英
DAY, JEREMIAH : Congregationalist, ninth pres-
ident of Yale College; b. in New Preston, Conn.,
Aug. 3, 1773; d. in New Haven Aug. 22, 1867. He
was graduated at Yale 1795, and the same year
succeeded Timothy Dwight (q.v.) as principal of
the Greenfield Academy; was tutor at Williams
1796-98, at Yale 1798-1801; was elected professor
of mathematics and natural philosophy at Yale
1801; succeeded Timothy Dwight as president in
1817; resigned in 1846. Besides a series of mathe-
matical text-books, he wrote An Inquiry Respecting
the Self-determining Power of the Will, a refutation
of Cousin (New Haven, 1838), and An Examination
of President Edwards on the Will, a conciliatory and
apologetic defense of Edwards (1841).
Bibliography: A memorial address by President T. D.
Woolsey is in The New Englander, xxvi (1867). 692-724.
DAYANAND, da^ya-ntod', SARASWATI, sfl^rOs-
wQ'ti: Hindu reformer and founder of the Arya
Samaj (see India, III., 3); b. of Shivite Brahmanic
parentage at Mori, a town in the n.w. of Kathiawar,
in 1827; d. at Ajmere Oct. 30, 1883. He early be-
gan the orthodox course of study, and by the time
he had reached fourteen years of age had committed
to memory a Sanskrit dramatic work, a Sanskrit
vocabulary, the whole of the Yajur-Veda, and part
of other Vedas. He very early felt the inconsist-
ency between the religious ideas of the Vedas and
those connected with the worship of Shiva, and
he reluctantly yielded to his father's insistence
upon performance of the idolatrous rites of Shiva.
On one occasion, when thus taking part in this
worship, the ceremonies having continued long into
the night, his father and others fell asleep. While
watching the idol the boy saw a mouse take away
an offering that had been made to it. Suddenly the
inconsistency of worshiping God in the form of a
Btone so overpowered him that he left the temple,
and ntrer again worshiped an idol. Death in his
111—24
family led him into deep thought of the meaning
of life, and he determined to break away from ex-
ternal form and find the true path through the
efforts of the soul. His parents, thinking the boy
too meditative, determined on his marriage. The
preparations were nearly completed when he silently
left his home by night, and never returned from
his wanderings in search of some one who could
guide him to the truth. At last, in Nov., 1860, he
found a welcome at Mathura, with a religious
teacher named Swami Virjananda Saraswati. With
this profound scholar of the Vedas, who had been
blind from infancy, Dayanand stucfied the Vedas
for four years. At the conclusion of his education
Virjananda sent him forth to spread the enlighten-
ment gained from the Vedas. In obedience he
traveled over India, visiting especially places of
pilgrimage where he denounced idolatry and the
superstitions of Hinduism. In 1872 he visited
Cfjcutta and met Devendranath Tagore (see Ta-
GORE, Devendranath) and Keshav Chandra Sen
(see Sen, Keshav Chandra), leaders in the Brahma
Samaj movement (see India, III., 1), with whom he
had long and earnest conversations. In 1874 he
arrived in Bombay, and after some months of
effective labor organized the Arya Samaj, Apr. 10,
1875, extending it in 1877 in the course of a lecture
tour in the Punjab. In 1883 he visited the Maharaja
of Jodhpur. There he was greatly disturbed by the
revelry and dissipation that marked the court life,
and like John the Baptist rebuked the Maharaja to
his face, as a consequence of which he was poisoned
by a woman whom he had offended by his rebuke.
Dayanand Saraswati taught the inspiration of the
Vedas as the pure fountain of all true knowledge.
He looked upon the forms of popular Hinduism as
the result of ignorance through a falling away from
the teachings of those books. He taught the pei^
sonality of God as the sole object of worship. God
and the soul are related as pervader and pervaded.
The eternal and distinct substances are God, soul,
and matter; salvation is the state of emancipation
from birth to death. He denounced the system of
caste and the worship of idols.
Justin E. Abbott.
Bibliography: Three of Dayanand's works have been traiw-
lated: The Ocean of Mercy, Lahore, 1880; The Five Great
Duties of Dayanand Saraswati, Ajmere, 1897, and A
Hand-hook of the Arya Samaj, Arya Tract Society, 1006.
Consult: Arjan Singh, Dayanand SaraevoaH, Lahore, 1001;
Bawa Chhajju Singh, The Life and Teachinge of Swam
Dayanand SaraeuKUi, ib.; and literature under India.
DEACON.
I. In the New Testament.
Origin of the Diaoonate (I 1).
Duties in New Testament Time (| 2).
II. In the Ronuui Catholic Church.
Change in Position after the Apostolic Age (f 1).
Duties in the Later Church (ft 2).
III. In the Protestant Churches.
IV. The Modern Associations of Deacons in Germany.
Johann Hinrich Wichem (| 1).
Extension of Wichem's Work. Conditions of Admis-
sion (ft 2).
Training (ft 3).
Organisation. Wide Extent of the Work (ft 4).
I. In the New Testament: The term "deacon"
(Gk. diakonos, "servant, attendant, minister,"
Lat. diaconus; also Gk. diakdn, Lat. diacones [pi J
Deaoon
370
in Cyprian and synodical decrees) in its generic
sense is used of all ministers of the Gospel as serv-
ants of God or Christ (I Thess. iii. 2; I Cor. iii. 5;
II Cor. vL 4, xL 23; Col. i. 7, iv. 7; I Tim. iv. 6),
also of magistrates (Rom. xiii. 4). In a technical
sense it denotes the second and lower class of con-
gregational officers, the other class being the pres-
byter-bishops. Deacons first appear in the sixth
chapter of Acts (under the name of the " seven "),
and afterward repeatedly (as Phil. i. 1; I Tim. iii.
2, 8, 12). The word diakonta, " ministry," is also
used frequently of the apostles (Rom. xi. 13) and
others.
Like the presbyterate (see Presbtter), the
Christian diaconate had a precedent in the Jewish
synagogue, which usually employed three officers
for the care of the poor (cf. Lightfoot, Horce He-
braiccB, ad Acta, vi. 3). Vitringa and some others
wrongly derive it from the i<iz2an (Gk. hypiretes,
Luke iv. 20; John vii. 32), who was merely a sexton
or beadle. As related in Acts vi. 1-6, the office grew
out of a special emergency in the congregation of
Jerusalem, in consequence of the complaint of the
Hellenists, or Greek Jews, against the Hebrews, or
Palestinian Jews, that their widows were neglected
in the daily ministration (Gk. diakonia) at the
common love-feasts (Agapse). Hence the apostles,
who had hitherto themselves attended
X. Origin to this duty, instructed the congrega-
of theDiac- tion to elect from their midst seven
onate. brethren, and ordained them by
prayer and the laying on of hands.
The diaconate, therefore, like the presbytero-
episcopate, grew out of the apostolic office, which
at first embraced all the functions and duties of the
ministry — the ministry (diakonia) of tables and of
the word (Acts vi. 2, 4). Christ chose apostles
only, and left them to divide their labor imder the
guidance of his Spirit, with proper regard to times
and circumstances, and to found such additional
offices in the Church as were useful and necessary.
The " seven " elected on this occasion were not
extraordinary commissioners or superintendents
(Stanley, Plumptre, W. L. Alexander, McGiffert,
pp. 78-79, Friedberg, p. 13, Sohm, and others), but
deacons in the primitive sense of the term; for
although they are not called " deacons " in the
Acts (which never uses this word), their office is
expressly described as one of '' ministry " (dia-
konia) or " serving at the tables." Exegetical tra-
dition is almost unanimously in favor of this view,
and many of the best commentators sustain it (as
Meyer, Alford, Hackett, Lange-Lechler, Jacobson,
Howson and Spence, Stokes in the Expositor's
Bible, on Acts vi. 3; also, very emphatically, Light-
foot, Philippiana, pp. 185 sqq.). • In the ancient
Church the number seven was considered binding;
and at Rome, for example, sua late as the middle of
the third century, there were only seven deacons,
though the presbyters numbered forty-six (Eusebiiis,
Hist, ecd., vi. 43; Hamack, TU, ii., pp. 92, 97. The
number seven was given up in Rome under Honorius
II. [1124-30] and eighteen deacons were then ap-
pointed, to twelve of whom was given the care of
the poor, while six served as papal assistants at the
altar. Sixtus V. in ISSH finally fixed the number
of cardinal deacons at fourteen). There is indeed
a difference between the apostolic and the eccle-
siastical deacons, which is acknowledged by Chiys-
ostom, (Ecumenius, and others; but the latter
were universally regarded as the Intimate suc-
cessors of the former — as much so as the presby-
ters were the successors of the presbyter-bishois
of the New Testament — ^notwithatanding the
changes in their duties and relations. The deacons
in the Apostolic Age are closely associated with the
presbyter-bishops and always are subordinate to
them. This close association and subordination are
maintained in the subapostolic age and later.
