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Spring 2005 Vol. 39, No. 1

Lutheran Deaconesses: Their Unique Ministries

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A PUBLICATION OF CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY, SEWARD, NEBRASKA

Lutheran Deaconesses: Their Unique Ministries

Spring 2005Vol. 39, No. 1

Reflections

Brian L. Friedrich, President

Editorials

Serving Christ by Serving Our Neighbor: Theological and Historical

Perspectives on Lutheran DeaconessesSara Bielby and Arthur A. Just, Jr.

Deaconesses: Engaging the Church in Diakonia

Kristin Wassilak

lcms Deaconesses: Who We Are, How to Become One, and How We Can

Enrich Your Congregation or Institution

Theresa List

Book Reviews

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Editor

Editorial Committee

Editorials

Book Reviews

Associate

Associate

Graphic Design

Managing Editor

CIRCULATION POLICYISSUES . . . in Christian Education (ISSN02780216) is published three times a year bythe faculty of Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska 68434. ISSUES is sent free to each church, school, districtand synodical office in The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod. Copies are also sent to high schools, collegesand universities affiliated with the Synod.Individuals wishing personal copies may obtain them as follows: Single copy @$2.00 each; Subscription @$6.00;10 or more copies mailed to the same address @$1.20 per copy. Call 800 535-5494 ext. 7276 or [email protected] are invited to reprint portions ofISSUES materials provided that the following credit line appears:

Reprinted from ISSUES in Christian Education, Volume 39, No. 1, Spring 2005, a publication of Concordia University,Seward, Nebraska.

Marvin Bergman, Ed.D., Ph.D.

Russ Moulds, Ph.D.

Rebecca Fisher, Ph.D.

Daniel Thurber, A.D.

Brian L. Friedrich, M.Div.

William R. Wolfram, M.F.A.

Marlene Block, B.A.

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reflectionsreflections

TYPEFACES USED IN THIS PERIODICALTitles set in 22 point Mrs. Eaves Roman (Imigree

of Sacramento). Tracking normal.Subheads set in 13/13 point Mrs. Eaves bold.By-lines and author information set in 13/13

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Layout, design and graphics by CONCORDesignof Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska.

Photography: Kira Baldinger

Brian L. Friedrich, Preside

When I thinkabout diakonia, I think about my Grandma Meyer.Could she have been a deaconess (diakonas)? Im not sure, but Iknow she taught me to serve and to listen to Jesus.

Grandma was one of five daughters born to Iowa farmers. Sheserved as she grew up. Grandma was 46 when Grandpa died, andshe served in keeping the farm and raising three teenage children.Grandma moved to town when her sons married. Then Grandmaserved her congregation and community.

Grandma Meyer taught me the work and joy of service. Grandmaservedlike Martha, I suppose.

Grandma also taught me to listen to Jesus. Grandma Meyertaught Sunday school for 21 years. With an eighth grade educa-tion, she was the best Sunday school teacher I knew. Even when wewere too old to be in Grandmas class, we went to Sunday schoolwith her during summer visits. She told Bible stories using flannel-graph figures. She could recite all six Chief Parts of Luthers SmallCatechism. She knew lots of Bible verses and hymns. She cleanedand washed and baked early in the day to have time for teachersmeetings, lesson preparation, and Ladies Aid. During many after-noons we found her in her rocking chair reading a well-worn Bible.

Grandma Meyer taught me the hope and salvation that comefrom Jesus. Grandma loved to listen to Jesuslike Mary, I suppose.

If Grandma had been born in another generation, with differ-

ent opportunities, might she have been a deaconess? I wonder.This edition ofIssues highlights opportunities for Lutheran dea-conesses to engage in the ministries of service and to listen to Jesuswithin and outside congregations. The ministry of a deaconess isthat of Martha and that of Mary. A deaconess is called to serve likeMartha in caring for the sick, the poor, the grieving, the hurting,and the dying. A deaconess is called to listen to Jesus like Mary inorder to tell the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.

The ministry of a deaconess is a vital extension of the pasto-ral office that encourages women to use the full array of gifts, tal-ents, and abilities God has given them as they live and breathethe Gospel as servants of Christ in the midst of his people (Bielby

and Just). Thus, it is our hope that this edition ofIssues will helpyou see that the opportunities for diakonia are limitless as Godspeople come to know that their Shepherd indeed loves and caresfor them (Wassilak). As we better understand howdiakonia is livedout through and by a deaconess in the life of a congregation andthe community she serves, it is our prayer that more women will beencouraged to respond to Gods call to serve in this essential min-istry of Christ to his Church (List) and be Marthas and Marys,engaged in diakonia now and for generations to come.

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editorials

What Do Deaconesses DoAnyway?

What do deaconesses do anyway? Thisis a question that I hear a lot these days as astudent in the deaconess program. Findingan adequate yet succinct answer, however, hasbeen harder than I expected. After all, whatdo deaconesses do?

During my journey through this program,I have had the opportunity to meet and learnfrom more deaconesses than I even knew existeda year ago. Some care for hospice patients,helping them die with dignity and love. Othersserve congregations as directors of caringministries, ministers of music, directors ofChristian education, or other congregationalpositions. Deaconesses serve as chaplains inhospitals or nursing homes. Some work fornon-profit organizations such as Habitat forHumanity. And the list goes on. Hearing oftheir ministries and the myriad of ways theyserve Gods people, one sees a common threadthat runs through each of their lives. TheLutheran Deaconess Association expresses it inits motto: Faith and Service in Christ.

This makes sense. The very word deaconesscomes from the Greek word, diakonia, which ismost often translated service. As implied bythe motto, however, the single word servicedoes not fully capture the entire concept ofdiakonia. After all, slaves serve, employees serve,military personnel serve. For some of these,their service is diakonia. For some it is not.

What makes the difference is the motivationbehind the service.Diakonia is not performed for fear of punish-

ment, hope of reward, or honor and country.Diakonia is service gladly given in thanksgivingfor all that has been received from God. Diakoniais imitating Christ who said, ... the Son ofMan did not come to be served (diakonathanai),but to serve (diakonasai), and to give his life as aransom for many (Matthew 20:26-28).

Just before he gave his life as a ransom forus, he demonstrated how we are to serve oneanother when he took the position of thelowest slave in the household and washed hisdisciples feet. This act, the washing of feet,has become for the deaconess communitythe symbol of diakonia. It exemplifies theduty of all Christiansservice to others inChrists name.

But if, as a Christian, I am already supposedto serve in such a manner, what is the point ofbecoming a deaconess? Why not just remain as Iam and continue to serve as I do? This same lineof reasoning could be used regarding pastors. Ifthe whole body of Christ is called to proclaimthe Gospel, what is the point of having pastors?

