briefly expressed in the following summary from the regulations of the Rauhes Haus: The brethren of the Rauhes Haus are gathered in fraternal communion about the Rauhes Haus as a center, and their aim is to come to the aid of the commu

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.”

The chief aim of the training to which candidates are subjected is the formation of steadfast Christian character, and in this respect the relations 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, however, there is the special knowledge of the main principles of pedagogy and of the history of education, 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 full-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, asylums for the feebleminded, 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 dismissal being marked by a solemn service. The regulations of the Rauhes Haus, which may be taken again as typical, provide that on the acceptance by a brother of an office to which he is recommended 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 appointment. 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 spiritual center in the deacons' houses. The truth is

While the problem of the cooperation and communication is not a serious one with the minor fraternities, it is a weighty one in the case of the Rauhes Haus, whose branches are found in all parts of Germany. Here conferences em

4. Organi- bracing the organizations of the varization. ous provinces are held every year, in Wide Extent addition to which special conferences of the Work. and general conventions are held from time to time at the Rauhes Haus. With regard to their spheres of activity, every house has its special field. At the Rauhes Haus special emphasis was laid in the beginning upon rescue work; Duisburg devoted itself primarily to the care of the sick; the summoning of Wichern 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 institutions wherein the members of the brotherhoods have been active would include rescue-homes, orphan asylums, homes for destitute children, workhouses, hospitals, asylums for the feeble-minded, the insane, and the epileptic, industrial schools, apprentices' lodging-houses, city and harbor missions, penal institutions, and institutes for the cure of alcoholism. (THEODOR SCHÄFER.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: I. J. B. Lightfoot, Commentary on Philippians, pp. 179 sqq., London, 1878; E. Hatch, Organization of the Early Christian Church, pp. 26 sqq.. Oxford, 1888 (the preceding are the two authoritative discussions); R. Sohm, Kirchenrecht, Leipsic, 1892; F. J. A. Hort, Christian Ecclesia, London, 1897; A. C. McGiffert, Apostolic Age, pp. 76-77, 667 sqq., New York, 1897; T. M. Lindsay, Church and the Ministry in the Early Centuries, pp. 154-155, 194-195, London, 1902; W. Lowrie, The Church and its Organization, pp. 370-383, ib. 1905; Schaff, Christian Church, i. 59 sqq.; A. Harnack, in TU, ii. 5, pp. 57-103, 1886; DB, i. 574–575; EB, i. 1038-40; and the various treatises on the Didache (q.v.).

II. and III. J. N. Seidl, Der Diaconat in der katholischen Kirche, Regensburg, 1884; A. J. Binterim, Denkwürdigkeiten, i. 335-386, Mainz, 1825; J. C. W. Augusti, Denkwürdigkeiten, xi. 194 sqq., Leipsic, 1830; Bingham, Origines, book ii., chap. 20; DCA, i. 526–533; KL, iii. 16601674; and for modern practise, the Book of Discipline of the various denominations.

IV. Important sources of knowledge are the Monatsschrift für Diakonie und Innere Mission, and Monatsschrift für Innere Mission; also Aktenstücke aus der Verwaltung des evangelischen Oberkirchenraths, vols. iii.-iv., Berlin, 1856-57 (contain accounts of Fliedner, Wichern, Jakobi, and others prominent in the movement). Consult: P. Schaff, Germany, its Universities, Theology and Religion, chap. xxxviii., Philadelphia, 1857; J. Wichern, Das Rauhe Haus und die Arbeitsfelder der Brüder des Rauhen Hauses, 1833-83, Hamburg, 1883; idem, J. H. Wichern und die Brüderschaft des Rauhen Hauses, ib. 1892; G. Uhlhorn, Die christliche Liebesthätigkeit, iii. 347 sqq., 365 sqq., Stuttgart, 1890.

66

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. diakonissa; Lat. diaconissa, diacona), does not occur till a later period. Phoebe was a deaconess in the church of Cenchrea, the masculine form, diakonos, 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 modern sense. Nevertheless, Paul's mode of referring to Phoebe 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 themselves to Christian service at times of baptism, visit the parts of the houses set aside for females, and perform other duties. While Phoebe 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.

II. In the Patristic Age: The earliest reference in the subapostolic age to women functionaries in the Church 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

1. Deacon- literature of the second and third cenesses and turies are very rare before the AposWidows. tolic Constitutions, which contain frequent references to both the widows and deaconesses and directions for their work and induction into office. When the Apostolic Constitutions were written the widows and deaconesses were distinct bodies (ii. 26; ANF, vii. 410), and the widows occupied a position inferior to the deaconesses and are enjoined to be in subjection to them (iii. 7). Different rules are given for the consecration of each (vii. 19, 25). On the one hand, it is not clear that in the second century this distinction 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 deaconesses remained. The Council of Nicea (325) speaks only of " deaconesses." The Council of Orléans (533) speaks of the I widows who are called deaconesses."