The diaconate waa instituted first for the care of
the poor and the sick. But this care was spiritual
as well as temporal, and implied instruction and
consolation as well as bodily relief. Paul counts
helps and ministrations (Gk. atUilepseis) among the
spiritual gifts (I Cor. xii. 28). Hence
2. Duties in the appointment of such men for the
New Testa- office of deacons as were of stnHig
ment Time, faith and exemplary piety (Acts vi. 3;
I Tim. iii. 8 sqq.). The moral quali-
fications prescribed by Paul are essentially the
same as those for the bishop (presbyter). Hence the
transition from the diaconate to the presbyterate
was easy and natural. Stephen preached, and
prepared the way for Paul's ministry of the Gen-
tiles; and Philip, another of the seven deacons ot
Jerusalem, subsequently labored as an Evangelist
(Acts viii. 5-40, xxi. 8). But they did this in
the exercise of a special gift of preaching, which
in the Apostolic Age was not confined to any pai^
ticular office. The patristic interpreters under-
stand the passage in I Tim. iii. 13 of promotion
from the office of deacon to that of presbyter;
but '' the good standing " which is gained by those
who " have served well as deacons " refers to the
honor rather than to the promotion. The liberty
of the Apostolic Church should not be confounded
with the fixed ecclesiastical order of a later age.
n. In the Roman Catholic Church: After the
departure of the apostles, during the mysterious
period between 70 and 150 a.d., where information
is so scant, that change in the ecclesiastical organi-
zation must have taken place which is found pretty
generally established toward the close of the second
century. The Didache knows only two classes of
officers for the local churches, bishops and deacons;
they were to be elected by the con-
I. Change gregations, and are to receive honor
in Position ** together with the prophets and
after the teachers " (xv. 1-2). Ignatius men-
Apostolic tions deacons as a necessary part of
Age. the governing body of the local churcJi.
With him the bishops are raised above
their fellow presbyters, and later they were regarded
as successors of the apostles; the presbyters, at
first simply pastors and teachers, were clothcii
with sacerdotal dignity (" priests "), which in tlte
New Testament appears as the common property
of all Christians; and the deacons became Levites,
subject to the priests. They are often compared
to the Levites of the Old Testament. These thrpe
officers constituted the three clerical orders (orrfine*
majorea or hierarchici) in distinction from the laity.
371
Baaoon
An act of ordination marked the entrance. No
one could become a bishop without passing first
through the two lower orders; but in some cases
a distinguished layman, as C^prian or Ambrose,
was elected bishop by the voice of the people, and
hurried through the three ordinations. The sub-
deacon was later associated with the deacon and
was declared a member of the " major orders " by
Innocent III. (1198-1216; cf. Friedberg, Kirchen-
recht, p. 150; see Orders, Holy). In fact, the
Roman Catholic Church and the canon law have
never formally decided whether the episcopate is
a distinct order or not. The Council of Trent
did not decide the question, although it speaks
of the hierarchy of bishops, priests, and deacons
(Schafif, Creeds, ii. 186-187). The schoolmen, in-
cluding Peter Lombard {SerU,, IV.xxiv. 9), Hugo of
St. Victor (De scuramentis, II. ii. 5), Thomas Aquinas
(SuppletnerUum, xxxvii. 2, ed. Migne, iv. 1056),
and Bonaventiu^ {Breviloquium, vi. 12, ed. Peltier,
vii. 327), say again and again that the episcopate is
not a distinct order, but an office or function. They
regarded the presbyters, deacons, and subdeacons
as constituting the three major orders. The pre-
vailing view to-day in the Roman Catholic Church,
if not the universal one (so Hergenr5ther, Lehrhuch
des kaiholischen Kirchenrechts, pp. 208-209, Frei-
burg, 1888), is that the episcopate is a distinct
order and that the subdeaconate is not.
The deacons continued to be the almoners of
the charitable fimds of the congregation. Jerome
calls them " ministers of the tables, and of widows."
They had to find out and to visit the aged, the
widows, the sick and afflicted, the confessors in
prison, and to administer relief to them under the
direction of the bishop. But in the course of time
this primary function became secondary, or passed
out of sight, as the sick and the poor were gath-
ered together into hospitals and alms-
2. Duties in houses, the orphans into orphan
the Later asylums, and as each of these insti-
Church. tutions was managed by an appropriate
officer. Another duty became the
prominent one — viz., to assist in public worship,
especially at baptism and the holy communion.
Justin MartjT (Ayol., Ixv.; ANF, i. 185) says the
deacons distributed the bread and wine at the
Eucharist after they were blessed by the presiding
officer, and also carried them to the sick. They
arranged the altar, presented the offerings of the
people, read the Gospel, gave the signal for the
departure of the unbelievers and catechumens, re-
cited some prayers, and distributed the consecra-
ted cup (in the absence of the priest, the bread also),
but were forbidden to offer the sacrifice. Preaching
Is occasionally mentioned among their privileges,
after the examples of Stephen and Philip, but very
rarely in the West. Hilary the Deacon (Pseudo-
Ambrose), in his commentary on Eph. iv. 11, says
that originally all the faithful preached and bap-
tized, but that in his day the deacons did not preach.
In some cases they were forbidden, in others author-
ized to preach. The Poniificale Rofnanum, how-
e\er, defines their duties and privileges with the
words " it is the duty of a deacon to minister at the
altar, to baptize, and to preach." They stood
near the bishops and presbyters, who were seated
on theur thrones in the church, and they were
deputies and advisers of the bishops and often
sent on confidential missions. This intimacy gave
them an advantage and roused the jealousy of the
presbyters. The Apostolic Constitutions (ii. 44;
ANF, vii. 416) calls the deacon " the bishop's ear
and eye and mouth and heart and soul, tluit the
bishop may not be distracted with many cares."
The archdeacon (q.v.) occupied a position little
inferior to that of the bishop and hence he is called
"the bishop's eye." He transacted the greater
part of the business of the diocese. The canonical
age for the deacon's order was set in 385 by Siricius,
bishop of Rome, at thirty and later it was twenty-
five, according to Num. viii. 24; the Council of
Trent reduced it to twenty-three (Sess. xxiii. 12).
nL In the Protestant Churches: In the Church
of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church of
the United States deacons form one of the three
sacred orders, as in the Greek and Roman churches.
The canons require the age of twenty-three years
before ordination. Deacons are permitted to per-
form any of the divine offices except pronouncing
the formula of absolution and consecrating the
elements of the Lord's Supper. In practise the
diaconate is merely a stepping-stone to the priest-
hood. So the deacons are what in other churches
are called candidates for the ministry or licen-
tiates. The archdeacon in England is a priest
and a permanent officer next after the bishop, with
a part of the episcopal power and jurisdiction: he
is ez officio examiner of candidates for holy orders,
and has a seat in convocation. The institution
dates from Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury,
the first prehkte who appointed an archdeacon in
his diocese (1075).
In the Lutheran Church "diaconus" is merely a
title, inherited from the Roman Church, of assist-
ant clergymen and chaplains of subordinate rank.
They are often called second or third preacher
or pastor. Luther desired the restoration of the
apostolic deacons for the care of the poor and the
church property {Works, ed. Walch, xiii. 2464). In
the last century the name, like the feminine form,
" deaconess," was applied in Germany to members
of certain fraternities, organized and trained for
general Christian service (see IV., below, and the
article Deaconess, III.).
In the Reformed churches the apostoUc diaconate
was revived, as far as circumstances would permit,
with different degrees of success. In the Refoi^
mation of the Church of Hesse (1526) it was pre-
scribed that each pastor (epUcopus) should have at
least three deacons as assistants in the care of the
poor. The Church of Basel in 1529 made a similar
provision. Calvin regards the diaconate as one of
the indispensable offices of the Church, and the
care of the poor (cura pauperum) as their proper
duty (" Institutes," bk. iv., chaps. 3, 9). The Re-
formed confessions acknowledge this office {Conf.
Gallicana, art. xxix.; Conf. Helgica, art. xxx. and
xxxi.). In the Dutch and German Reformed
churches the deacons are *'to collect and to dls-
tril)ute the alms and other contributions for the
relief of the poor, or the necessities of the congregar
Peftoon
372
tion, and to provide for the support of the ministry
of the Gospel." The Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America teaches, in its form of
government (chap, vi.): " The Scriptures clearly
point out deacons as distinct officers in the church,
whose business it is to take care of the poor, and to
distribute among them the collections which may
be raised for tbeir use. To them, also, may be
properly committed the management of the tem-
poral affairs of the church." ^n accordance with
this principle, deacons are a normal part of the ma-
chinery of the local churches and receive ordina-
tion, though they are not members of the church
session (the govemiog body of the local church;
see Prebbtterians). The Reformed Presbyterian
Church has held (1878) that the office is open to
women, and in several presbyteries they have been
ordained to this service.]