Yet we know that the church throughout theages has set apart certain people, called by theHoly Spirit, to publicly proclaim the Gospelon behalf of the church. Deaconesses, likewise,

are individuals called by the Holy Spirit and setapart by the church to do the work ofdiakoniapublicly on its behalf. They are signs to the

world that one of the valuable functions of thechurch is service in Christs name.Some have asked, Might the presence

of deaconesses in the church offer fellowChristians an excuse to shirk their own call todiakonia? Might the impression be given thatdeaconesses are the only ones who can andshould do diakonia? One of my instructors,E. Louis Williams, executive director of theLutheran Deaconess Association, respondedto my musing on these questions by stating, Ibelieve that the reason the diaconate exists isultimately to help the whole church be morediaconal. So, deaconesses dont just do diakonia,they help others do it, too. But how?

That brings us back to our original ques-

tion, What do deaconesses do anyway? Theshort answer is, they serve. But in reality thereis more to it than that. Deaconesses serve inChrists name and on behalf of his church.They dedicate their whole lives to Faith andService in Christ and help others to do thesame. And each one does this in her own uniqueand gifted way.

In the end, maybe the best way to find outwhat a deaconess does is ask one. She can sharewith you how she answers the call to diakoniathrough her life and work. She can help youconsider how your own service is or can bediakonia. Then, together you can marvel at theamazing ways God uses each one of us to serve

both the church and the world. Faith andService in Christ. Diakonia. Thats what thechurch does. Thats what deaconesses do.

Sonja BaumeisterDeaconess Student (Plan 4)

Lutheran Deaconess AssociationValparaiso, Indiana

Seward, [email protected]

Why the Church NeedsDeaconesses

If I remember correctly, my first contact

with a deaconess in the Synod was in Sidney,Montana, in the summer of 1952. Since thenI have had numerous contacts with deacon-esses in the Synod. I have witnessed the loveand devotion to our Lord Jesus which thesededicated women have demonstrated. Theyhave followed in the footsteps of those dedi-cated women who are mentioned in the NewTestament and in early church history: Phoebe,a deaconess of the church at Cenchrea (Romans16:1, 2); Priscilla (v. 3); Mary (v. 6); Tryphenaand Tryphosa (v. 12) who served the saints.In a letter to the Emperor Trajan (112 a.d.),Pliny, Governor of Bithynia, mentioned that

he had to put to torture two Christian maidenswho were called deaconesses. Canon 19 of theCouncil of Nicea (325 a.d.) made referenceto Paulinian deaconesses, and Canon 15 of theCouncil of Chalcedon (451 a.d.) prohibitedplacing a woman into the order of deaconessesbefore the age of forty.

I am pleased to see the revival of the deaconalorder after years of decline in our Synod. Todaywe have a great need to increase the number ofdeaconesses serving our congregations and theSynod. One of the greatest needs is located inministry to families. Families, not only in ournation, but in the church, are in trouble. Thenational divorce rate is about 50 percent. Therate in the church is almost the same. Eightypercent of the divorces are initiated by females(Lutheran Education, Spring 2004, Vol. 139/No.3, pp. 191, 192). We need women trained in

marriage counseling who also have receivedtraining in biblical and systematic theologyto offer a ministry to strengthen marriage.Deaconesses need to be prepared for thisministry in the church.

As I visit congregations I also see anothergreat need for the ministry of deaconesses. Wehave very few single moms and their children inour churches. Today 1.3 million children areborn annually out of wedlock. The statisticalfigures for young women in the church are notsignificantly different from those outside thechurch. Additionally, today almost 40 percentof children live in a household without theirbiological father. Seventeen million childrenhave no father living with them at all. These

women express their concern by saying that noone who has tried to raise children alone has anyidea of what they are going through. Sendingtwo male elders or even a pastor to the homefor a visit will achieve little. Congregationsneed to become serious about their ministryto this group in our population. The ministryto these women and their children can best bedone by a woman, a deaconess.

Little is being done to assist parents in thetraining of their children in the faith at home.What is not done in the home cannot be doneby the church in its educational programs.Parents need to be assisted in this importantresponsibility by regular home visits. Again,much of this ministry can be done by trained

deaconesses.We are confronted with an aging population.

The percentage of our church members who areat retirement age or older is increasing. Peoplelive longer, and the result is that we have moremembers who are unable to attend worship atthe church, who need to be ministered to intheir homes through regular devotions and

visits by someone who cares. Deaconesses maywell be able to assist congregations in developingthis very much-needed ministry.

According to Holy Scripture, God cre-ated male and female in His own image. Thefemale is created to reflect the image of God

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in giving life and nurturing that life. The malereflects the image of God in protecting andsupporting the life which is given. Nurturing

is needed, not only at the beginning of life,but also at the end of life. It is my observationthat a woman does this far better than a man.There is a unique ministry for women in thechurch that needs to be more fully developed.Deaconesses also need to be trained in theologyin order to contribute to the needed ministryof the churches. With both of our seminariesoffering post-graduate programs in theologyfor our deaconesses, I am convinced that therenewal and revitalizing of this ministry inour Synod will bring blessings from our Lordfor His people.

The Rev. George F. WollenburgPresident, Montana District

The Lutheran ChurchMissouri [email protected]

The Distaff Side of PastoralCare: The Deaconess as

ChaplainFor a long time, a portion of the constitu-ency within The Lutheran ChurchMissouriSynod has been concerned that women studyingto be Lutheran deaconesses merely considertheir training to be a stepping stone into thepastoral ministry. Some worry that acceptanceof women as pastors may eventually spread into

the lcms. The fact that some rostered lcmsdeaconesses are serving the Church as chaplainsonly heightens those fears.

But there are good reasons we have deacon-esses as chaplains. First, we need them! Whileparish settings frame a structure for ministry thatworks in most circumstances, specialized pastoralcare (chaplaincy) provides the out of the boxopportunities for ministry in the institutionalsettings, such as nursing homes, hospitals, andrehabilitation centers, where traditional ministrymodels fall short. Deaconesses in complemen-tary ministry with pastors can serve side-by-sidein the struggle to help people in the most direof life-changing circumstances.

Seelsorge (the care of souls) is the essence of

Lutheran pastoral care. It focuses its attentionon faithful Jesus at the center of all the changesin a persons life in the ways that He promisesin Isaiah 43:2.

