Deaconesses in Europe

J >> Jane M. Bancroft >> Deaconesses in Europe

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Naturally the German Lutherans, who were well acquainted with the
deaconess work in their native land, were the first to try to introduce
it among their churches. In the yearly report sent out from
Kaiserswerth, January 1, 1847, Fliedner mentions that an urgent appeal
had been made to him to send deaconesses to an important city in the
United States, there to have the oversight of a hospital, and to found a
mother-house for the training of deaconesses. In the report for the
following year Fliedner again refers to the call from America, and
states his intention to extend his travels to the New World, and to take
with him sisters who shall aid in founding a mother-house. In the summer
of 1849 he was enabled to carry out his intention, and July 14, 1849,
accompanied by four deaconesses, he reached Pittsburg, Pa., where Rev.
Dr. W. A. Passavant, who had written so many urgent appeals for his aid,
was awaiting him. The building had already been secured for a hospital
and deaconess home, and, July 17, was solemnly dedicated at a service
where Fliedner delivered the principal address, and a large audience
testified to their interest.

Before his return to Europe Fliedner visited the New York Synod, and, in
an English discourse, described the character and aims of Kaiserswerth,
and commended the newly founded institution at Pittsburg to the sympathy
and aid of the German Lutheran Church in America. No further results
were reached, as the synod contented itself with resolving that "this
Ministerium awaits with deep interest the result of the work made in
behalf of the institution of Protestant deaconesses at Pittsburg."[78]

The institution is occasionally heard of afterward in the proceedings
of the Pittsburg Synod, and in the paper, _The Missionary_, published
under the auspices of the same Church. Urgent appeals were also sent out
for devoted Christian women to come to the aid of the sisters and to
join their numbers; but although the hospital, commended by their
skillful and able ministrations as nurses, had the full approval of the
public, there were few, if any, who came to join them, and they were
unduly burdened by a task too great for their small number.

In 1854 Dr. Passavant resigned his pastoral charge, and devoted his
entire time to the furtherance of the cause, but, up to the present, it
has not attained the complete organization and wide extension that its
friends in the German Lutheran Church have desired.

The institutions which owe their existence to Dr. Passavant's efforts
are the infirmary at Pittsburg; the hospital and deaconess home in
Milwaukee; the hospital in Jacksonville, Ill.; the orphanages for girls
in Rochester and Mount Vernon, N. Y., and one for boys in Pennsylvania.

There is, at the present time, only one of the original Kaiserswerth
sisters left, and that is Sister Elizabeth, the head deaconess at
Rochester. Dr. Passavant still continues to labor at forming a complete
organization on the basis of the Kaiserswerth system, and, to quote the
words of Dr. A. Spaeth, "As he succeeded forty years ago in bringing the
first sisters over from Kaiserswerth to Pittsburg, I have no doubt that
now, when the Church is at last awakening to the importance of this
work, he will succeed in the completion of his undertaking."

A more recent development of the deaconess work in the German Lutheran
Church has arisen in connection with the German hospital in
Philadelphia. The hospital was well equipped for its work, but there was
much dissatisfaction with the nursing, which was inefficient and
unskillful. In the fall of 1882 the hospital authorities turned for
advice and co-operation to Dr. W. J. Mann, Dr. A. Spaeth, and other
clergymen of the denomination in Philadelphia. It was determined to
secure German deaconesses as nurses. Several attempts were made to
induce Kaiserswerth, or some other large mother-house in Germany, to
give up a few sisters to the hospital, but on all sides the applications
were refused. The deaconesses were too greatly needed in the Old World
to be spared for work in the New. At length, through the unremitting
efforts of Consul Meyer, and of John D. Lankenau, president of the board
of managers, a small independent community of sisters under the
direction of Marie Krueger, who had herself been trained in
Kaiserswerth, acceded to the proposal, and the head-deaconess, with six
sisters, arrived in Philadelphia June 19, 1884. They left the field of
their self-denying work in the hospital and poor-house at Iserlohn, in
Westphalia, sadly to the regret of the authorities and citizens of the
place, but to the hospital at Philadelphia they gave invaluable aid.
From the first their good services met with appreciation. The efficiency
of the hospital service was greatly increased; and from physicians and
hospital authorities there was only one testimony, and that a most
favorable one, to the value of deaconesses as trained nurses. Mr.
Lankenau, who has ever been the wise and munificent patron of the
institution, determined to insure a succession of these admirable nurses
for the service of the hospital, and, at an expense of over five hundred
thousand dollars, he built an edifice of palace-like proportions, and
made over this munificent gift to the hospital corporation. It was
accepted by them January 10, 1887. The western wing of the building is
used as a home for aged men and women; the eastern wing is a residence
and training-school for the deaconesses, the chapel uniting the two, and
the whole being known as the Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia
Mother-house of Deaconesses.