In the Congregatiomd or Independent churches the
deacons are vexy important officers, and take the
place of the lay elders in the Presbyterian churches.
At first the Piigrim Fathers of New England elected
ruling elders; but the custom went into disuse, and
their duties were divided between the pastor and
the deacons. Cf. H. M. Dexter, CongregationaUtm
of the Last Three Hundred Yean, Boston, 1876, pp.
131 sqq.
In the Methodist Episcopal Church the deacons
constitute an order in the ministry, as in the Episco-
pal Church, but without the jfwre divino theory of
apostolical succession. They are elected by the
annual conference, and ordained by the bishop.
Their duties are, " (1) To administer baptism, and
to solemnise matrimony; (2) To assist the elder in
administering the Lord's Supper; (3) To do all the
duties of a traveling preacher." Traveling deacons
must exercise their office for two years before they
are eligible to the office of elder. Local deacons are
eligible to the office of elder after preaching four
years. (Phiup ScHAFFf) D. S. Schaff.
IV. The Modem Associations of Deacons in Ger-
many: Like the similar deaconesses' organizations
(see Dbaconsss, III.), these fraternities for Chris-
tian service are an outgrowth of the movement
within the Protestant Church of Germany usually
known as the " Innere Mission " (see Inners Mis-
sion). But this work, however much it might be
regarded as incumbent on all, can not be so well
done by untrained volimteers as by professional
workers who devote their whole lives to it and
receive the requisite special education. It was the
'' Innere Mission " which for the first time among
German Protestants clearly perceived this truth
and undertook to train such workers. The epoch-
making dates are 1833, when the Rauhes Haua was
founded for male workers, and 1836, when the first
home for deaconesses was established at Kaisers-
werth.
The Rauhee Haue, at Horn near Hamburg, was
established by Johaim Hinrich Wichem (q.v.) as
a rescue-home for neglected children. The original
foundation speedily expanded into a community,
where the children dwelt in " families " or groups,
each group constituting a unit for the purposes of
moral, intellectual, suod manual training. The
" housefather " associated with himself in the
administration of the work a number of assistants :
and, as the work expanded and the number of
institutions increased, the necessity
I. Johann arose of a normal training for the
Hinrich instructors. The Rauhes Haue became
Wichem. therefore a seminary for the trainiBg
of workers in the field of the " Innere
Mission," its early candidates coming almost ex-
clusively from the humbler classes and compriaiztg
men whose simple piety and (Christian spirit of
self-sacrifice and devotion to duty qualified them
admirably for this service. Wichem gave the
name of " Brethren " to his first aasodates. In
the execution of his wider plans he came into con-
ffict with the authorities of the Rauhes Haus who
regarded with mistrust the departure from the
original idea of an institution for children, and be
was finally allowed to proceed with his plans for
a brotherhood only on condition that he should
assiune the financial risks of the venture. His
devoted labors brought their reward; means were
soon obtained for the establishment and main-
tenance of the fraternity which Wichem sought to
organise on the model of the medieval Brothers
of the Common Life so far as that was possible
under modem conditions. He did not attempt to
revive the office of deacon as it existed in the primi-
tive Church, and only reluctantly did he assent to
the use of the term " deacon," which to him con-
noted a person officially set apart by the Church,
while " brother " bore a more secular and inde-
pendent signification.
Wichem supplied the model upon which all later
institutions of a similar nature have been founded,
which differ from the original only in the general
use of the name deacon, and in the wider scope of
work which the necessities of other times produced.
By the side of those institutions whose field em-
braced every phase of Christian charity, others
arose devoted to particular branches of work. Thus
in southwestern Germany there are institutions for
the training of teachers for the poor, dating from
the period of predominantly educational interest
which saw the rise of the " Iimere Mission." Fur-
ther, there are associations for lav
a. Bxten- preaching and others whose special
sion of field lies among the German Ftotes-
Wichem's tants scattered in Catholic countries
Work. Con- (see Diaspora). The inner organi-
ditions of sation is practically the same every-
Admission. where, consisting of a clerical chief
executive who exercises control over
the educational and administrative work, and a
curalorium or committee of trustees in whom the
property of the institution is vested. Common
also are the conditions for admission, of whicb
a summary of the regulations prevailing in the
Rauhes Haus may serve as an illustration. Ap-
plicants must be of unblemished reputation, and
masters of some trade or profession upon which in
case of emergency they may fall back; admission
for the purpose of acquiring a trade or profession
is not tolerated. Candidates must be between the
ages of twenty and thirty, unmarried, and must
have completed their term of military service.
They must be prepared to yield absolute obedience
373
I>»ecMi
to the head of the house, submit to all tasks im-
posed upon them, and look upon their office not
as a temporary calling, but as their mission in
life. The course of training lasts three years,
with an extension to five or six for those handi-
capped by a lack of the requisite educational qual-
ifications, or preparing themselves for positions of
responsibility in the service of the " Innere Mis-
sion." Candidates are not allowed to determine
beforehand to which branch of the work they will
devote themselves, and must be ready to pursue
their work for a part of the time in affiliated in-
stitutions. The documents that must accompany
applications for admission are comprehensive and
deal minutely with the facts of the applicant's life
and his moral and spiritual history, including the
testimony of phsrsicians, pastors, and parents
or guardians. The greater number of candidates
for admission are from the artisan and peasant
The chief aim of the training to which candi-
dates are subjected is the formation of steadfast
Christian character, and in this respect the rela-
tions of the head of the house toward his associates
and assistants are among the most decisive factors.
The standard of intellectual acquirements set up is
approximately that of the elementary school teacher
or lower government official. In addition, how-
ever, there is the special knowledge of the main
principles of pedagogy and of the history of edu-
cation, studied chiefly in the form of biography,
together with a mastery of catechetical methods.
The specialization of function must
3. Training, also be kept in view so that the needs
of the future colporteur, instructor for
the feeble-minded, or elementary teacher may be
provided for. The problem presented is by no
means a simple one, in that it involves the training
of students possessing the education of the child
with the experience of the youth or the fuU-grown
man. Practical work is carried on side by side
with theory, and every house of deacons stands in
close connection with one or more relief institutions
— rescue-homes, hospitals, asylimis for the feeble-
minded, homes for epileptics, etc. An important
element is the religious life of the brotherhoods.
Some satisfy their needs by attendance at the
churches of the community of which they form a
part, while others possess chapels of their own.
The training of a brother once completed, he is
detailed to outside duty, his graduation and dis-
missal being marked by a solemn service. The
regulations of the Rauhea HauSf which may be taken
again as typical, provide that on the acceptance by
a brother of an office to which he \b reconunended
by the head of the house he is pledged to render
conscientious service and not to abandon his post
without seeking the advice of the head of the house;
failure to do so will exclude him from further ap-
pointment. A brother who abandons the service
of the " Innere Mission " ceases thereby to be a
member of the fraternity. From the foregoing it is
apparent that the brotherhoods possess their spiri-
tual center in the deacons' houses. The truth is
briefly expressed in the following sunmiary from
the regulations of the Rauhes Haua : " The breth-
ren of the Rauhea Haua are gathered in fraternal
communion about the Rauhea Haua as a center,
and their aim is to oome to the aid of the commu-
nity by devoting themselves to the welfare of those
who have been estranged from the Church and its
teachings. In belief and practise they live within
the bounds of the Evangelical Church, to whose
ordinances they submit themselves."
While the problem of the cooperation and com-
munication is not a serious one with the minor
fraternities, it is a weighty one in the case of the
Rauhea Haua^ whose branches are found in all parts
of Germany. Here conferences em-
4* Organi- bracing the oi:ganizations of the vari-
zation. ous provinces are held eveiy year, in
Wide Extent addition to which special conferences
of the Work, and general conventions are held from
time to time at the Rauhea Haua.
With regard to their spheres of activity, every house
has its special field. At the Rauhea Haua special
emphasis was laid in the beginning upon rescue
work; Duisburg devoted itself primarily to the
care of the sick; the summoning of Wichem to
Berlin led to the rapid rise of mission work in the
prisons. From many deacons' houses members
have been called to positions as colonial and home
missionaries, superintendents of labor colonies,
heads of other houses, etc. A complete list of in-
stitutions wherein the members of the brotherhoods
have been active would include rescue-homes, or-
phan asylums, homes for destitute children, work-
houses, hospitals, asylums for the feeble-minded, the
insane, and the epileptic, industrial schools, appren-
tices' lodging-houses, city and harbor missions,
penal institutions, and institutes for the cure of
alcoholism. (Thbodor ScHlraR.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY: I. J. B. Loghtfoot, Comm/tntary on PhUip-
pianM, pp. 170 sqq., London, 1878; £. Hatch, OrganiMO'
Hon cf Ote Barly Chriatian Church, pp. 26 sqq., Oxford.