Since so much of pastoral care is adminis-tered via Word and Sacrament ministry, peoplemost often identify a chaplain with the personof a specially trained male pastor. Just thinkof the male images embodied in Jesus: Savior,Brother, Lord, King, Good Shepherd. As theunder shepherd, the male pastor is identified

with all of them.But there is a distaff side of Jesus that hasnt

been considered since the 12th century. It is

from these images that the deaconess/chaplaincomplements her male counterparts. In herbook, Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the

High Middle Ages, Caroline Walker Bynum remindsus of the image of the tender, compassionate,nurturing Jesus. Remember this passage?O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... how often I havelonged to gather your children together, as ahen gathers her chicks under her wings, but youwere not willing (Matthew 23:37). Bynum says,Medieval images of the maternal also stressedmother-love as instinctive and fundamental;the mother is tender and loving, sometimesdying to give the child life; she tempts or dis-ciplines only with the welfare of the child inmind (p. 133). Might and tenderness; maleand female images. There is both room andneed for each.

The titles of Pastor and Deaconess are

ecclesiastical designations that help to definedistinct roles in congregational settings. But thetitle chaplain, earned through academic andclinical training, culminating in professionalendorsement, means something different inthe organizational structure of institutions,such as hospitals and nursing homes. Thoughthey are part of the patients care team, PastoralCare is the only department not directly con-nected to the medical community, either bytheir credentialing or job description.

Institutional chaplaincy is the great equalizer.In their presence and contributions, chaplainsare a visible reminder to the number crunchersand managerial offices that care of people is

their raison dtrea demonstrated reflection ofthe love Christ offers to us.

The deaconess/chaplain serves in a comple-mentary role with her male counterparts insome distinctive ways. The bond of a deacon-ess/chaplain with her female patients/residentsis crucial when addressing the sensitive issuesinvolving life-changing or disfiguring femalesurgeries (such as mastectomies and hysterecto-mies), and the impact the death of children hason them as a result of miscarriage, childhooddisease, or motor vehicle accidents.

A womans emotions and tears are acceptedby most of society. Affirmation of male fearby the deaconess/chaplain encourages male

patients to release their deepest emotions. Amale veteran, fraught with survivor guilt, willdisclose to the deaconess/chaplain the remorsehe has for living when so many of his war bud-dies died and release burdens that may havebeen carried in private for over 60 years. Asurgical patient, without his family around, willreveal, in the presence of a deaconess/chaplain,his tears during pre-surgery visits. The visit iscathartic. Through pre-surgery prayer, anxietyis lessened, the patient sleeps relaxed, and abody, now better prepared both mentally andemotionally, offers the prospects for a positiveoutcome post-op.

For women with special gifts, the deaconessas chaplain offers opportunities to bring Jesusdistaff side to pastoral care. And in the effort to

meet a diversity of needs in 21st century health-care, sometimes the deaconess as chaplain maybe just exactly what The Doctor ordered.

Margaret AndersonDeaconess and Staff Chaplain

Eben Ezer Lutheran Care CenterBrush, Colorado

[email protected]

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Lutheran deaconesses serve Christ by serv-ing their neighbor. They receive their officeof service from the very person of Jesus him-self who came not to be served but to serve,and to give his life as a ransom for many(Matthew 20:28). Jesus tells his disciples thatI am among you as the one who serves (Luke22:27). All Christians are called to this service,but deaconesses embody this life ofdiakonia ascalled laborers in Christs church to demon-

strate in their lives and actions the mercy and

compassion of Christ. The motto of Lutherandeaconesses says it best: What is my want? Iwant to serve. Whom do I want to serve? TheLord in His suffering ones and his poor.1

As directors of the deaconess program at

Concordia Theological Seminary in FortWayne, Indiana, we are overwhelmed by ourchurchs positive response to the service ofwomen in the church. In a church body thatdoes not ordain women, deaconesses pro-vide women with an opportunity to serve inthe church that reflects who they are as women.A deaconess brings a uniquely feminine care,perceiving need and responding with gentlehelpfulness, expressing the compassion ofChrist in a tender, nurturing way. She servesby using her skills and theological trainingto embody Christs incarnational care in themidst of suffering. A deaconess serves along-side a pastor, attending to those in need anddwelling with them. She points them to thepastor and the means of grace where Christcomes to them in his body to join them tohimself for eternity.

Congregations that are served by male pas-tors are able to care for the needs of Godspeople in an essentially masculine way. Withoutthe presence of women serving as deaconesses

alongside the pastors, a feminine care is oftenabsent from a congregations service to hermembers. Just as a family needs both a fatherand mother to nurture and teach the children,so also will congregations be blessed by havinga pastor and a deaconess serving together, rep-resenting the care that is uniquely characteristicof both their offices and their genders. It is thisrelationship that is modeled by the presence ofboth a pastor and a deaconess on the staff ofour program at Fort Wayne.

Through the deaconess programs in our

church we are now able to offer women a rigor-ous program of theological study. This pro-vides them with the foundation for the chari-table life as they live and breathe the Gospel asservants of Christ in the midst of his people.Our seminary at Fort Wayne was founded in1846 to share the Gospel of Christ as bibli-cally and historically confessed by the LutheranChurch. One of its founders, Pastor WilhelmLoehe of Neuendettelsau, Germany, was com-mitted to the training of deaconesses for service

Sara Bielby and Arthur A. Just, Jr.

Serving Christ by ServingOur Neighbor: Theologicaland Historical Perspectiveson Lutheran Deaconesses

Sara Bielby is Assistant Directorof the Deaconess Programat Concordia TheologicalSeminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.She is serving her deaconessinternship at the seminary andalso at St. John Lutheran Churchin Monroeville, Indiana.([email protected])

Dr. Arthur A. Just, Jr., isProfessor of ExegeticalTheology at ConcordiaTheological Seminary, FortWayne, Indiana. He also servesas Dean of the Chapel, Directorof Deaconess Studies, and Co-Director of the Good ShepherdInstitute of Pastoral Theologyand Sacred Music.([email protected])SP

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in the church through acts of mercy and char-ity. When the seminary began its DeaconessProgram in the fall of 2003, it continued to bepart of a great tradition of Lutheran deacon-esses begun by Pastor Loehe.

The Mercy of JesusThe TheologicalFoundation for the Office of Deaconess

Even though it is not possible to estab-lish the office of deaconess from the NewTestament, the theological rationale and foun-dation for the office is clearly affirmed in theperson and work of Jesus and in the teachingof St. Paul. For both Jesus and Paul the Gospelmust be embodied, that is, the love of Godthat entered our world in his only Son con-tinues now through us by the Spirit of the Sonwho comes to us in the waters of our baptism(Galatians 4:35). Christ by his Spirit bringsus into communion with him and his life thatknows no end. His life is now our life. He livesthrough us, and his love continues in the worldthrough usthrough our mouths and hands(Galatians 2:2021).