A visit to the Home convinced me that the regulations of the house, the
work of the sisters, and the devotion to duty that characterize the
mother-houses in Germany rule also in this home in the New World. The
imposing entrance hall with the great stair-way, the floor and stairs of
white marble, the wide halls and spacious reception-rooms and offices
seemed at first almost incongruous surroundings for the modest active
deaconesses, some of whom were busy in the hospital wards, others
hanging clothes on the line, and others occupied in duties within the
building. But place and environments are only incidental matters; the
spirit within is the determining quality; and a conversation with the
_Oberin_ (head deaconess) and the rector left me with the persuasion
that the spirit of earnest devotion to God and humanity is the
main-spring of duty in this house.

The arrangement of the rooms for the sisters is similar to that at
Kaiserswerth; each consecrated sister has a small apartment simply
furnished for her own use. The older probationers are divided two and
three in a room. Those who have recently entered are placed in two large
rooms, but here every one has her own four walls--even if they are only
made by linen curtains. When Elizabeth Fry first visited Kaiserswerth,
among the arrangements that she at once recognized and commended was
that by which each deaconess was given the privacy of her own apartment.
In the deaconess houses that are so rapidly springing up in different
parts of the United States this provision ought to be guarded with care,
for a life that is so constantly drawn out in ministrations to others
should have some moments of absolute privacy upon which no one can
intrude.

There are at present thirty-two deaconesses at the Philadelphia
Mother-house, twenty of whom are probationers. The house was admitted to
the Kaiserswerth Association, and will henceforth be represented at the
Conferences. The direction is vested in a rector and head deaconess,
neither of whom can be removed except on just cause of complaint. The
distinctive dress is black, with blue or white aprons, white caps and
collars. There is one addition to their garb which Fliedner would have
looked upon with disfavor, and that is a cross--worn by the sisters from
the time they are fully accepted as deaconesses.

The first consecration took place in the beautiful chapel of the Home,
January 13, 1889, when three deaconesses were accepted as members of the
order.

For those who desire to form a good conception of the deaconess
institutions as they are conducted in Germany, a visit to the
Philadelphia Mother-house of Deaconesses will be fruitful of valuable
suggestions.[79]

In July, 1887, a Swedish Lutheran pastor in Omaha sent a probationer to
Philadelphia to be trained as a sister for a deaconess house to be
established in that central city of the United States. In 1888 four
others joined her, and the building of a hospital and deaconess home is
now progressing by the generous support of all classes of
philanthropists in Omaha. A deaconess home has also recently been
founded by Norwegian Lutherans in South Brooklyn, L. I.

In the German Reformed Church a layman endeavored in 1866 to arouse
interest in the deaconess office. The Hon. J. Dixon Roman, of
Hagerstown, Md., at Christmas gave five thousand dollars to the
congregation, and with it sent a proposition to the consistory that
three ladies of the congregation should be chosen and ordained to the
order of deaconesses, with absolute control of the income of said fund
for the purposes and duties as practiced in the early days of the
Church.[80] This, and the action of the Lebanon Classis in 1867,
requesting the synod "to take into consideration the propriety of
restoring the apostolic society of deaconesses," seem to have been the
only steps taken by those connected with this denomination.

