DEACONESS
709
DEAD SEA
s character belonging to H, as described by the He Paol, xuimely, widows, and not married wom- shall be chosen for that purpose." Classis fk- d the restoration of the office, and referred the ter to the next provincial 87n«>d, that by its an- ity it mlsht also be restored in other localities. ordiii^ly, bj the proper coarse, it came before the teral Synod at Middleborg in 1581, which synod >rtanately decided against it "on account of vari- inconveiiieiices which might arise out of it; but imes of pestilenoe, and other sicknesses, when any rice 18 required amcmg sick women which would be Blicate to deacons, they ought to attend to this ongh their urives, or others, whose services it may proper to engage" (Max Gdbel, GetehkkU de$ chriti, >en# in der rheim weitpkdlitckm Ev, Kircke, i, 418, t). Here this interesting movement seems to have led, as there is no ftirther historical trace of it. rbe Pnritans in England in the sixteenth century K>gnl8ed deaconesses, as appears by the following tract fhmi the "Conclusions" drawn up by Cart- ight and Ttavers, and given by Neal, Bittory o/ihe iriUmSf toI. i, ch. vi: ** Touching deacons of both rts, viz. men and women, the Church shall be ad- )nished what is required by the apostle, and that ey are not to choose men of custom or course for eir riches, bat for their Csith, seal, and integrity ; id that the Chnrch is to pray in the mean time to be » directed that they may choose them that are meet, et the names of those tliat are thus chosen be pub- shed l>y the next Lord^s day, and after that their oties to the Church, and the Church's duty towards lem ; then let them be received into their office with le genera] prayers of the whole Church."
*^The advantages resulting to a Christian commu- ity from such an order are too obvious to require ex- osition. It has been a serious misfortune to the Church at large that the office has been allowed 0 fall into disuse; and the wide-spread institution t the present day in the churches of Great Britain ^d America of ladies' district-visiting societies, Dor- as societies, etc. satisfactorily shows the necessity if practically supplying, to some extent at least, the irant of this primitive office. There is a movement ^ing on at present for the introduction of the order )f deaconesses into the Church of England" (Cham- bers, Efwifelopcediat s. v.). Its prospects of success would be greater but for the monastic tendencies of the so-called ** sisterhoods" organized by the Puseyites, e. g. Miss SeUon's. This subject has been lately re- vived in the German Reformed Church in America. On Christmas, 1866, Hon. J. Dixon Boman, of Hagers- town, Md., gave to the congregation of that city $5000, and with it sent a proposition to the Consistory that, according to his wish, *^ three ladies of the con- gregation shall be chosen and ordained to the order of deaconesses in this congregation, with absolute control of the income of said ftind, for the purposes and duties as practised in the early days of the Church." This, and the action of Lebanon Classis, which in 1867 re- quests tl^e tjnod, **to take into consideration the pro- priety of restoring the apostolic office of deaconesses," will bring this plain question before the highest judic- atory of the Chnrch.
In the Roman Catholic Church there are various sisterhoods answering in some degree to the ancient order of deaconesses, but without ordination ; such as the Beguines, the Gray Sisters, the Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Mercy, etc (see Ludlow, Womcm's Work in ^ Church, ch. iU).
The first modem reorganization of the work of dea- conesses on a large scale was begun in 1885 by pastor I'U^er, of Kaiserswerth, Prussia. An infirmary was •sUbUshed, to be served by Christian women, unmar- ried or widows. He required of all who would become d«*<»ne8ses that they should be " willing to be serv- ^U of Christ alone, to devote their time and (acuities
entirely and exclusively to him, and not to look for- ward for pecuniary emoluments or honors of the world, nor yet to merit salvation by their works, but to do the work of charity and self-denial out of gratitude to him who hath redeemed their souls, and merited their salvation. After their probationary period they en- gage themselves to serve at least five years. But even during this time they are allowed to leave if nearer personal or family duties should make them wish for a change of situation." Blany women obey- ed the call, the infirmary grew rapidly into impor- tance, and auxiliary societies were formed throughout Prussia. The institntfon Spread into other parts of Europe, and there are now orphan-houses and hospi- tals under its charge at Berlin, Dresden, Frankfort, Worms, Cologne, Elberfeld, London, and other places. In 1866 the institution had 189 stations ; there were 491 sisters, viz. 811 deaconesses, and 180 probationers. The mother institution has (1) a seminary to train young females as teachers for infant and other schools ; (2) an orphan asylum ; (8) a trainhig-school of nurses, and for visitors to prisons, etc. The whole expense is borne by voluntary subscriptions. A branch was es- tablished at Pittsburg, Pa., hi 1849 by pastor Fliedner in person. Mrs. Fry, after a visit to Kaiserswerth, established in Bishopsgate, London, an ** Institution for Nursing Sisters," which still exists. A deacon- esses' institute was organized at Paris in 1851, and others followed in France and Switzerland (see Lud- low's article in the Edinburffh Renew, 1848, p. 223). For other institutions in England, and for information on the general subject, see Howson, Deacone$8e», or ths official Help of Women inparodaal Work (Lond. 1862), and especially Ludlow, WomcnCi Work in the Chun^ See also Bingham, Orig, EccU$. bk. ii, ch. xxii; Sie- gel, Handbuch der christ, AUerthUmer, i, 491 sq. ; Au- gust!, Handb. der chrisU, Archaoloffie, vols, i and iii; Ferraris, Prompta Bibliothec€i, iii, 172 ; Coleman, An- cient CluristianUy, ch. xxv ; Neander, Ch. Hitt, i, 156 ; il, 158 (Terry's transl.); Schaff, Apottolic Hiitory, § 135; ibid., EisUyry of the ChritUan Church, ii, § 52; Mtrcerebwrg Review, xiv, 190 ; ilm. Quart. Ch, Review, July, 1862, art. iii.