Our life in Christ is founded on thisremarkable realitythat in this present evilage, Christ dwells among us as Emmanuel,and has rescued us by giving himself up for

our sins (Galatians 1:4). Our sins are evi-dence that this world has been infected with avirus from which we cannot escape. Things arevery wrong. Everyone can see it, especially inthose people who suffer physical, emotional,and spiritual pain from the consequences ofsinthose broken by violence and tragedy, bysickness and deaththe very ones deaconessesare called to serve. Only God is able to makeright what has gone wrong in this world. Hedoes this by sending his Son from heaven intoour world to show us his mercy through mir-

acles of healing the sick and raising the dead.The ultimate miracle that healed the wholecreation was that he loved us so much thathe was willing to bear all our burdens, evento the point of death, a death through whichhe brings in the new creation. When he rosefrom the dead on the third day, he showedus what we will one day become and alreadyare nowbodies washed clean and made holy,healed eternally from sins dread disease. InJesus resurrected body we see ourselves, Jesus IS

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in us and we in him. Heaven and earth areembodied in Jesus and now in us. His mercyfor a fallen creation is now present in the cre-ation through our acts of mercy as we bearwitness to him in all we say and do.

It is the mercy of Jesus Christ that is at theheart of the theological foundation for therole of the deaconess. Jesus calls us to a lifeof charity when he tells us to Be merciful,even as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:36).In the early church, the office of deacon-ess existed as a vocation for women in conse-crated service of Christ and His church, pro-viding acts of mercy through various tasks thatserved the most needy in the churchs midst.They served Christ by serving the least of

these my brethren (Matthew 25:40), pro-viding the hungry with food, the thirsty withdrink, welcoming strangers into the commu-nity of saints, clothing the naked, and visitingthe sick and those who are in prison (Matthew25:3536). Be merciful, even as your Fatheris merciful echoes the Old Testament creedaldescription of God as gracious and merci-ful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfastlove (Psalm 103:8). Still today this theologi-cal foundation has not changed. Deaconessescontinue to carry out the mercy which God in

Christ shows to us.

The Service of Women to Jesus

Many people are unaware that it was only theloving service and financial means of womenon behalf of Jesus and the apostles that enabledhim to engage in a three-year ministry of teach-ing and performing miracles. Luke reports thenews that some women put forth their posses-sions and their time in caring for Jesus andthe Twelve (were serving themLuke 8:3).

Thus they helped make it possible by provid-ing the human care necessary for Jesus to travelabout with his disciples, who themselves servedthrough the Word and healing they brought.Those named in Luke 8 appeared again promi-nently as witnesses of Jesus death and resurrec-tion. They watched the crucifixion from a dis-tance as they mourned for their Lord (23:49);they came to the tomb early in the morning tofinish anointing his body (23:5556a); theywere the first witnesses of the resurrection andS

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the first evangelists as they reported the pas-sion and resurrection facts to the eleven apos-tles (24:1-12). These women who were withJesus since early in his ministry and throughthe three days of his passion and resurrec-

tion became key members of the emerg-ing church in Acts (see Acts 1:14). They wereessential links in the chain of evidence forthe Christian claims about Jesus,2 helpingto transform the Eleven and others who wereeyewitnesses from the beginning into min-isters of the Word (Luke 1:2).

According to the theology of the cross (orthe Great Reversal), to serve is to be greatin Gods kingdom. Of the eight occurrencesofdiakonia, service, in Luke, the first three

involved women who served Jesus: Petersmother-in-law (4:39), these women (8:3),and Martha (10:40). In serving, they werefollowing Jesus own ministry as one of ser-vice; by becoming the least, they are amongthe greatest (Luke 22:2427). The womensservice to Jesus was of great import, particu-larly in the context of the attitude prevailingin Judaism of Jesus day regarding the exclu-sion of women in religious matters. In thekingdom he brings, the Spirit is poured outon his male servants and his female servants

alike (Acts 2:18). Whoever does the will ofGod, which is to believe in him, is his brotherand sister and mother, for they hear theword of God and do it (Luke 8:21).3

A Corporate Office of Mercy

The diaconal role of women is rightly iden-tified in the context of the life of the church.The churchs activities fall into three catego-ries. Leitourgia, or Divine service, is the foun-dational activity of the church where God is

serving us with his gifts of forgiveness, life,and salvation through the bodily presence ofChrist in Word and Sacrament. Marturia, orpublic witness, is our response to the gifts aswe confess to God and to the world that whichHe works in us, namely, our faith. Diakonia,or service, is Christ in us in the midst of theworld as we act out the love, mercy, grace, andcharity God gives to us in Christ amongst oneanother as he satisfies the needs of our neigh-bor through us.

These three activities take place in each oneof us as we are members in the Body of Christ.This incarnational reality of Gods presencein us is also true among us; thus these activi-ties are located corporately in the church.

Leitourgia takes place regularly in the publicworship service at font, pulpit, and altar, asChrist comes to us and as we come into com-munion with him. In the Divine Service we donot serve ourselves inwardly by turning in uponourselves, but rather Christ serves us throughthe office of the public ministry as the pastorstands in the stead and by the command ofChrist. Through the pastor Christ speaks HisWord and serves His Bride, the church, at Histable. Marturia occurs both as an act of wor-

ship, in the Creed of the church, in hymns andprayers, as well as proceeding from the churchinto the highways and byways as we bear witnessto the hope that is in us. Diakonia flows from thealtar where we are served, and takes place out-side the doors of the worship service, findingexpression wherever suffering and sin afflictand infect our lives.

While pastors carry on the work of the apos-tles among us, deacons and deaconesses areoffices created in Christian freedom to ensurethat this work of practical, human serving of

need is completed. It was in the midst of a par-ticular need that individuals were first conse-crated and set apart by the church to admin-ister its care. In Acts 6, the diaconal office isfirst seen when seven men were appointed toadminister the care of the physical need ofwidows. Those chosen were full of the Spiritand wisdom and given the responsibility ofacting on behalf of the church. The work theywere given was crucial and necessary to the exis-tence of the church as it lived out its daily life.

In the same way that justification and sanctifi-cation cannot be separated, faith must live byexpressing itself as love in action. Gods desireand will to extend compassion to both bodyand soul must be expressed corporately by thechurch. As the church grew, it continued toappoint and consecrate individuals for tasks onits behalf. One example is Phoebe, who met theneeds of the saints in the particular, locatedchurch at Cenchreae in a different waya needwhich was best met by a woman. IS

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PhoebeThe First Deaconess?

No one really knows for sure what Paulmeant when he referred to Phoebe as a dea-coness in his letter to the Roman Christians.