In the literature of the second century, with the exception of the passage in Pliny, there is no ref

Wesleyan Deaconesses (§ 3).

c. Scotland.

d. America.

The Lutherans (§ 1).

The Protestant Episcopal Church

(§ 2).

The Methodists (§ 3).
Other Denominations (§ 4).

erence to the deaconess by name and no distinct reference to any class but the widows. When Tertullian, at the beginning of the third century, speaks of virgins" and distinguishes them from the "widows (De virginibus velandis, 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 Symrna (xiii.; cf. Lightfoot, ii. 322 sqq.) speaks of "virgins who are called widows," and Polycarp in his letter to the Philippians (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 (Hom., xi. 36, Recognitiones, xv.) and Tertullian refer to them repeatedly. Lucian in his "Death of Peregrinus " also speaks of aged widows 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 dependent upon the support of the Church (Eusebius, Hist. 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 composition of the Apostolic Constitutions. The term widow seems to have been dropped. On the other hand, the deaconess comes into prominence and is mentioned in the conciliar decisions of the East and the West and in the legislation of Justinian (Novellæ, vi. 6, cxxiii. 30; cf. G. Pfannmüller, Die kirchliche Gesetzgebung Justinians, 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 Church, and Jerome in commenting upon Rom. xvi. 1 and I Tim. iii. 11 (the quotations are given by Uhlhorn, 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 have been deaconesses in Gaul as late as the sixth century, as attested by the Second Council of Oriéans in 533. An inscription at Ticinum, dated 539, bears the name of the " deaconess (diaconissa) Theodora " (Uhlhorn, p. 409). Deaconesses continued in the Eastern Church down to the eighth century. The terms "deaconess" and "archdeaconess " were used as designations of the officers in convents and they are still found in the twelfth century at Constantinople aiding in the communion.

The reason why the orders of widows and deacon

esses 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 heretics, 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 besetting such women. Rules were required distinctly forbidding clerics of the lower orders to visit widows and deaconesses without special permission from the bishop or priest and then not without an attendant (Synod of Hippo, 393; cf. Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, ii. 58). Still other reasons 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 Constitutions, iii. 1). Tertullian (De virginibus velandis, 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 (Novella, cxxiii. 13) likewise prescribed the age of forty. In case a deaconess married, both she and her husband were to be anathematized. According 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 (Pfannmüller, ut sup., p. 72). Olympias (d. 420), the deaconess of Constantinople praised by Chrysostom and to whom he addressed seventeen letters, became a widow at eighteen and seems to have immediately entered upon diaconal functions.

The statement of the Apostolic Constitutions (iii. 15) is regulative of the functions of these women: "A deaconess is to be ordained for the ministrations 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 instructed 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 custom 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 unwillingness to allow to women even the appearance of performing clerical services. Tertullian (De baptismo, xvii.) allowed laymen to baptize, but expressly 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 forbid them to teach and baptize or in any wise perform 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 Constitutions, ii. 57).

Roman Catholic scholars in interpreting the patristic statements on the induction of the deaconess into office deny that there was any rite of ordination. This interpretation has plainly in its favor the nineteenth canon of the Council of Nicæa (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 presbutides and prokathēmenai, that is, female presbytids (not presbyters; cf. Epiphanius, lxxix.) 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 imposition 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 deaconesses (Apostolic Constitutions, viii. 19). The code of Justinian treats of their ordination (cf. Pfannmüller, ut sup., p. 72). The form of prayer used on such occasions is given in the Apostolic Constitutions (viii. 20). The Synod 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 Burgundy. Similarly the Second Synod of Orléans 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. Döllinger, i. 186, 203, and elsewhere).

III. 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 Amsterdam. One of the first acts of the Church of Wesel was to decide to employ women. After long delay the Synod of Middelburg in 1581 pronounced 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 required 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 conclusions drawn up by Thomas Cartwright (q.v.) and Walter Travers as the result of several confessions of Puritan ministers in 1575 contained a clause

touching deacons of both sorts, namely men and women." Both were to be chosen by the congregation 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 disturbing the congregation. She did frequently 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 Pilgrim Fathers, Boston, 1841, pp. 445-446). Early American Congregationalism recognized the office and ordered the ancient widows (where they may be had) to minister 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 custom of appointing deaconesses to serve among the sick and poor and do other Christian and charitable work.