In the Protestant Episcopal Church of America the bishop of Maryland
first instituted an order of deaconesses in connection with St. Andrew's
Parish, Baltimore, Md. Two ladies gave themselves to ministering to the
poor, and, with the sanction and approval of the bishop, a house was
obtained and given the name of St. Andrew's Infirmary. In 1873 there
were four resident deaconesses and four associates.[81] An early report
of the infirmary says: "The deaconesses look to no organization of
persons to furnish the pecuniary aid required by the demands of their
position. Their first efforts have been for the destitute and sick. At
the home they minister daily to the suffering and destitute sick
wherever found; some requiring only temporary medical aid and nursing;
others, whom God has chastened with more continuous suffering,
requiring, in their penury, constant care and continual ministration."
There is also under their charge a church school for vagrant children,
and one also for the children of those comfortably situated in life.

The "Forms for Setting Apart Deaconesses," the "Rules for
Self-Examination," and the "Rules of Discipline" in the order of
deaconesses in Maryland are largely patterned after the Kaiserswerth
rules. In truth, the general questions for self-examination in regard to
external duties, spiritual duties to the sick, the conduct of the
deaconesses or sisters to those whom they meet, and the means for
improving in the duties of the office are in many cases selected, and
but slightly altered, from the series prepared by Pastor Fliedner.[82]
The influence of the devout German pastor is indelibly stamped upon the
deaconess cause in whatever denomination it has developed during the
nineteenth century.

In 1864 the deaconesses of the Diocese of Alabama were organized by
Bishop Wilmer. Under the supervision of the bishop the three deaconesses
with whom the order originated were associated in taking charge of an
orphanage and boarding-school for girls. In 1873 there were five
deaconesses, one probationer, and two resident associates.[83]

In the Church Home all of the work is done by the inmates. As in the
foreign Homes, the deaconesses are provided with food and raiment, and
during sickness or old age they are cared for at the expense of the
order. They are forbidden to receive fee or compensation for their
services. Any remuneration that is made is paid to the order. In one
feature, however, the deaconesses of Alabama differ from either their
German or English sisters, and that is in the care of their individual
means. The "Constitution and Rules" says: "The private funds of
deaconesses shall not be expended without the approval of the chief
deaconess or the bishop."[84] This usage prevails in sisterhoods, but,
outside of this instance, so far as the author has been able to learn is
not known in deaconess institutions.

The rules for the associates in connection with the order are given
somewhat at length, from which the following are taken. After defining
an associate as a Christian woman desiring to aid the work of the
deaconesses, and admonishing her that, although not bound by the rules
of the Community, yet she must be careful to lead such a life as is
becoming one associated in a work of religion and charity, she is
requested "to state what kind of work she will undertake, under the
direction of the chief deaconess, and to report the result to her at
such intervals as may be agreed upon." The following modes of assistance
are suggested as most useful; namely, "to provide and make clothing for
the poor; to collect alms; to procure work, or promote its sale; to
teach in the school; to assist in music or other classes; to relieve the
destitute; to minister to the sick; to visit and instruct the ignorant;
to attend the funeral arrangements for the poor; and to take charge of
or assist in the decoration of the church."

The feature of the union of the associates with the deaconesses is one
whose importance can scarcely be exaggerated. There are many who would
be able to serve for a short time in this relation whose valuable aid
would be entirely lost if none but deaconesses who give all their time
and strength could work in the order.

In the Diocese of Long Island Bishop Littlejohn instituted an
association of deaconesses by publicly admitting six women to the office
of deaconess in St. Mary's Church, Brooklyn, February 11, 1872. The
association has not continued in the form in which it originated, but
has now changed into the Sisterhood of St. John the Evangelist. Still
this sisterhood retains many of the distinctive deaconess features. A
sister may, for instance, withdraw from the sisterhood for proper
cause. She labors without remuneration, and the sisters live together in
a home, or singly, as they may please, in any place where their work is
located.

In the Diocese of Western New York there are five deaconesses, with
their associates and helpers, under the direction of the bishop of the
diocese.

