mentor and supporter of her for many years. “He has been very encouraging,” she said of Gomez.

Her takeaway from Gomez’s advice to her is the grace of God, and if she’s not sure how things will turn out, to pray and stay connected to God, because it is His church and He will be the one to see her through.

Boyd’s standout message that stuck with her, she said, was the injunction from Paul to Timothy, that deacons must be serious and not taken lightly, and in their conduct, act and live it.

Dean copped to having felt some nerves during the ordination service, which she said    were “good nerves”, as the service signified the beginning of a new phase of her life.

“In this kind of role, you have the potential to be an inspiration to people and a great help, to help them see their own strengths to help them serve the Lord.”

At the same token, she said, being in the role can also be a hindrance owing to the attentiveness of it. She said that attentiveness has potential for great good and also potential to be in people’s way.

“As Christians and people of faith, relying on God is really of utmost importance because having faith doesn’t necessarily make life easier. People of faith have the same trials, difficulties and obstacles that everyone else faces, and in the face of that, it’s important to keep our focus on God.”

She also brings her unique strengths to the role – a teaching spirit.

“For me, the gift of teaching is something I bring to the church. I think we need teaching in the church at all times.”

She said everyone has questions and the church and its leaders have to provide space for people to ask questions.

It doesn’t hurt that she loves working with children, who she said should be seen as more than just “appendages” to be worried about 20 years down the road.

“As a society, we have to pay attention to how we’re raising our children, not only in the future, but now, because they are a present part of society. We too often treat children as appendages and say in 20 years we will worry about you, but it’s important to pay attention to them.”

Dean also knows that as one of the first women ordained into the Diaconate that she is somewhat of a role model for young girls.

“In one way, it doesn’t really matter, because I’m doing what others before me have done, I just happen to be a woman, but also I understand the weight of it. Those [young women] who aren’t sure, may now say she did it, I can do it too.”

Dean said she also knows people who don’t approve of the ordination of women.

“I think it’s important that people can see this is something good and acceptable in the life of the church and the ordaining of women does not diminish the church and can enhance the life of the church.”

A teacher by profession, Dean, who taught at St. John’s College, has stepped down from the post as she has been assigned assistant curate to Father Bradley Miller at St. Luke’s Parish in South Eleuthera. She takes up the appointment on November 16, and expects to be stationed there for at least two years.

“In addition to joy and excitement, there’s also a great weight and reminds me certainly that what I do, what I say, how I carry myself is important, as they affect other people. I know that we have our own personalities, and you won’t get along with everyone and not everyone’s going to like you. It is especially important to focus on what God has called us to do and equip us to do what He has called us to do despite our shortcomings.”

Dean’s journey to the Diaconate began when she was a teenager, when Father Bernard Been arrived at St. Agnes to serve as an assistant. She said watching how he conducted his own ministry intrigued her.

“One of the biggest things is that he had a real love for people and the impact that he had in a general way – whether it was preaching, counseling or spending time with people and that he took time to get to know people and encourage them and help them see what their own gifts were. Typically, those who end up ordained were servers, but at St. Agnes, girls and women don’t do that, so it never occurred to me that women do this. He was the first person that said to me this was something I might be called to do. It was those conversations with him that got this whole thing started.”

Dean, who said she was between 16 and 18 years old at the time, said she is not entirely sure what the priest saw in her. All she knows is that he saw something.

She went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in business from the College of The Bahamas (now University of The Bahamas), a second Bachelor’s degree in music from Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, where she also earned a Bachelor’s degree in business, and a Master of divinity from Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, Canada.

While at Acadia, Dean said she wrestled with whether she was called to discernment, all the while continuing to be active in the church, serving as chaplain assistant. Every few weeks, she said, her role allowed her to deliver a five-minute homily and in doing that, she realized she loved it and got involved in the Anglican church in Canada as a eucharistic assistant.

She recalled feeling “comfortable in her own skin” and that it was something she was drawn to. She then enrolled in Wycliffe College, a graduate school of theology, founded as an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition.

She returned home in 2017 and was assigned to St. Barnabas Parish under supervision of Canon Basil Tynes for training, which concluded with her Sunday ordination.

In Dean’s service to the Anglican church, she has shared her musical gift as organist and pianist in many parish churches in The Bahamas, and as an accompanist for the Anglican Chorale.

She has also played at churches in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and in Canada.

She continues to be a lecturer for the Anglican Theological Institute, teaching classes on Anglicanism and liturgy and worship.

Dean taught computer science and religion at St. John’s College, and is a certified swimming coach.

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