1888 (the preceding are the two authoritative dieeoMionfl);
R. Sohm. KirAanneht, Leipde, 1802; F. J. A. Hort,
ChriaUan Beekna, London, 1807; A. C. McQiffert, Apo9-
tolie Ao*, pp. 76-77. 667 sqq.. New York. 1807; T. M.
Lindsay, Church and Am Minittry in tfte Early C&nturie§,
pp. 164-lfi6. 104-105. London, 1002; W. Lowrie, Ths
Church and ite OrgamMaiion, pp. 370-383, ib. 1006; Sohaff.
ChrUHan Church, L 60 eqq.; A. Hamack, in TU, ii. 6, pp.
57-103. 1886; DB, L 574t-67B; SB, I 1038^10; and the
various treatises on the Didaehe (q.v.).
U. and lU. J. N. Seidl. Dsr Dtoamof indarkaihoU$eh§n
Kirehe, Regensbuig. 1884; A. J. Binterim, DmikwOrdio-
Amten. L 335-386. Mains, 1826; J. C. W. August!, Denk-
tffflriwlwiten, zL 104 sqq., Leipeic. 1830; Bingham, Ori-
ffinn, book ii.. chap. 20; DCA, i. 526-533; KL, iiL 1660-
1674; and for modem practise, the Book of DitdpUnt of
the various denominations.
IV. Important sources of knowledge are the Monata-
aehrift fikr Diakonio und In/term MtBoion, and Monaiaochrift
fUr Innen Miuion; also AkionaiQcke aua dor Vorwaiiuno
doa evangdiad^en Oberkirdtanraiha, toIs. iii.-iv.. Berlin,
1856-57 (contain accounts of Fliedner. Widiem, Jakobi,
and others prominent in the moYemant). Consult: P.
Schaff. Oarmany, ita UnivaraiHaa, Thaology and RaUgion,
chap, xxzviii.. Philadelphia. 1857; J. Wichem, Daa
Rauha Haua und dia ArMtafaldar dar BrQdar daa Rauhan
Hauaaa, 18S9-8S, Hamburg, 1883; idem, /. H, Wieham
und dia BrUdaraehaft daa Bankan Hauaaa, ib. 1802; Q.
Uhlhom. Dia ehriatUeka LUbaaOkMgkaU, iiL 847 sqq.,
365 sqq., Stuttgaft, 188a
Baaoon^sa
874
I. In the Apostolic Ace.
II. In the Patristic Ace.
Deaoonenes and Widows (| 1).
Age (I 2).
Duties (§ 3).
Ordination (§ 4).
III. In the Protestant Churebes.
1. The Earlier Period.
2. The Nineteenth Century.
I. In the Apostolic Age: The function dates
from the earliest period of the Church, though the
technical term in the feminine form, '* deaconess "
(Gk. (fiakonissa; Lat. diaconissa, diacona), does not
occur till a later period. Phoebe was a deaconess
in the church of Genchrea, the masculine form,
diakonoSj being applied to her (Rom. xvi. 1; transl.
"servant" in Eng. versions).' The women whose
names are given in Rom. xvi. 12 were probably of
the same class. It is not probable that there was
a distinct order of deaconesses in the Apostolic
Church in the modem sense. Nevertheless, Paul's
mode of referring to Phcebe implies that she was
recognized at Cenchrea and by himself as having
a special work and authority. It is possible that
deaconesses are referred to in I Tim. iii. 11. If so,
they were distinguished from the " widows " (I Tim.
V. 3-16), who were not to be enrolled in that class
till they had reached sixty years of age. From the
earliest times the need must have been felt of a
special class of women who should devote them-
selves to Christian service at times of baptism, visit
the parts of the houses set aside for females, and
perform other duties. While Phcebe is the only
person in the New Testament distinctly called a
deaconess, there are indications, as in the case of
Dorcas (Acts ix. 36) and other cases, that woman's
service was held in high esteem by the Church and
had a distinctive character.
n. In the Patristic Age: The earliest reference
in the subapostolic age to women functionaries in
the Chureh is by the younger Pliny in his letter
(x. 96) to Trajan about 110 a.d. He speaks of
" young women who are called ministra "; that is,
" deaconesses." The notices in the
I. Deacon- literature of the second and third cen-
esses and turies are very rare before the Apos-
WidowB. tolic Constitutions, which contain fre-
quent references to both the widows
and deaconesses and directions for their work and
induction into office. When the ApostoUc Consti-
tutions were written the widows and deaconesses
were distinct bodies (ii. 26; ANF^ vii. 410), and
the widows occupied a position inferior to the dea-
conesses and are enjoined to be in subjection to
them (iii. 7). Different rules are given for the con-
secration of each (vii. 19, 25). On the one hand,
it is not clear that in the second century this dis-
tinction was maintained. On the other hand, it is
clear that in the fourth century the order of widows
was abandoned, while the order and term of dea-
conesses remained. The Council of Nicsea (325)
speaks only of '' deaconesses." The Council of
Origins (533) speaks of the " widows who are
called deaconesses."
In the literature of the second century, with the
exception of the passage in Pliny, there is no ref-
DEACONESS.
a. Germany.
Origin. Theodor Fliedner ( § 1 ).
The Kaiserswerth Institute
(12).
Other Institutions (§ 3).
b. England.
Sisterhoods (| 1).
Deaoonesses in the Church of
England (| 2).
Wesleyan Deaooneaaes (| 3).
c. Sootland.
d. America.
The Lutherans (| 1).
The Protestant EpiaeopalChurdt
(§2).
The Methodista (| 3).
Other Denominations (| 4).
erenoe to the deaconess by name and no distinct
reference to any class but the widows. When
Tertuilian, at the beginning of the third century.
speaks of " virgins " and distinguishes them from
the "widows" (Z)e virginibus vdandia, ix.; De
monogamia, xi. ; etc.) he does not seem to have
in mind a class of functionaries in the Church.
Ignatius in his letter to Symma (xiii. ; cf . Light-
foot, ii. 322 sqq.) speaks of ** virgins who are called
widows," and Polycarp in his letter to the Philip-
pians (iv.; Lightfoot, ii. 912) calls ''the prudent
widows " the altar of God. This expression, which
is also used in the Apostolic Constitutions (ii. 26^
was interpreted to mean that the women devoted
themselves to prayer and holy thoughts. Polycarp
is speaking of widows in their official relation, as he
mentions them before deacons and priests. At the
beginning of the third century the institution of
widows seems to have been widely prevalent
Clement (Ham., xi. 36, Recogniiiones, xv.) ani
Tertuilian refer to them repeatedly. Lucia n in his
** Death of Peregrinus " also speaks of aged widow>
who ministered to Peregrinus in prison, bringing
orphans with them. But a change took place and
in the middle of the third century the " widows '*
at Rome were simply a class of poor women de^
pendent upon the support of the Church (EusebiiLs.
HUt. eccl., VI. xliii. 11).
While the order of widows was given up in the
West, it continued to flourish in the East. But
they can not be followed beyond the time of com-
position of the Apostolic Constitutions. The tenn
** widow " seems to have been dropped. On the
other hand, the deaconess comes into prominence
and Lb mentioned in the conciliar decisions of the
E^t and the West and in the legislation of Justinian
(Novella, vi. 6, cxxiii. 30; cf. G. Pfannmaller. Dit
kirchliche GeseUgdmng Jtistinians, Berlin, 1902, pp.
72 sqq.). In the West, Ambrose, commenting upon
I Tim. iii. 11, declared that women were forbidden
to hold office in the Chureh, and Jerome in com-
menting upon Rom. xvi. 1 and I Tim. iii. 11 (the
quotations are given by Uhlhom, p. 408) speaks of
women functionaries as still existing in the East
and gives the impression that they had ceased to
exist in the West. However, there seem to hsLve
been deaconesses in Gaul as late as the sixth cen-
tury, as attested by the Second Council of Ori^ns
in 533. An inscription at Ticinum, dated 539, bears
the name of the *' deaconess (diaamissa) Theodora "
(Uhlhorn, p. 409). Deaconesses continued in the
Eastern Chureh down to the eighth century. The
terms " deaconess " and " archdeaconess " were
used as designations of the officers in convents and
they are still foimd in the twelfth century at Con-
stantinople aiding in the communion.
