Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-03
THE MODERN WOMAN.
XXXIII-WOMEN AND RELIGION.
Bv Frederic ]. Haskin.

American women have been most active
IN the foreign mission field. carving the
Christian religion to every land which
would receive them. The laws of many
countries prohibited women from receiv-
ing instruction from man, but the wom-
an missionary would be received and
welcomed. Mary Lyon. the founder of
Mount Holyoke Seminary. was one OF
the leaders in religious missionary zeal.
For years not a class graduated from her
seminary which did not include one or
more missionaries ready for the field. and
it is said that during the first six years
OF her presidency not pupil left the
school without a firm religious faith.
The order OF deaconesses. which now
exists in number of the Protestant
churches. is a revival of theearlier church
custom. which had fallen into disuse for
centuries. The first of the modern dea-
coness houses was founded at Kaiser
Werth. Germany, in 1886 by Pastor Theo-
core Fliedner of the United Evangelical
church The diocesan deaconess institu-
ton was established in London in 1851.
as part of the Church of England. and
the Church of Scotland adopted the office
of deaconess in 1SS7-SS In the Reformed
churches throughout Europe there are a
number of orders of deaconesses whose
work consists chiefly in nursing the sick
and relieving the wants of the poor
:" -N"iciiAd tuS III 81 SlSlGTHOOu Was III
the parish of the Holy Communion of
New York. 1t
rIIst olSternOOd was initiated in
in THE Co,,n+rv 1915 and fully es-
Al Anis country tablished in 1851
1t was authorized by Dr. Muhlenberg
and Bishop Potter. A deaconess sister
hood also was organized in Mobile in
1861 The canon providing for the regu-
lar establishment of the order of deacon
esses was passed for the Episcopal
churches in America in 1885, and build
lngs for deaconess training schools we're
begun in New York and Philadelphia in
1910 and 1901. The training includes So
ciai work, sick nursing. religious instruc-
ton and general efficiency work.
The Methodist Church authorized the
establishment Of the order in it's denomi-
nation in the General Conference of 1855,
and the first training school of that
church was the Elizabeth Gamble Dea-
coness Home opened in Cincinnati the
same year Most of the large cities now
have deaconess homes of several denomi-
nations. and the uniforms of the deacon
esses are recognized everywhere. Their
work includes everything calculated to
Improve unfortunate humanity.
In large cities the deaconesses are do
ing valiant work for the arrest Of the
social evil. Sometimes they visit police
stations. attend juvenile courts look after
hayward girls. nurse the sick poor con-
duct all kinds of educational classes, in
addition to acting as pastors assistants
ard attending to large amount of parish
visiting. Their work is now being CLASH
fled according to their separate callings.
There are nurse deaconesses, teacher dea-
conesses. missionary deaconesses and
deaconesses whose activities may include
these three and many other vocations.
There are thousands Of them in this
country now. and each year the training
schools are turning out hundreds of con-
secrated young women who will devote
their lives to the moral uplift of the
world.