Diaconal ministry is rooted and patterned on the humble loving of Jesus, who “did not come to be served, but to serve" (Mark 10:45).

Diaconal Ministries Canada partners with churches and parachurch organizations across Canada to demonstrate God’s love in the community. Our vision and mission statements set the direction for the efforts of our organization.

Our Vision Statement: Transforming Communities in Christ
This vision is anchored in II Corinthians 5:17-20:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: The old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (TNIV-2002)

Our Mission Statement
To inspire, equip and encourage deacons, churches and their partners in transforming communities with the love of Christ.

To carry out this mission, DMC values prayer, celebration, collaboration, servant leadership, gift-based ministry, holistic ministry and justice.

Goals:  Community Ministry, Education/Training, Justice/Advocacy, Partnerships, and Promotion/Communication.

Our History
In 1959, the deacons of Mount Hamilton (ON) Christian Reformed Church raised various questions about the need for a larger organization for the ministry of deacons in Ontario. They invited 128 deacons from all over Ontario to discuss various diaconal ministry issues. The meeting led to the formation of the All Ontario Diaconal Conference (AODC) on October 15, 1960. Its first board included representation from the six classical diaconal conferences in Ontario.

In Western Canada diaconates also organized diaconal conferences during the late fifties and early sixties. Northern Alberta Diaconal Conference (NADC) was formed in North Alberta and the Paliser Triangle Diaconal Conference (PTDC) was organized for the churches in Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. In British Columbia, a regional conference (BCDC) covering the two classes was also formed.

Two other diaconal conferences, Canadian Midwest, covering western Ontario and Manitoba, and the Maritimes later joined the Ontario organization, AODC. In order to reflect this change, AODC was renamed as Diaconal Ministries in Eastern Canada (DMEC) in 1993.

The leaders of all these conferences met at various times during the late eighties and early nineties to seek greater levels of cooperation. As a result, Team Canada was formed in 1998. This team was composed of representatives from DMEC, the three western conferences, and staff members Rick deGraaf (CRWRC), Ben Vandezande (DMEC), and Henry Bosch (NADC). Subsequently, the board of DMEC and the boards of the three western conferences endorsed a new organization. The name given to the new organization was Diaconal Ministries Canada (DMC).

A newly elected organizational board met in May 2001 to discuss its vision and its mission, as well as to adopt its organizational and staffing structures.The board now consists of a representative from each of the 12 diaconal conferences across Canada. DMC employs a staff and a network of Diaconal Ministry Developers.