The reason why the orders of widows and deacon-
376
Deaoonesft
I fell into desuetude is in part the abuses of the
Montanists, who allowed women to preach, while
Montanus himself went about with two women, a
thing which gave much scandal. Some of the here-
tics, following Simon Magus, were mixed up with
prophetesses who were supposed to be subjects of
revelation and taught contrary to the teaching of
Paul. Other reasons were the moral dangers be-
setting such women. Rules were required dis-
tinctly forbidding clerics of the lower orders to
visit widows and deaconesses without special per-
mission from the bishop or priest and then not
without an attendant (Synod of Hippo, 393; cf.
Hefcle, ConcUiengeachichte, ii. 68). Still other rea-
sons were the growth of monastic houses for nuns
which offered a safe refuge as well as a distinct
religious and clerical calling for women, and the
cessation of the need of female ministries after adult
baptism gave way to infant baptism.
The age at which women might enter the class of
widows was reduced from sixty {Apostolic Con-
stitviionSf iii. 1). Tertullian {De virginibtia vdan-
diSf ix.) tells of a virgin who had been admitted
into the order of widowhood at the age of twenty,
but speaks of it as a notorious irregularity. The
Theodosian code of 390 (cf. Hefele, ut sup., ii.
519) required obedience to the Pauline rule re-
quiring the age of sixty. As for the
2. Age. deaconesses, the Council of Chalcedon
(451; canon xv.; cf. Hefele, ut sup.)
allowed their consecration at the age of forty,
but only after probation. The Justinian code
{NovellcB, cxxiii. 13) likewise prescribed the age
of forty. In case a deaconess married, both she
and her husband were to be anathematized. Ac-
cording to the Justinian code, if she married or
allowed herself to be seduced, she became liable to
the death penalty and the man suffered death by
the sword (PfannmUller, ut sup., p. 72). Olympias
(d. 420), the deaconess of Constantinople praised
by Chrysostom and to whom he addressed seven-
teen letters, became a widow at eighteen and seems
to have immediately entered upon diaconal func-
tions.
The statement of the Apostolic Constitutions
(iii. 15) is regulative of the functions of these women:
'' A deaconess is to be ordained for the ministra-
tions toward women." She is called the assistant
or minister of the deacon (viii. 28). She was to be
sent to do certain services for which it was distinctly
ordered that the deacon should not be sent (iii. 15).
At baptism she assisted the presbyter '* for the
sake of decency '* (viii. 28). The bishop was in-
structed to anoint only the head of a
3. Duties, woman and the anointing of the other
parts was left to the deaconess (iii.
15). A change, however, took place and this cus-
tom was deliberately set aside. The Synod of
Dovin in Armenia (527; Hefele, ut sup., p. 718)
forbade the ministry of deaconesses at baptism.
The prohibition probably grew out of the unwill-
ingness to allow to women even the appearance of
performing clerical services. Tertullian (De bap-
itsmo, xvii.) allowed laymen to baptize, but ex-
pressly forbade women both to baptize and to
teach. The Apostolic Constitutions (iii. 9; also
Origen, Homily on Isa. vi.) state expressly that
deaconesses were not to serve at the altar, and for-
bid them to teach and baptize or in any wise per-
form the functions of the priest. Another duty of
the deaconess was to stand at the entrance to the
church through which the women passed to their
own place in the auditorium to greet those that
entered, to show them seats, and to preserve order
(Apostolic ConstitiUionSf ii. 57).
Roman Catholic scholars in interpreting the pa-
tristic statements on the induction of the deaconess
into office deny that there was any rite of ordina-
tion. This interpretation has plainly in its favor
the nineteenth canon of the Council of Nicsea
(Hefele, ut sup., i. 427), which distinctly states
that *^ the deaconesses are without any imposition
of hands and are to be ranked with the laity."
The Synod of Laodicea, a generation or two later,
which speaks of presbutidea and prokathSmenai, that
is, female presbytids (not presbyters; cf. Epipha-
nius, Ixxix.) and overseers, seems to deny them
official position in the Church, but the meaning of
the passage is vague (cf. Hefele, i. 757). On the
other hand, there are plain statements that a rite
of ordination was performed. There was an im-
position of hands (Epiphanius, ut sup.), and such
imposition was made by the hands of
4. Ordina- the bishop and in the presence of the
tion. presbytery, the deacons, and those
already belonging to the order of dea-
conesses (Apostolic Constitutions, viii. 19). The
code of Justinian treats of their ordination (cf.
Pfannmiiller, ut sup., p. 72). The form of prayer
used on such occasions is given in the Apostolic
Constitutions (viii. 20). The S3mod of Orange in
441 (canon xxvi. ; Hefele, ii. 295) forbade the further
ordination of women and allowed them only the
consecration imparted to the laity. By the Synod
of Epao in 317 (Hefele, ii. 684) such ordination
was forbidden in all Bui^imdy. Similarly the
Second Synod of Orleans in 533 (Hefele, ii. 758)
denied to women " on account of the weakness of
their sex " the diaconal benediction. This would
seem to have been of the same nature as ordination
to the diaconate. During the Middle Ages the
heretical sects ordained deaconesses (cf. Dollinger,
i. 186, 203, and elsewhere).
ni. In the Protestant Churches. — 1. The Earlier
Period: The Reformers made no provision for the
official recognition of women as functionaries in the
Church. Among the rare notices of deaconesses
are those in connection with the Church of Wesel
from 1575 to 1610 and the Puritan church of Am-
sterdam. One of the first acts of the Church of
Wesel was to decide to employ women. After
long delay the S3mod of Middelburg in 1581 pro-
nounced against the proposition '' on account of
various inconveniences which might arise out of it,
but in times of pestilence and other sicknesses
where any service is retiuired among sick women
which would be indelicate to deacons they ought to
attend to this through their wives or others whose
services it may be proper to engage." The con-
clusions drawn up by Thomas Cartwright (q.v.) and
Walter Travers as the result of several confessions
of Puritan ministers in 1575 contained a clause
Deaooness
376
" touching deacons of both sorts, namely men and
women." Both were to 'be chosen by the congre-
gation and " to be received into their office with
the general prayers of the whole Church '' (cf. D.
Neal, History of the Puritans, i., New York, 1855,
p. 140). In Gov. Bradford's Dialogue it is stated
that there was one deaconess " who visited the sick,
relieved the poor, and sat in a convenient place in
the congregation, with a little birchen rod in her
hand, and kept little children in great awe from dis-
turbing the congregation. She did filsquently visit
the sick and weak, especially women, and if there
were poor she would gather relief for them of those
that were able, or acquaint the deacons, and she
was obeyed as a mother in Israel and an officer of
Christ " (A. Young, Chronicles of the PHqrim Fathers,
Boston, 1841, pp. 445-446). Early American Con-
gregationalism recognized the office and ordered the
" ancient widows (where they may be had) to min-
ister in the Church, in giving attendance to the
sick, and to give succor unto them, and others in
the like necessities " {Cambridge Platform, 1648,
vii. 7). This theory was not put in practise (cf. W.
Walker, History of the Congregational Churches in
the United States, New York, 1894, p. 230). The
Mennonites of Holland seem to have had the cus-
tom of appointing deaconesses to serve among the
sick and poor and do other Christian and charitable
work.
2. The irineteeiitli Oentury: No more important
feature characterizes the recent history of Protes-
tantism than the development of woman's public
activity in the Church. Woman's work among
women and for women in the various missionary
organizations and in other bodies is in the direct
line of the diaconal work of Phoebe and other
female '' helpers " of the early Church. Some of
the Protestant bodies have given official recog-
nition to the vocation of the congregational
dea4X)ness in one form or another, without, how-
ever, sanctioning an order of deaconesses in the
sense that the order of deacons is sanctioned. It
is difficult to make a sharp distinction when an
ecclesiastical body commends training-schools for
deaconesses and yet denies their election and
setting apart to th^ir office by the individual con-
gregation.
a. (Germany: The oiganization and official
training of women for Christian work in the Prot-
estant Churches were developed in the early half
of the nineteenth century, and found their first
embodiment in the institution of deaconesses
founded by Pastor Theodor Fliedner (q.v.), which
has been the model for similar organizations
throughout the Protestant world. This institu-
tion was founded in 1836 at Kaiserswerth on the
llhine, near Dtlsseldorf. Fliedner was not moved
in the first instance by the pious idea
1. Orlffin. of reviving the apostolic order of
Theodor female helpers, although he believed
Fliedner. Jt to have been in existence in primi-
tive times. He was animated by
practical considerations to meet a pressing need of
his day, the proper care of the sick and the training
of neglected children. A feeling existed in certain
pious German circles that the Church needed an
order of trained women, similar to the sisterhoods
of the Roman Catholic Church. This feeliii*;
found expression in a pamphlet published by Pastor
Kl6nne of Bislich near Wesel in 1820, entitled
" The Revival of the Deaconesses of the Ancient
Church in our Ladies Societies." In 1835 the pious
Coimt Adalbert von der Recke-Volmerstein b^:an
the publication of a periodical " Deaconesses, or
Life and Labors of the Handmaids of the Church
in Teaching and Training and in Nursing the Sick.'