In America, however, as in England, within the Episcopal Church
sisterhoods are more influential and more rapid in their growth than are
deaconess institutions. In a list of the sisterhoods of the Episcopal
Church in America, given in the monthly magazine devoted to women's work
in the Church,[85] fourteen sisterhoods are named, one religious order
of widows, and two orders of deaconesses, one of which is that which is
now changed into the Sisterhood of St. John the Evangelist.

In 1871 the Board of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church
discussed at some length the relation of women's work to the Church, and
there resulted increased interest in the subject of sisterhoods and
deaconess institutions. An effort has been made to obtain for the order
of deaconesses a wider recognition than it now enjoys, as it simply has
the support of the bishop within whose diocese the deaconesses are at
work. To this end, in the General Convention of 1880, a canon was
presented to the House of Bishops, and accepted by a large vote. But it
reached the Lower House too late for consideration, and no further
action has been taken since that time.

In the Presbyterian Church of America the question of the revival of the
office of deaconess has already claimed some attention. The late Dr.
A. T. McGill for many successive years earnestly recommended the revival
of the office to the members of his classes in the theological seminary
at Princeton; and his views, matured by years of reflection, were given
for publication in an article published in the _Presbyterian Review_,
1880.

In the Minutes of the General Assembly for 1884, page 114, and of 1888,
page 640, we find an overture asking if the education of deaconesses is
consistent with Presbyterian polity, and, if so, should they be
ordained, answered in the negative in the following words: "_The Form of
Government_ declares that in all cases the persons elected [deacons]
must be male members. (Chap. 13. 2.) In all ages of the Church godly
women have been appointed to aid the officers of the Church in their
labors, especially for the relief of the poor and the infirm. They
rendered important service in the Apostolic Church, but they do not
appear to have occupied a separate office, to have been elected by the
people, to have been ordained or installed. There is nothing in our
constitution, in the practice of our Church, or in any present
emergency, to justify the creation of a new office." The next year an
explanation of this action, which so obviously contradicts the facts of
history, was asked, but the committee declined to say any thing more.

The Southern Presbyterian Church has proceeded further, and in the
direction of the female diaconate, as it is characterized in its main
features wherever it has existed, when it declares in its _Book of
Church Order_, adopted in 1879, that "where it shall appear needful, the
church session may select and appoint godly women for the care of the
sick, of prisoners, of poor widows and orphans, and, in general, in the
relief of the sick."[86]

In isolated Presbyterian congregations deaconesses have already obtained
recognition. At the Pan-Presbyterian Council, held in Philadelphia in
1880, Fritz Fliedner, the son of Dr. Theodor Fliedner, was present as a
member, and through the influence of his words the Corinthian Avenue
Presbyterian Church set apart five deaconesses, whose duty it should be
to care for the poor and sick belonging to the congregation.

"More recently the Third Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, Cal.,
empowered its three deacons to choose three women from the congregation
to co-operate with them in their work, granting them seats and votes in
the board's monthly meeting."[87]

The very interesting article from which the quotation has just been made
seems to think the term "deaconess" a misnomer for the Kaiserswerth
deaconess, as she belongs to a community, whereas the deaconess of the
early Church was attached to a congregation and belonged to a single
church as an officer; but it may well be questioned whether the class of
duties assigned to the deaconess of the early Church and of modern times
alike, that is, the nursing of the sick, the care of the infirm in body
and mind, the succoring of the unfortunate, and the education of
children, are not the main characteristics of the office of a deaconess,
while the fact of her connection with a number of like-minded women in
community life is merely an external feature of the office as it has
developed in the nineteenth century. Whatever form the question may
assume, with the Presbyterian churches of Scotland and England so far
committed to the adoption of the office of the deaconess as an effective
part of the organization of the Church, it seems inevitable that the
Presbyterian Church of America will have to meet this question in the
near future.

