Freedom to be Heard and Freedom to Serve: Reflection on the Relational Habitus of the Women Leaders of Discerning Deacons for a Network Ecclesiology

An ecclesiology of the Church as network speaks directly to the Church’s dynamic relationality. Network ecclesiology can account for, advance, and suggest action on recent ecclesiological insights. Data gathered through observation of the Synod on Synodality and interviews of participants and others present is used to correlate network science and ecclesiology to develop a network ecclesiology. Special attention is given to the women who lead Discerning Deacons. These ministers connect congregations and the recipients of their ministry. Their call to the diaconate was heard not only through their personal relationship with God but from God through the communities they served, initiating them into a networked relational ecclesial epistemology. At the Synod, they habitually acted in accord with network principles to balance proclamation of truth and implementation of the good. Network analysis situated in network ecclesiology enhances ministerial and synodal habitus by revealing the People of God in its entirety.