2. The Nineteenth Century: No more important feature characterizes the recent history of Protestantism 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 recognition to the vocation of the congregational deaconess in one form or another, without, however, 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 their office by the individual congregation.

a. Germany: The organization and official training of women for Christian work in the Protestant 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 institution was founded in 1836 at Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, near Düsseldorf. Fliedner was not moved

in the first instance by the pious idea 1. Origin. of reviving the apostolic order of Theodor female helpers, although he believed Fliedner. it 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 feeling found expression in a pamphlet published by Pastor Klönne of Bislich near Wesel in 1820, entitled "The Revival of the Deaconesses of the Ancient Church in our Ladies Societies." In 1835 the pious Count Adalbert von der Recke-Volmerstein began 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 embodiment to this feeling. Before 1836, on his visits to Holland in 1823 and 1832, he was struck with the employment of deaconesses among the Mennonites. They were appointed by the official boards of the churches and did their work without remuneration. In his description of his experiences in Holland he wrote: "This praiseworthy early Christian institution of deaconesses should be revived by other Protestant communions." He was also struck, on his visit in England 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 constitution for 'the Order of Deaconesses for the Rhenish Provinces," which was signed in the house of Count Stolberg at Düsseldorf, 1836. In October of the same year the first deaconess, Gertrud Reichard, entered the Institute. Two years later it sent the first deaconesses to the city hospital of Elberfeld.

2. The Kaisers

stitute.

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 fundamental conditions of admission are Christian character and a strong constitution. Other rules are that candiwerth In- dates must be of suitable age, must be unmarried or widows, and must consecrate 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 uniform, dress. The internal organization of the houses comprises as a rule a clergyman 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 course of training in Biblical knowledge. At the close of the term of preparation the deaconesses are consecrated by a fitting ritual and with the laying on

of hands, and promise obedience and fidelity in their work.*

The Kaiserswerth Institute supplies not only many hospitals, orphanages, and other establishments in Germany with deaconesses, but has under its control hospitals in foreign lands, e.g., in Jerusalem (founded 1851), Constantinople 3. Other (1852), Smyrna (1853), Alexandria Institu- (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, Bohemia, Hungary, Holland, France, England, Scandi

* More detailed information is given in the article Diakonen- und Diakonissenhäuser by Theodor Schäfer in the Hauck-Herzog RE as follows:

The

The conditions for admission are the same to the minutest degree for all establishments, and an extract from those of the house at Altona may serve as an example. future deaconess must be of unblemished reputation, and is 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 recognized that women of slight physical constitution have shown themselves capable of excellent service in charitable work. Eighteen and thirtysix 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 documents to be submitted in applying for admission comprise a short autobiography of some minuteness, evidence of permission 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, professors and teachers, merchants, and landed proprietors.

Successful applicants are retained conditionally for a few weeks, after which they enter upon a year of actual probation. 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 elementary 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 instruction in the theory and history of charitable work, while the religious factor proper is supplied by a study of Bible history and geography, church history, the catechism, and the liturgy.

After the completion of the probationary year the candidate 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 obedience, faithfulness, 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 sisterhood may make for her services. Marriage is not allowed 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 twentyseven. Among the earlier ones were the home in Paris (1841), St. Loup near Lausanne (1841), Strasburg (1842), Dresden and Utrecht (1844), Bern, and Bethany in Berlin (1845), Stockholm (1849), Riehen near Basel (1852), Stuttgart (1854), St. Petersburg (1859), Copenhagen (1863). In 1904 there were in Germany forty-six institutions connected with the Kaiserswerth mother house. The yearly expenditure of the mother house averages 700,000 marks. A triennial conference of homes has been instituted. Many institutions have become 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 seventyfive 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 Elizabeth 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 Wilhelm Löhe (1854); Stuttgart (1865); Altona (1867); etc. The Moravians established one at Niesky in 1842. The Methodists of Germany agitated 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), Hamburg (1888), Strasburg (1889), Elberfeld (1890), Stuttgart (1896), and Carlsruhe (1900). The German Baptists have the deaconesses' home, Bethel, in Berlin (1887).

b. England: The influence of Kaiserswerth upon the Protestant Churches of England and Scotland resulted in a general discussion of the subject of deaconesses and in the establishment of deaconesses' institutions. With Elizabeth Fry and Florence 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 Nightingale went through a thorough course 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 four deaconesses to the German hospital in London.

A new development was furnished in the sisterhoods 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 before. The first Protestant sisterhood was established or consecrated by Dr. Pusey in 1847 in Park Village near London. The same year