I never thought about the deaconate as an administrative position per se, but now that I give it thought, it seems to be so. Ive got a lot of things to think about. Thanks for your input, and good luck with your transition. - Get yourself a copy of the old Baltimore Catechism, it is absolutely the best.
Transitional Deacons, these are the men on their way to becoming priests. Here in Detroit they are ordained deacons in December and are ordained priests at Pentecost. The length of time as transitional deacons varies from diocese to diocese.
I think that a lot of Pastors don't realize they shouldn't be doing the administrative work. I think a lot of them like being the boss. St. Stephen is the model for the Deacon, IMO. And I have lots of opinions on the way the church does things. Fortunately, I believe most all of the things the church requires me to believe. I mean, I realize many seekers don't know WHAT they believe, but for me it was more a recognition that I *already* believed as a Roman Catholic, therefore it was sensible for me to convert.
There are some things I'm not sure about such as the perpetual virginity of Our Lady, but six of one, half dozen of the other. If the Church tells me that is the way it is, then I choose to believe it in the absence of any evidence to the contrary except a couple of ambiguous lines of scripture about Jesus' brothers.
There is a fellow in my choir who is leaving us to start at seminary to become a deacon. I believe he is married -- he is middle age and seems solid as a rock. He said he will go to school on Thursday nights, with a lot of weekends sprinkled in through the year. I don't know the rules though.