"Deacons and the Church presents a popular narrative history of the Order of the Diaconate in the Catholic Church from its dawn on the biblical scene in the Acts of the Apostles (with Saints Stephen and Philip), through the "golden age" of deacons in the fifth century. With the emergence of the "cultic priesthood," the diaconate as a unique and discrete member of the clergy declined into a transitional role - but never disappeared. Indeed, Dr. Cummings points out that the most popular saint (after Mary), Francis of Assisi, was a deacon - as were Saints Lawrence and Ephrem, all of whom are offered here as models of "Deacons for Deacons."" "The Second Vatican Council restored the Order of Deacon to a "full and permanent" membership in the clergy, along with priests and bishops. Now thirty thousand deacons serve the Church throughout the world and remain the fastest-growing clerical rank within the Latin Church. Deacon Cummings reflects on how this surge in the membership of the Order of Deacons will affect the Church in the years to come."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

"Kiwi" a small, flightless, nocturnal bird which is native to, and the national symbol of, New Zealand. We travelled around the United States and Canada for twelve months towing a camper, touching on all forty-eight contiguous states and eight Canadian Provinces. As we tried to support the American economy the only way we knew how by sticking to the secondary roads, stopping at all the small towns, and buying beer at all the backwoods bars we were continually asked the same questions: "What are you?" "We're Kiwis." "Where are you from?" "New Zealand, but we live in Australia." "What are you doing here?" "We want to see every State, learn all the history, and experience what it is like to live as an American." "Why?" "Because America gets such a bad rap around the world, we want to find out for ourselves if it is justified . . . and if you really are as good as you think you are . . ."