It was Fliedner, however, who gave practical em-
bodiment to this feeling. Before 1836, on his visits
to Holland in 1823 and 1832, he was struck with
the employment of deaconesses among the Men-
nonites. They were appointed by the official
boards of the churches and did their work without
remimeration. In his description of his experiences
in Holland he wrote: '' This praiseworthy early
Christian institution of deaconesses should be
revived by other Protestant conununions." He
was also sMnck, on his visit in Ehigland in 1832,
with the contrast between the fine architecture of
the hospital buildings and the incompetency of the
attendants within. Impressed by the need of
trained women, after these visits he prepared a con-
stitution for ** the Order of Deaconesses for the
Rhenish Provinces," which was signed in the house
of Count Stolberg at Dtlsseldorf, 1836. In October
of the same year the first deaconess, Gertnid Rei-
chard, entered the Institute. Two years later it sent
the first deaconesses to the city hospital of Elber-
feld.
The Institute has grown to large proportions. It
educates three kinds of deaconesses. The first
class devote themselves to the care of the sick, the
poor, and the fallen in Magdalen asylums. The
second dedicate themselves to teaching; the third
class aid ministers in parish-work. The fiuida-
mental conditions of admission are
2, The Christian character and a strong con-
Kaisers- stitution. Other rules are that candi-
werth In- dates mtist be of suitable age, must be
■***^*«' unmarried or widows, and must con-
secrate themselves for five years to the
office. Candidates are accepted on probation for
a year. The Kaiserswerth deaconesses take no
vows, wear no crucifixes, and are distinguished by
a simple and distinctive, but not necessarily uni-
form, dress. The internal organization of the
houses comprises as a rule a cleigyman as rector
and chaplain, assisted by a woman superior, of
whom the former exercises general administrative
control, while the more intimate details of domestic
economy are in the hands of the sister superior. In
a few institutions the influence of Roman Catholic
models may be discerned in that the clergyman
acts only in the capacity of spiritual adviser to
the sisterhood. The Kaiserswerth institutions lay
stress upon their form of organization. The time
of training lasts from two to six years according to
the attainments of the women on entering the
Institute and according to their aptness. The
instruction includes a thorough cotu^e of train-
ing in Biblical knowledge. At the close of the
term of preparation the deaconesses are conse-
crated by a fitting ritual and with the layidg on
377
Deaoonesa
of hands, and promise obedience and fidelity in
I lieir work.*
The Kaiserswerth Institute supplies not only
many hospitals, orphanages, and other establish-
ments in Germany with deaconesses, but has under
its control hospitals in foreign lands, e.g., in Jeru-
salem (founded 1851), Constantinople
3. Other (1852), Smyrna (1853), Alexandria
IxiBtlta- (1857), Florence (1860), Cairo, etc. In
tions. 1861 , at the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the Kaiserswerth Institute, the number
of daughter institutions in Germany, Austria, Bohe-
mia, Hungary, Holland, France, England, Scandi-
^More detailed information is given in the article Dia-
kantnr- und DiakoniuMmihikuBer by Theodor Sch&fer in the
Hauck-Heriog RB as follows:
The conditions for admission are the same to the minu-
test degree for all establishments, and an extract from those
of the house at Altona may serve as an example. The
future deaconess must be of unblemished reputation, and
ia required to offer evidence of the facts of her life and her
relations to family, employers, and all others under whose
authority or influence she may have come. Sound health
is a requirement, but it is recognised that women of slight
phsrsical constitution have shown themselves capable of
excellent service in charitable work. Eighteen and thirty-
six are set as the age-limits, but the rule may be waived
in exceptional cases. Candidates are supposed to possess
a common school education, and it is desirable that they
shall have had some experience in housework. The docu-
naents to be submitted in applying for admission comprise
a short autobiography of some minuteness, evidence of per-
mission granted by parents or guardians, a testimonial of
moral character supplied by the applicant's pastor, medical,
baptismal, and confirmation certificates. Statistics have
shown that the great bulk of candidates come from the
peasant and artisan classes and the class of small officials,
but large numbers, too, are the children of clergymen, pro-
fessors and teachers, merchants, and landed proprietors.
Successful applicants are retained conditionally for a few
weeks, after which they enter upon a year of actual pro-
bation. During this year the neophyte is brought to a
thorough understanding of the conditions confronting her
in her future calling, the chief object being to discern the
existence of inclination and adaptability for the work. In
most houses the hospital is the first and most important
school of practise. Parallel with practise in the hospital
runs theoretical instruction under the direction of the head
physician. Where necessary, instruction is given also in
elemeatary subjects. The religious side is not neglected;
in many institutions a few hours are devoted every week
to religious instruction in which as many of the younger
sisters as can be spared from their daily work participate.
Under the head of religious instruction is included instruc-
tion in the theory and history of charitable work, while the
religious factor proper is supplied by a study of Bible his-
tory and geography, ohivch history, the eateehism, and the
liturgy.
After the completion of the probationary year the can-
didate is admitted to the novitiate, and after a further
training, ranging from two to six years, there follows the
dedication. In this the deaconess promises obedienoe. faith-
fulness, and devotion in her chosen calling and to remain
in it so long as it shall please the Lord to allow her. This
is not a vow such as is taken in the Roman Catholic orders.
From the day of her dedication the neophyte has full rights
of membership in the sisterhood. She has become the
daughter of the house which is to be her actual home through
life, her guide, and her provider in sickness and in old age.
Long before her dedication, the future deaconess may be
despatched on service to any post which the authorities of
her house may select; and such service is in fact a part of
her preparation. She is never assigned to any permanent
position, but is subject to whatever arrangements the sis-
terhood may make for her services. Marriage is not al-
lowed for practical reasons purely. The list of institutions
wherein the deaconesses have been active includes hospitals,
poorhouses, orphan asylums, elementary schools, industrial
schools, rescue-homes, homes for fallen women, and prisons.
navia, Italy, and the United States was twenty-
seven. Among the earlier ones were the home in
Paris (1841), St. Loup near Lausanne (1841), Stras-
burg (1842), Dresden and Utrecht (1844), Bern,
and Bethany in Berlin (1845), Stockhohn (1849),
Riehen near Basel (1852), Stuttgart (1854), St.
Petersburg (1859), Copenhagen (1863). In 1904
there were in Germany forty-six institutions con-
nected with the Kaiserswerth mother house. The
yearly expenditiu*e of the mother house averages
700,000 marks. A triennial conference of homes
has been instituted. Many institutions have be-
come members of the association which are not the
direct daughters of the Fliedner mother house, for
example the Milwaukee Lutheran Deaconesses'
home. In 1905 the conference included seventy-
five institutions with 14,501 deaconesses.
Independent deaconesses' institutions have also
been founded in different cities of Germany which
have adopted the Kaiserswerth idea, e.g., the Eliza-
beth hospital and Deaconesses' home in Berlin
founded by Gossner in 1840; Sarepta in Bielefeld
(1869), where the eminent philanthropist Friedrich
von Bodelschwingh assumed the superintendency
in 1872; in Neuendettelsau by the philanthropist
Wilhehn L6he (1854); Stuttgart (1865); Altona
(1867); etc. The Moravians established one at
Niesky in 1842. The Methodists of Germany agi-
tated the matter in the sixties and in 1876 opened
their first house at Frankfort and then in Berlin
(1883), Hamburg (1886), Magdeburg, Munich,
Vienna, Strasburg, Zurich, and other cities. They
also have a home in Gothenburg, Sweden, founded
1900. The Evangelical Association in Germany has
homes at Berlin (1887), Hambuiig (1888), Stras-
burg (1889), Elberfeld (1890), Stuttgart (1896), and
Carlsnihe (1900). The German Baptists have the
deaconesses' home, Bethel, in Berlin (1887).
&. Bnffland: The influence of Kaiserswerth
upon the Protestant Churches of England and Scot-
land resulted in a general discussion of the subject
of deaconesses and in the establishment of deacon-
esses' institutions. With Elizabeth Fiy and Flor-
ence Nightingale (qq.v.) the permanent efforts at
organization may be said to have begun, and they
came under the immediate influence of Pastor
Fliedner and the Kaiserswerth work. Miss Night-
ingale went through a thorough coiu^e of training
at Kaiserswerth before taking charge of the female
sanitarium in London, and Mrs. Fry, after a visit
to the German town, established the first English
institution for the training of nurses in London in
1840. In 1846 Fliedner brought fotir deaconesses
to the German hospital in London.