He calls her our sister Phoebe, a deacon-ess (diakonos) of the church at Cenchreae(Romans 16:1). Most scholars believe that whatwe today know as the office of deaconess didnot exist in the New Testament era, althoughPhoebes loving service became the founda-tion for the order of deaconesses in the earlychurch. St. John Chrysostom, a patron of dea-conesses, said this about Pauls reference toPhoebe: Note how many ways Paul dignifiesPhoebe. He mentions her before all the restand even calls her his sister. It is no small thing

to be called the sister of Paul! Moreover, he hasmentioned her rank as deaconess as well.4

Phoebe was a prostasis, or protectress,(Romans 16:2), indicating that she was aperson of means and influence in the com-munity which she could lend to saints, bothin the public forum and in her own home.She expressed the gift of hospitality, hostingapostles and saints who were about the minis-try of the Word in much the same manner asthe women in Luke did for Jesus. She prob-ably opened her home for the gathering of the

church, and was entrusted by Paul as an assisterand helper, traveling to deliver his letter to thechurch at Rome.

Regardless of the status of developmentof churchly offices in New Testament times,

Phoebe expressed the service that marks thediaconal office. She is an inspiration for allwomen who have chosen to serve their Lordas deaconesses. She served others, especiallythe apostles and saints, because her Lord firstserved her by giving up his life for her. Thename Phoebe comes from the word phoibe,which is translated radiant. Phoebes ser-vice is commended by Paul since she clearlycast a bright beam of light through her pres-ence in the church. The dormitory which

houses our deaconess students in Fort Wayneis named Phoebe House in honor of thewoman who served alongside St. Paul. Ourown Phoebe House stands as a beacon of mercyon our campus, radiant with opportunity forwomen to serve in our church.

A Brief HistoryBeyond the New Testament

The first secular mention of women min-istering to the church is found in the secondcentury in a letter of Pliny the Younger, a

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governor in the Roman Empire, toEmperor Trajan, requesting guidance inthe matter of persecution of the capturedChristians. He writes:

I judged it so much the more neces-sary to extract the real truth, with theassistance of torture, from two femaleslaves, who were styled deaconesses: butI could discover nothing more thandepraved and excessive superstition.5

This Roman governor testifies that very earlyon, women who received the gifts of Christ inthe churchs leitourgia shared both the activitiesofmarturia and diakonia in appointed roles ofservice on behalf of the church.

The roles of deacons and deaconesseswere not exactly parallel. Both deacons anddeaconesses were responsible for the careof individuals in need. From the begin-ning, however, deacons performed litur-gical duties and assisted in the public wor-ship. Deaconesses never performed litur-gical duties, but rather functioned as lead-ers and keepers among the women of theassembly, primarily as caretakers of thesuffering and the poor who were in needof human care. They also served as sup-

porters and advisors of women catechu-mens in applying the teaching of thebishop to matters of feminine propriety.They assisted in the baptism of women,visited the sick, took care of the believingwomen in the homes of unbelievers, andministered to those who were unable toworship with the faithful.

Formal affirmation of the role of the dea-coness is found in the Didascalia, dated inthe early to mid third century. The chapterentitled On the Institution of Deacons and

Deaconesses states:

The ministry of deaconesses is neces-sary for you for many reasons. The factis that deaconesses are necessary forthe houses of pagans where Christianwomen are also living. Deaconessescan go there and visit those who areill, serve them in whatever their needsmight be and bathe those who havebegun to recover from their illness ....

There should be enough so that everyone isknown and everyone succored. Thus, old womenwhose strength has declined and broth-ers and sisters who are ill should be ableto enjoy from the deacons the service theyproperly need.6

The stated purpose of the diaconal offices asinstituted in the early church is the same pur-pose of deaconesses today: to serve so thateveryone is known and everyone succored.Even the most marginal received honor andworth in Gods eyes, becoming known to thecommunity through deaconesses who embod-ied Christs mercy as they reached out to givehelp in time of need.

The third through the seventh centuries are

known as the Golden Age of Deaconesses.Deplorable social conditions, coupled withthe urgent response of the church to care forthose in need, caused the number and work ofdeaconesses to multiply. St. John Chrysostomboth appointed deaconesses and was assistedby them in his service to the saints. Perhapsthe most well known of the deaconesses of hisera was Olympias, a beautiful young widowof means who lived in Constantinople in thefourth century, where she built a hospital and

orphanage and devoted herself to serving thepoor and needy. Her noble character and ser-vant heart have been an inspiration to deacon-esses to this day.

The presence of deaconesses in the churchdeclined with the approach of the Middle Ages.This was largely due to the fact that the theo-logical foundation of incarnational care fromwhich deaconesses sprung gave way to asceti-cism, causing the feminine churchly vocationof service to decline and retreat into the clois-tered life. While the Reformation reclaimed

this theological foundation, it was not untilthe early 19th century that the deaconess voca-tion again experienced a resurgence in theLutheran church under the guidance andseparate efforts of both Wilhelm Loehe andTheodore Fliedner.

Both pastors Loehe and Fliedner wereinstrumental in the planting of deaconesses inthe United States. Such efforts were receivedand carried on by pastors in this country, lead-ing to the establishment of the first Missouri IS

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Synod Lutheran deaconess training school inFort Wayne during the early 1900s. Today,there are approximately one hundred deacon-esses in active service in the lcms who stand incontinuity with Phoebe, Olympias, and all dea-conesses who have served their Lord by servingtheir neighbor.

Standing alongside the pastor who dispensesChrists gifts as a steward of the mysteries, dea-conesses bind up the brokenhearted and thedistressed. They go out from the door of thechurch, and bring in Christs lost and brokenlambs into his sheepfold where the pastorfeeds these lambs by bringing them into com-munion with Christ as he comes to them inWord and Sacrament. Throughout our church

today, watch for deaconesses to declare humblythrough their diakonia: What is my want? I wantto serve. Whom do I want to serve? The Lordin His suffering ones and his poor.

Notes

This motto was created by Wilhelm Loehe forhis deaconesses in Germany.Johnson, L. T. The Gospel of Luke. Sacra

Pagina. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991,p. 383.These paragraphs on the ministry of womenwith Jesus are adapted from A. A. Just, Jr.,Concordia Commentary: Luke 1:19:50 and Luke

9:5124:53. (St. Louis: Concordia PublishingHouse) 1996 and 1997.Cited from J. Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans 30in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture:Romans, edited by G. Bray (Downers Grove,Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1998) 369.Weinrich, William. Readings in Early Church History.

CTS Press: Ft. Wayne, Indiana.Martimort, Aime Georges. Deaconesses: AnHistorical Study. Ignatius Press, San Francisco,1986, pp. 3839.

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Kristin Wassilak

Introduction

The mission of Christs Body is to proclaimthe Gospel in Word and provide the Gospelin Sacraments. But Christs Body doesnt stopthere. What follows is a corporate response ofthe Church to the Gospel: diakonia. The Churchcannot be the Church without diakonia.

Diakonia is mercy; diakonia is love directedtowards suffering and need.1 When Christs

Body shows mercy, it in fact serves Christ(Matthew 25:3146).