The Methodist Episcopal Church of America, although occupying itself
with the question of the diaconate of women later than any of the
denominations previously mentioned, by its acceptance of the office and
by making it an inherent part of its ecclesiastical organization has
taken a higher ground than any Protestant body, with the exception of
the Church of Scotland. The Methodist Episcopal Church has ever offered
a freer scope for the activities of its women members than any other
body of Christians save the Quakers, who are still the leaders in this
respect; but it may be questioned if any furnishes a larger number who
are actively engaged in promoting philanthropic and religious measures.

The honor of practically beginning the deaconess work in connection with
the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States belongs to Mrs. Lucy
Rider Meyer, of the Chicago Training-school, who, during the summer
months of 1887, aided by eight earnest Christian women, worked among the
poor, the sick, and the needy of that great city without any reward of
man's giving. In the autumn the Home opened in a few hired rooms, and
Miss Thoburn came to be its first superintendent. The story of the
growth of the work, the securing of a permanent home, and the
enlargement of its resources is a most interesting one.[88]

The Rock River Conference, within whose boundaries the Chicago Home is
situated, had from the beginning an earnest sympathy and confidence in
the work as it was developing in its midst. A memorial was prepared, and
was presented to the General Conference in May, 1888, by the Rock River
Conference, through its Conference delegates, asking for Church
legislation with reference to deaconesses. At the same time the Bengal
Annual Conference, through Dr. J. M. Thoburn, also presented a memorial
asking for the institution of an order of deaconesses who should have
authority to administer the sacrament to the women of India. Our
missionaries in India have long felt the need of some way of ministering
to the converted women who are closely secluded in zenana life, and who,
though sick and dying, are precluded by the customs of the country from
any religious service of comfort or consolation that male missionaries
can render. If it had been possible for our women missionaries to
administer the sacrament many Indian women could have been received into
the Church. All of the papers and memorials on this subject were put
into the hands of a committee, of which Dr. J. M. Thoburn (afterward
made missionary bishop to India and Malaysia) was chairman; and the
report of the committee was as follows:

"THE NEW OFFICE OF DEACONESSES IN THE
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

"For some years past our people in Germany have employed this class
of workers with the most blessed results, and we rejoice to learn
that a successful beginning has recently been made in the same
direction in this country. A home for deaconesses has been
established in Chicago, and others of a similar character are
proposed in other cities. There are also a goodly number of similar
workers in various places; women who are deaconesses in all but
name, and whose number might be largely increased if a systematic
effort were made to accomplish this result. Your committee believes
that God is in this movement, and that the Church should recognize
the fact and provide some simple plan for formally connecting the
work of these excellent women with the Church and directing their
labors to the best possible results. They therefore recommend the
insertion of the following paragraphs in the Discipline, immediately
after ¶ 198, relating to exhorters:

"DEACONESSES.

"1. The duties of the deaconesses are to minister to the poor, visit
the sick, pray with the dying, care for the orphan, seek the
wandering, comfort the sorrowing, save the sinning, and,
relinquishing wholly all other pursuits, devote themselves in a
general way to such forms of Christian labor as may be suited to
their abilities.

"2. No vow shall be exacted from any deaconess, and any one of their
number shall be at liberty to relinquish her position as a deaconess
at any time.

"3. In every Annual Conference within which deaconesses may be
employed, a Conference board of nine members, at least three of whom
shall be women, shall be appointed by the Conference to exercise a
general control of the interests of this form of work.

"4. This board shall be empowered to issue certificates to duly
qualified persons, authorizing them to perform the duties of
deaconesses in connection with the Church, provided that no person
shall receive such certificate until she shall have served a
probation of two years of continuous service, and shall be over
twenty-five years of age.

"5. No person shall be licensed by the board of deaconesses except
on the recommendation of a Quarterly Conference, and said board of
deaconesses shall be appointed by the Annual Conference for such
term of service as the Annual Conference shall decide, and said
board shall report both the names and work of such deaconesses
annually, and the approval of the Annual Conference shall be
necessary for the continuance of any deaconess in her work.

"6. When working singly each deaconess shall be under the direction
of the pastor of the church with which she is connected. When
associated together in a home all the members of the home shall be
subordinate to and directed by the superintendent placed in charge.

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