A new development was furnished in the sister-
hoods established within the pale of the Anglican
Church. These were due in some measure to the
Anglo-Catholic movement led by Pusey and the
Tractarians, and it is not improbable that with the
high reverence which this party had for Roman
Catholic institutions they would have
1. Sister- established sisterhoods even if the
hoods, deaconess movement had not gone be-
fore. The first Protestant sisterhood
was established or consecrated by Dr. Pusey in 1847
in Park Village near London. The same year
DaaoonesB
378
Priscilla Lydia Sellon oi^ganized the Sisterhood of
Mercy at Devonport, binding herself with three
other ladies to an association for the relief of the
sufferings of the poor. They adopted a uniform
dress, the use of the cross, etc. They founded at
Devonport a house of destitute children, a *' House
of Peace " for older girls, and an industrial school.
Miss Sellon was addressed as mother superior.
Since then many sisterhoods with various names
have been founded in the Church of England, e.g.,
the Sisterhcxxl of St. John the Baptist at Clewer,
founded in 1849, which devoted itself more espe-
cially to the reformation of fallen women. The
difference between the sisterhoods of the Church of
England and the order of deaconesses consists in
this, that the sisterhood leans in its organization to
the convent as its model. The sisters take vows,
live strictly in commimities, acknowledge a mother
superior, and often find refuge in the sisterhood for
the sake of pious devotion more than for philan-
thropic activity.
The deaconess idea as carried out at Kaiserswerth
was formally commended by Dr. Tait, then bishop
of London, in his charge May 2, 1850. From 1858
to 1871 woman's work was the subject of animated
discussion in the convocation of Canterbury. In
1861 Bishop Tait invested Elizabeth Catherine
Ferard (d. 1883) with the office of deaconess, and it
was generally regarded as a revival of the apos-
tolic office. Miss Ferard had been trained at
Kaiserswerth and with the aid of Dean Champneys
and others opened the deaconesses' institution of
North London, a diocesan institution founded on
the Kaiserswerth model. In 1871 rules were laid
down for diocesan deaconesses' homes
2. Deacon- j^^j g^^ jjy the archbishop of Can-
InTthB terbuiy and eighteen bishops. The
Ohuroh of ^^P^^cipl® sets forth ''that adeacon-
Bnffland. ess is a woman set apart by the bishop
under that title for service in the
Church. She is at liberty to resign her commission
as deaconess or may be deprived of it by the
bishop." She was to be an auxiliary to the
pastorate, and not a conventual. Dean How-
son contended for this idea and he saw it
prevail. The institution was taken up as a dioc-
esan matter and in 1904 there were deaconesses'
homes in the dioceses of Canterbury, Chester, Ely,
London, Salisbury, Winchester, lituidaff, Exeter,
and Rochester. There are also deaconesses' insti-
tutions in Lichfield, Durham, and Worcester. The
Mildmay institutions with the deaconesses' home
as the center were due to the zeal and organiang
power of William Pennefather, an English clergy-
man. The beginning was made at Bamet in 1860,
and the institutions moved to Mildmay in 1864.
The deaconesses' department has three branches,
medical work, parish work, and foreign mission
work. The Institution has stations in Malta,
Jamaica, and Hebron. While the Mildmay in-
stitutions were founded by Anglicans, they are not
intended to be strictly denominational. The only
mother house in England belonging to the Kaisers-
werth group is Tottenham, North London, founded
in 1877 by Dr. Michael Laseron, a converted Jew,
and his wife, and aided by Samuel Morley with a
gift of £7,000. Dr. Laseron was very successful in
training deaconesses. The institution supplies a
number of hospitals, including one in Sierra Leone.
The Wesleyans of England have been active in
promoting the work of the deaconess. In 1888 the
Rev. Hugh Price Hughes (q.v.) formed an organiza-
tion called " The Sisters of the People " with a
home near the British Museum, named Catherine
House after his wife; in 1891 it was removed to
larger quarters in Viceroy Street. The sisters do
all kinds of mission work, visit the
8. Wesley- poor, conduct midnight missions, teach
aaDea- in kindergartens, etc. The Wesleyan
conesses. Deaconesses' Institution was founded
m 1890 by the Rev. T. B. Stevenson,
and has two training-schools, Newbum House,
London, N. E., and Calvert House, at Leicester.
The deaconesses are stationed in all parts of Eng>
land and are employed chiefly in parish woi^.
The institution has stations in New ZeieJand, South
Africa, and Ceylon. There are three departments of
work contemplated by the training : the teaching
and care of children, nursing the sick, and home and
foreign mission work. The training includes Bibli-
cal and medical instruction, and lasts a year. The
Institution was formally adopted by the Wesleyan
Conference in 1902. The following extract from
an official report gives an idea of the Wesleyan
conception of the deaconess and her work:
What ia a Wesleyan deaooneas? One who bekmgs Co
the Order ao-oalled, governed by the Council, and eano-
tioned by the Wesleyan Methodist Chureh. But her
work is not sectarian, and she may by arrangement serve
other than Methodist churches. . . . The work of the dea-
coness is anything that the cause of Christ and the poor de-
mand. She is nurse, teacher, visitor, even preacher when
necessary. She is a helper in sorrow and a rescuer from all
sin. Her work varies in every locality.
c, Sootlaad: Fliedner visited Scotland in 1846
and met Chalmers. In 1886 the Church of Scot-
land took the matter of deaconesses' work seriously
in hand, and in 1887 the Assembly commended the
establishment of deaconesses' training-schools and
more esi)ecially the Edinburgh House, a home for
deaconesses established the same year. Dr. Archi-
bald H. Charteris was the most influential person
in bringing about this consummation. St. Ninian's
Hospital is connected with the home. The first
deaconess was installed in office Dec. 9, 1888. The
work is incorporated in the constitution of the
Established Church, which not only commended
the training of deaconesses , but established rules
for their admission, garb, etc.
d. America: Practically all denominations in
the United States have adopted in one form or
another the si)ecial training of women for Christian
work. Some have made the work of the deaconess
a part of their constitution, or have officially recog^
nized the deaconess as a local church official or
functionary appointed by the local church. The
fathers of the deaconess movement in the United
States were the Rev. W. A. Passavant and the Rev.
W. A. Muhlenberg (qq.v.), the former a Lutheran,
the latter an Episcopalian of Lutheran birth. The
Lutheran Church first recognized the Kaiserswerth
movement. At the age of twenty-four Dr. Passa-
vant was sent as a delegate to the meeting in Lon-
879
DMMonMa
don in 1846 which resulted m the foundation of the
Evangelical Alliance, and he afterward visited Kai-
eerswerth. In his annual report of Jan. 1, 1847,
Fliedner said, *' We have been urgently
1. The requested to send deaconesses from
liiitheranB. here to North America." In 1849 he
accompanied four deaconesses to Pitts-
burg, where they were stationed in a hospital
already opened by Dr. Passavant and dedicated
July 17, 1849, Fliedner being present. On May
28, 1850, the first American deaconess, Katherine
Louisa Marthens, trained under Dr. Passavant,
was consecrated (cf. Sp&th, p. 25). Dr. Passavant
was not successful in building up a permanent
deaconesses' home in Pittsburg, and the enterprise
was given up because women did not come forward
for the work and for other reasons. The Passavant
hospital in Pittsburg still employs deaconesses, as
do the affiliated institutions for epileptics in Roches-
ter, N. Y., and for orphans at Zelienople, Pa.
The hospital at Jacksonville, 111., formerly em-
ployed them. The Mary J. Drexel Home in Phila-
delphia, opened in 1888, is a Lutheran institution
and occupies the finest building consecrated to
deaconesses' work in America. It was founded by
Dr. Lankenau as a memorial to his wife, and asso-
ciated with the German Lutheran hospital of
Philadelphia, of which Dr. Lankenau wsa treas-
urer. This deaconesses' home was started in 1884.
In 1894 it was brought into organic relation with
the Lutheran Church and joined the group of the
Kaiserswerth institutions. The deaconesses labor
in kindergartens and hospitals and in parish work.
The Milwaukee Deaconesses' Home was established
in 1891, Dr. Passavant having founded a hospital
in that city in 1863, of which his son, the Rev. R. W.
Passavant, was made director in 1900, but lived less
than a year to administer the office. There are
other Lutheran deaconesses' homes connected with
the various branches of American Lutheranism: —
in Baltimore (founded 1895), Omaha (Swedish,
1887), Brooklyn (founded by Mrs. Boers, wife of
the Norwegian consul, 1883), Minneapolis (Noi^
wegian, 1888), Chicago (1900), Buffalo, and St.
Paul. In most cases, if not in all, these institutions
were organized with the aid of one or more deacon-
esses from Germany or Scandinavia. In 1905 the
Mary J. Drexel, Milwaukee, and Omaha houses had
respectively 47, 19, and 22 deaconesses, and 25, 13,
and 15 probationers. The sixth annual conference
of the ** Evangelical Lutheran Deaconesses' Mother-
houses in the United States " wsa held in Milwaukee
in 1905.