A founder of the modern deaconessmovement, Rev. Wilhelm Loehe,2 under-stood diaconal service as essential missionand ministry of the church, belonging toevery member and entrusted to somedea-cons [and deaconesses]on behalf of themany.3 The Church entrusts the diaconateto serve as a reminder for diakonia. The dia-conate places post-it notes on the Churchsmirror: Christ has shown you mercy! and

Dont tire of doing good! and Whateveryou have done to the least of these you havedone it to me!

Deaconesses serve where there is shame,hurt, pain, injustice, bigotry, violence, abusewherever people are on the margins. However,the diaconate has no corner on the market ofdiakonia. Instead, the diaconate keeps askingchurch leaders, How can we approach ______diaconally? Fill in the blank: music, youth,education, outreach, missions, assimilation,volunteer activities, etc. The diaconate also

encourages the laity to view their vocations asvehicles for diakonia.

Diaconal care comes full circle when itpoints the sufferer to the true Physician. Loehe

Deaconess Kristin Wassilak is

the Director of the Deaconess

Program, Concordia University,

River Forest.

([email protected])

Deaconesses: Engaging theChurch in Diakonia

recognized that diaconal care does not have asits primary goal that the misery of anothermay be alleviated, but that the soul receives theSpirit .... For this reason, Loehe could praisespiritual care as an important gift used by the

diaconate to bring souls who lived in miseryto the Gospel of Christ.4 The deaconess helpspeople with the cares of this world, but is alsohelping them to keep faith during periods ofstorm and trial.5

In her spiritual care, the deaconess remindssufferers of their baptism. She reminds suf-ferers that they have been cleansed at the altar.She applies properly distinguished Law andGospel to point them back towards the Sourceof their life. She supports the persistentlyburdened sufferer to make confession to thepastor in order to receive Holy Absolution(Gospel). She teaches Gods Word to pre-pare people for the difficult Christian life andto make ready their souls for eternal life withChrist. With the tender strength of a wom-ans touch, she brings a distinctively feminine,compassionate perspective.

Let us explore specific applications for thisdeaconess role in congregations, institutions,and missions. Both current and new oppor-tunities for deaconesses will be considered.

Engaging Congregations in Diakonia

Congregation leaders and pastors oftenask me, What can a deaconess do for us?In this specialized American culture, theyare usually looking for a job description.I do provide a list of duties. However, themost accurate response I can give is: the dea-coness will awaken your congregation to itsdiaconal work.

Since opportunities for diakonia are limit-less, the deaconess is not in danger of work-

ing herself out of a job. However, The dia-conate as [an establishment] should reallyexist only until the congregations are joinedin preaching and diakonia, as husband and wifeare joined,6 said Loehe. In the congregation,the heartbeat of this marriage would look likea steady, sinus rhythm of worship to works andback to worship again.

But, as Dr. Kenneth Korby commented,The lcms has arrhythmia of the heart.7 Wehave tended to focus on the life of the headS

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to the detriment of the life of the heart beat-ing in response to the Gospel. Other denom-inations suffer from a lack of blood flow tothe heart; those without a clear confession offaith have tended to focus on charitable works

and never point to Christ found only in Wordand Sacraments.

The deaconess functions like a pacemakerto help restore the churchs healthy, functionalrhythm. She educates them about the needsof the marginalized and miserable within andwithout the congregation. She adds to the lead-erships effectiveness as she collaborates withthe team to provide merciful responses appro-priate for their respective offices. While a dea-coness may do much hands-on care, she willnot be the exclusive congregational caregiver:Deaconesses are not substitutes for the laity,but she is a seedling of that plant of service,8said Korby.

Present Service of Deaconesses inCongregations

The household of faith (Galatians 6:10)is full of wandering sheep. The devil, like aroaring lion, is seeking sheep to devour(1 Peter 5:8). He would like nothing morethan to see a sheep beyond the flocks edge,

alone and vulnerable.We are that vulnerable sheep. Has your childdied? Is your marriage disintegrating? Doesdeath seem near? Have your parents abusedyou? Are you unemployed? Are you widowed?Do you struggle with mental illness? Do youhate someone? Does your addiction hauntyou? Is your debt crushing you? Are you havingan affair? Do you have a child with specialneeds? Are you caring for an elderly parent?The list is endless, isnt it? Satan would have usbelieve that we have a shoddy Shepherd who has

abandoned us.A deaconess responds to vulnerable people

with merciful and spiritual care, demonstrat-ing that their Shepherd indeed loves and caresfor them. Of course, no deaconess will haveexpertise in every misery or malady. However,she is able to identify and engage appropri-ate church and community resources to pro-vide assistance. She knows the limitations ofher abilities, so she builds collaborative rela-tionships with people and agencies to assist

congregants. She knows whom she can trust tocare appropriately. And she continues spiritualcare alongside the care provided from outsidethe church.

Unfortunately, despite the value ofdiako-

nia, only a few more than 100 deaconesses servein called positions in the lcms. About half ofthose serve congregations. That means roughlyone percent oflcms congregations have a dea-coness on staff. Although the numbers aresmall, the works are mighty. In the followingways, deaconesses do and aid diakonia and spiri-tual care in congregations: Assist pastor in visitation of the sick, elderly,

and infirm; Provide regular follow-up to members deal-

ing with long-term crises (disabilities, ill-ness, unemployment, etc.);

Provide spiritual care for women with specialneeds, such as domestic violence, pregnancy,perinatal loss, gynecological surgery, mas-tectomy, and post-abortion grief;

Follow up with members who have not beento worship, perhaps because of special needsor crises;

Teach Bible classes, confirmation, vbs, etc.,including a special emphasis on diakonia;

Teach developmentally disabled children

and adults; Develop Bible study and support groups forpeople with special needs;

Administrate the alms fund (a.k.a. GoodSamaritan Fund);

Administer the congregations food pantry/clothing bank;

Collaborate with the volunteer parishnurse(s);

Educate lay leaders to serve parishionersin crisis;

Coordinate the use of parishioners talents

to address human needs; Connect needy parishioners with the

resources of the community; Lead and facilitate Stephen Ministry; Serve as family life educators, preparing

families to deal with lifes challenges; Make the congregation aware of and enable

their response to human care needs in thecongregation, school, lcms, community,and world;

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to parishioners who are dealing with domes-tic violence, unplanned pregnancy, andaids, for example;

Organize opportunities for the youths dia-konia through servant events, mission trips,

fundraisers, and community service; Lead the congregation in caring for peoplewho are marginalized because they do notspeak English, such as the deaf, refugees, legaland illegal immigrants, and displaced families;

Lead the congregation and school in form-ing a crisis response plan.

As is common with other church professions,deaconesses serve in other areas according totheir talents, education, and abilities. Theseareas include music, administration, evange-lism, youth, nursing, and education.

Future Opportunities for Deacon-esses in Congregations

At a conference three years ago, I wasintroduced to Lyle Schaller, prolific author,church consultant, and observer of Americanchurches. Upon learning of my vocation, hebecame very excited that deaconesses were aliveand well in the lcms. He inquired about theway the lcms utilizes deaconesses and thenasked, How many deaconesses are in your

schools? I was taken aback; I didnt under-stand what he could mean. What might thatlook life?

Lutheran schools provide access to the livesand needs of parishioners, Christians andnon-Christians whose children attend theschool. Access to school families in crisis pro-vides the opportunity for diaconal care. Aschool deaconess may serve as a resource toteachers for diaconal opportunities. She mayalso care for the teachers and staff, uphold-ing and encouraging them in their service. In

almost 20 years of church work, I have heardmany teachers express frustration over timelimitations preventing their care for troubledstudents and their families. A school deaconesscould assist. It is also common to hear schoolstaffs lament the fissure between their churchand school. A school deaconess could helpbridge that gap.

Another ministry opportunity is outreach toresidents of secular institutions in the vicin-ity such as nursing homes, jails/prisons, retire-

ment communities, adult day care, hospice,and developmentally disabled group homes.While federal standards require access for resi-dents to spiritual care, many smaller institu-tions cannot fund it. A deaconess can assist the

congregation to bridge this gap between churchand world.

A deaconess may also enable these creativeapproaches to diaconal care: Extend diaconal care during conflict;

encourage reconciliation as merciful con-duct flowing from the mercy shown us byChrist; educate the congregation in biblicalpeacemaking; mediate conflicts;

Establish needed community services atthe church: Christian counseling, supportgroups, pantries, child care, adult day care,

shelters, affordable housing; Expand the churchs care for girls andwomen in areas such as abstinence educa-tion, mentoring, dating, domestic violence,post-abortion grief, pregnancy loss, rape,and gynecological needs;

Establish Spanish-speaking spiritual andhuman care (fluency in Spanish is attain-able through inexpensive immersion edu-cation in Central and South Americacon-gregations may send their deaconess foras long as eight weeks of instruction for as

little as $2500); Connect congregations with similar needs

by engaging a deaconess to do visitations orother tasks for two or more congregations.

Overall, the deaconess approaches every taskas a diaconal opportunity. Even during aperiod when few deaconesses served congre-gations, Loehe referred to the parish deacon-ess as the quintessential expression of the dia-conate because she expresses mercy not onlyto a certain category of person, but to everyneed, every age, and every socio-economic

status. In contrast, institutional service ofdeaconesses tends to be focused, intense,well-defined work among the least of these(Matthew 25:40).

Engaging Institutions in Diakonia

When Lutheran agencieswere established,there was a clear connection between churchand agency, between proclaiming the Word andworship and diakonia. The agencies were a majorcomponent of the churchs life of care. In fact,S

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by 1900, hundreds of American church-runinstitutions were administered and staffed bypastors, deaconesses, and active laity.

Todays situation is radically different.Rev. Matthew Harrison, Executive Director

for lcms World Relief and Human Care,explains: The ceos of Lutheran institu-tions who have had theological training or areordained are disappearing. The clergy withcredentials for chaplaincy are both decliningin number and aging.9 Many times, agen-cies are connected to the denomination inname only or by a percentage of representa-tion on their board of directors. Many do nothave significant numbers of Lutheran staff,counselors, or social workers. Institutionsalso struggle to maintain uniquely Lutheranspiritual and diaconal care in the face of gov-ernmental regulations, declining congrega-tional support, and increasing populations ofresidents or clients that are not Lutheran orChristian. Mercy for the body is increasinglydivorced from mercy for the soul.

The church has a window of opportunity torenew and reclaim relationships with its agen-cies, to reconnect the Church with her care.Deaconesses can be key players in this effort.

Present Service of Deaconessesin Agencies

Approximately one-half oflcms deacon-esses work in called ministries apart from con-gregations. The work tends to be specializedand often depends on the deaconess havingadditional education or certification. Duringthe last 15 years, lcms deaconesses have beeninvolved in the following ministries: Spiritual caregiving at residential facilities

for emotionally disabled children and youth,and for persons developmentally disabled;

Parish ministry consultations: deployed stafffrom Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services;

Group home administration for personsdevelopmentally disabled;

Non-ordained chaplaincy in hospitals,nursing homes, hospice, aids care;

Outdoor ministry and program directors; Girls residence hall directors, college and

high school; Campus ministry; Community outreach for Lutheran agencies; IS

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Lutheran nursing home administration; Lutheran social work; Writers and editors for the Church; Education: school teachers, principals, cur-

riculum development, program directors; lcms District staff; lcms Districts outreaches to the deaf, older

adults, the imprisoned.Sadly, almost every deaconess employed by anlcms district has been released due to fundingcuts in the last five years. While this has been anexcruciatingly painful step for District boards,the decisions communicate diminished priori-ties for fundingdiakonia. What may the futurehold, despite funding challenges?

Future Opportunities

for Deaconesses in AgenciesAlthough the need for deaconesses is aslimitless as the needs of people, we can head ina few directions for future service.

First, congregations can band together toprovide funding and accountability for a dea-coness to serve in a local agency that may ormay not be Lutheran. An excellent example ofhow congregations can work together is TheFederation of Lutheran Churches in greaterCincinnati, Ohio. These 21 lcms churcheshave worked cooperatively for 80 years to fund

an ordained chaplain and two deaconesses inCincinnatis secular institutions. This templatewould be applicable for diakonia and spiritualcare in local nursing homes, prisons, hospices,and shelters.

Second, our communities need what thechurchs diaconal and spiritual care can offerthem. For instance, some shelters for batteredwomen and crisis pregnancy centers would liketo connect with their local congregations. Theycan benefit from a deaconess providing carefor victims wrestling with guilt and shame who

are facing overwhelming choices. A deaconesscan provide a bridge to the sacramental min-istry of the congregation and pastor, workingtogether towards a womans eternal salvationand healing.

Third, deaconesses can infiltrate moreLutheran agencies. The lcmss recognizedinstitutions make up roughly one-third ofLutheran Services of American [sic], recentlyrecognized by The Not-for-Profit Times as the larg-est not-for-profit umbrella in America, withS

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do not desire specialists in the church, whichfits well with the generalist approach for dia-conal care by a deaconess.

Present Service of Deaconesses

in MissionsGod has blessed deaconesses with hearts bur-dened for reaching the lost. During the last15 years, deaconesses have served in domes-tic missions involving international students,deaf ministry, Jewish evangelism, and workamong peoples speaking Japanese and Spanish.Spanish-speaking Americans and immigrantssurround our congregations in urban andrural areas. Many are separated from theirreligious ties and are ripe for harvest (John4:35). We rejoice that the Hispanic Institute

of Theology, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis,prepares Spanish-speaking women as commis-sioned lcms deaconesses. Christ is also servedthrough the many Anglo deaconesses who havebecome fluent in Spanish during their educa-tion or foreign internships.