The Protestant Episcopal Church followed the
Lutherans in the deaconesses' work in America. In
1843 Rev.W. A. Muhlenberg, then rector of the Church
of the Holy Communion, New York city, organized a
sisterhood, which, however, was not formally consti-
tuted till 1852, when a house was erected adjoining
the church. A dispensary was started and developed
into St. Luke's Hospital. The second organiza-
tion was the Sisterhood of the Good Shepherd in
Baltimore, formed into a community in 1863, but
its history dates back to 1855, when, with the ap-
proval of the bishop of the diocese, the Rev. Horace
Stringfellow of St. Andrew's Church inaugurated
the movement. A sister superior stands at the
head of the community. The Sisterhood of St.
Mary in New York was founded in 1865, five sisters
being consecrated to their work Feb.
8. The ^' ^y ^^^ bishop of the diocese in St.
Protestant Michael's Church. The sisters take
Bpiscopal vows and none but members of the
Church. Protestant Episcopal Church are admit-
ted to these bodies. The Sisterhood
of St. Mary is probably the most influential in
the Episcopal Church. It carries on an extensive
work in New York and beyond. The Sisterhood
of St. John was established in Washington in 1867.
The Sisterhood of St. John the Baptist (New York,
1881) is a branch of the similar body in England.
The Sisterhood of All Saints was transferred from
London to Baltimore in 1891, and the Sisterhood
of St. Margaret from East Grinstead, Eng., in 1873
to Boston. The Sisterhood of the Holy Childhood
of Jesus was established by the Rev. C. C. Grafton
in Providence, R. I., in 1882. The Protestant
Episcopal Church has not officially approved the
sisterhoods, but it has given approval to the dea-
conesses' organizations and the office of deaconess.
In 1864 a diocesan deaconesses' institution was
formed in Mobile, Ala. On Feb. 11, 1872, Bishop
Littlejohn of Long Island consecrated six to the
office of deaconess in St. Mary's Church, Brooklyn.
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church
had before it for a number of years the subject of
woman's work and the question of reviving the
primitive order of deaconess. In 1889 action was
taken by the Triennial Convention and a " Training
School for Deaconesses " was opened by Bishop
Potter in New York in 1890 and placed under the
jurisdiction of the Rev. W. R. Huntington and
Grace Church. It provides a course of training
covering two years. Matriculants must be of the
age of eighteen. After the course they are at
liberty to labor under the direction of a bishop or to
join an association of deaconesses or a sisterhood.
Similar institutions have been begun in Phila-
delphia and in Toronto, Canada. The deaconess
idea has also found incorporation in the English
colonies imder the chai^ of the Anglican episco-
pate (cf. Golder, pp. 464 sqq.).
The Methodists of the United States have done
more than any other American denomination to
utilize the movement started by Pastor Fliedner
and to modify it according to their needs. By
action of the General Conference in 1888, due espe-
cially to Rev. J. M. Thobum, afterward bishop of
India, the deaconess is recognized as an official of
the Church (cf. Wheeler, pp. 269 sqq.). She takes
no vows; " her duties 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 other
pursuits, to devote herself in a general way to such
forma of Christian labor as may be suited to her
abilities." Each annual conference through a
board, composed partly of women, exercises over-
sight over the work and issues diaconal certificates
to women properly accredited. In 1900 the Gen-
eral Conference perfected the law of the Church on
this subject. Tlie bishops are now a general dea*
Death
380
coneaNB' bocird, having general Bupervision over all
deaconesBes' work throughout the Church. One
of its duties is to authorise new dea-
8. The oonesses' homes. The committee of
Uethodists. the annual conferences is continued
as established by the conference
of 1888. Deaconesses are licensed and conse-
crated to their office after two years of continuous
probationary service and an examination. They
must be twenty-three years of age and unmarried.
The work of the deaconess is thus an integral part
of the discipline of the Methodist Church. There
is also in the Methodist Church " The Deaconesses'
Bureau of the Woman's Home Missionary Soci-
ety " and " The Methodist Deaconesses' Society/'
with headquarters in Chicago. The "Chicago
Training School for City Home and Foreign Mis-
sions " was established as early as 1885 by Mrs.
Lucy Rider Meyer. In 1890 the first deaconesses'
home, under that distinctive name, was opened in
Detroit by Mrs. Jane Bancroft Robinson, who was
instrumental in opening similar homes in Phila-
delphia, Baltimore, Buffalo, Pittsburg, Los Ange-
les, and other cities. The "Elizabeth Gamble
Deaconesses' Home and Christ's Hospital" was
founded in 1888 in Cincinnati The " Lucy Webb
Hayes Deaconesses' Home and National Training
School" was founded in Washington in 1889 and
has associated with it the Sibley Hospital (1894).
The same year a training-school was founded in
New York. One of the largest houses in the Method-
ist Episcopal Church and in the United States is
the " Rebecca Deaconesses' Home and Asbury
Hospitsl" in Minneapolis, founded in 1891. At
the present time there are over one hundred deacon-
esses' homes and training-schools in the United
States under the care of the Methodist Church.
It has also deaconesses' homes in Madras, Calcutta,
Lucknow, and other cities of India. In 1902 the
value of their properties was 12,402,000.
The German Reformed Church has a home in
Cleveland, founded 1892. The Evangelical Asso-
ciation has one in St. Louis (1890). The German
Methodists have homes in Cincinnati (Bethesda,
1891), St. Paul (the " Elizabeth Haas Deaconess
Home," 1891), Chicago (the "German Deacon-
esses' Institute," 1892), Louisville (1895), Kansas
City (1897), and elsewhere. The United Brethren
incorporated the deaconess office and idea into their
discipline in 1891. The Congregationalists of Illi-
nois secured a charter for " the American Congre-
gational Deaconesses' Association " in
4. Other 1901 and established a training-school
Denoxnina- in Chicago. The first organization in
tions. the Baptist Church was the " Baptist
Deaconesses' Society of the City of
New York," organized 1895. The first deaconess
was ordained after a full course of study in 1897.
The deaconesses wear a special garb and are called
sisters. The Christian Church under the lead of
Rev. A. M. Harvuot established a " Training School
for Pastoral Helpers " in Cincinnati in 1899, now
removed to Des Moines and connected with Drake
University. The Presbyterian Church, North, in
1899 refused to recognize the special office of the
congregational deaconess, but several churches have
elected and set apart deaconesses by a special f c»m
of consecration. In accordance with action of the
Cieneral Assembly in 1892, which commended the
establishment of institutions and training homes
for the instruction of godly women duly recom-
mended by sessions and presbyteries for practical
Christian work, a training-school for deaconeises
was opened in connection with the First Presby-
terian Church of Baltimore in 1903. The Presby-
terian Church, South, in 1879 provided for the recog-
nition of godly women in church work by the sessions,
and in 1906 the synod of the United Presbyte-
rian Church sanctioned congregational deaconesses
Lastly, a class of interdenominational deaconesses'
homes may be mentioned, such as the " €rerman
Deaconesses' Home " in Cincinnati founded in l&SS;
the "Protestant Deaconesses' Home" in Indian-
apolis (1894); and the "German Deaconesses'
Home " in Buffalo (1895). For a further presenta-
tion of the work of women in the Church see the
article Woman's Work. D. S. Schaff.
Bibliography: On I. and II.: Bingham, OH^tfies. books
i.. ii., IT.; L. Thoznaasin, VetuM ei nova ecdenm diadpUna.
I. iii., chaps. 47-50, Pmria, 1728; A. J. C. Pankowski.
D0 diaconiaaiB eommmUalio, BesenabuiiE, 1866; T. Zahc.
Iffnatiua von Antioehien, pp. 580-587. Gotha, 1873; G.
Uhlhom, Die ekriaaidu LubeaOi/liigkeii, 3 Tola., Stntteart,
1881-Oa vol. i. In dtr alien Kirehe, 1881, Eng. tran^l,
ChneUan Charity in the Early Church, New York, 18».
rot u. Im MiUelaler, 1884, vol. iii. SeU der Rfsfarmatum,
1890; J. B. Lightfoot, Apoetolic Faihere, iL 322-324, 913
■qq., London, 1885; J. J. I. DdUinger. BeUrOae *vr Set-
tenifeeekidUe dee MiUelaUere, Munich. 1890; the OomxneD-
taries on Romans, especially Lange's, New York, 1869,
and by Sanday and Headlam, in IwternaUonal CriHoal Camr
fiMntary, New York, 1895; works on the Apostolic Age.
such as Schaff, ChriMlian Church, L 499. cf . iiL 25IK262;