As the Lord brings a flood of many ethnic-ities to our doorstep, Concordia SeminarysEthnic Immigrant Institute of Theology pre-pares pastors and, soon, deaconesses, for ser-vice principally within their cultural contextsin the u.s.

During the last 15 years, deaconessesand deaconess interns in foreign landshave worked in China, England, Germany,Guatemala, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, andVenezuela. Deaconesses have cared for thepoor and disenfranchised, former prosti-tutes, homeless, immigrants, orphans, dis-placed persons, and those with extremecrises of body and soul. Through teachingGods Word and the catechism, the Spirit hasbrought many to faith.

Some deaconesses have had the honor to

help prepare other women for deaconess ser-vice. It is thrilling to see women of our part-ner Lutheran churches entering into deaconessprograms in countries such as Ghana, Kenya,Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The needs are great;the workers are few.

Future Opportunities for Deacon-esses in Missions

Obviously, it is a chief mission strat-egy to make available in the language of

a combined budget of nearly seven billiondollars .... These institutions serve millions,including tens if not hundreds of thousandsoflcms members. lsa has the worlds larg-est adoption network. One of every three not-for-profit nursing home beds in this coun-try is in a Lutheran institution.10 Althoughthere are a multitude of job opportunities inthese organizations, deaconesses must be certi-fied or degreed in required areas, for example,of business administration, social work, nurs-ing, health care administration, professionalcounseling, and clinical psychology. Therefore,current deaconesses must seek additional edu-cation, and deaconess programs must recruitstudents who already have professional educa-

tion. Reclamation will take time, persistenceand financial resources to fund deaconessescontinuing education.

Engaging Missions in Diakonia

A separate section to discuss missions arti-ficially separates the mission accomplished byall congregations and some Lutheran insti-tutions: proclaiming the Gospel and provid-ing the Sacraments so that hearers may come toknow Christ as Savior. However, for the sake ofdiscussion, we are devoting this separate section

for missions and diakonia.The lcms mission strategy once included

deaconesses in mercy, health care and teach-ing, working very closely with Word andSacraments on the mission field. The currentlcms mission emphasis on leadership train-ing and teaching English as a second lan-guage means that often diakonia is relegated tothe personal piety of missionaries but is notpart of every mission fields continual, holisticstrategy. It is encouraging to see a few short-

term opportunities for diakonia by medical pro-fessionals and agricultural experts. But just asour denomination has a long way to go to liveout who we are here in the U.S., so too on themission field.

The deaconess has a unique perspectivevaluable for missions. Her expertise in dia-conal care reaches women and children in cul-tures with gender-specific roles and expecta-tions. The deaconess provides care where thepastor cannot or should not go. Many cultures IS

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the people the Scriptures and LutheranConfessions, and these must be taught andexplained in the language of the people.Therefore, a persistent need exists for bilin-gual church workers; the future of deaconess

missions depends on recruiting and trainingbilingual deaconesses.

The future of deaconesses in missions alsorequires them to respond to severe socialneeds. Here in the United States and in otherprivileged countries, there are many publicand private social service agencies with whichthe church can cooperate to provide dia-conal care. But in underdeveloped coun-tries, care is often inadequate or inaccessible.The tremendous needs overwhelm any system.

Deaconesses respond by doing and enablingthe care that is needed: setting up aidsorphanages, rehabilitation homes, meals forthe unemployed, counseling for women preg-nant with unwanted children, shelters for thehomeless, and drug addiction recovery pro-grams. As the Lord has shown us mercy, we asHis body cannot help but show mercy flowingfrom the Gospel and Sacraments.

Conclusion

The diaconate reminds the Church to see

Christ in His suffering ones and His poor11and to respondto Christ there. A deaconessshould be a thorn in the side of the Church atany signal that the Church is being apathetictowards suffering and injustice. She is will-ing to serve and suffer with those who suffer inorder to point them to Christ and His suffer-ing on their behalf.

The future of diaconal work is shaped bythe people God places in our path and theburdens to care that God places in our hearts.The exact form, exact structure, and exact job

description are only important in that theyserve the needs for mercy and care in Churchand world.

Satan continually sets up roadblocks tomercy. He has tricked us into de-valuingdia-konia as a task of the Church. He has tried toreduce the funding for diakonia. But he will notwin because Gods people must be who theyare: the body of Christ engaged in the diakoniaof Christ.

Revivals of the diaconate are happening in

every major Christian denomination. In thelcms, we have unprecedented opportunities toeducate deaconesses at three levels: vocational,undergraduate, and graduate/seminary. We aredeveloping a well-educated, competent, bold,

and compassionate diaconate to arouse theChurch for its life of care.

May the Lord who has taken us into thedeath and resurrection of His Son in our bap-tism and who nourishes us on the body andblood of Christ make us into the vehicle of loveand joy in this world until we offer the full andperfect praise forever. Amen.12

Notes

Wilhelm Loehe, On Mercy, 1858/1860.

Unpublished translation.Rev. Wilhelm Loehe served a small parishin Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, during the mid19th century. He also founded ConcordiaTheological Seminary, Fort Wayne, and sentmany missionary pastors to the u.s.Davide C. Ratke, Confession and Mission, Word andSacrament: The Ecclesial Theology of Wilhelm Lohe. St.Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2001,p. 96.Ratke, p. 189Mission of Mercy . . . Women of Action: The

Norwegian Lutheran Deaconess Society ofChicago (Lutheran General Hospital, ParkRidge, Illinois, 1985), p. 17.Kenneth F. Korby, Theology of Pastoral Carein Wilhelm Loehe with Special Attention to theFunction of the Liturgy and the Laity (Th.D.diss., Concordia Seminary in Exile, 1976),144. Note: Ifdiakonia flows freely from and backto worship in your congregation, then a dea-coness is not needed. Rejoice!Korby, presentation delivered to the

Concordia Deaconess Conference, 3/11/98,from authors notes.Korby, presentation.Matthew C. Harrison, The Churchs Role of Mercy inthe Community (lcms World Relief and HumanCare, 2002), 7.Harrison, p. 7.From the Deaconess Motto, The True DeaconessSpirit, by Wilhelm Loehe.From the Deaconess Litany, written by Rev. Dr.Kenneth Korby, Valparaiso, Indiana, 1958.S

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What is my want? I want to serve. Whomdo I want to serve? The Lord in his wretchedones and his poor. And what is my reward?I serve neither for reward nor thanks, butout of gratitude and love. My reward is thatI am permitted to serve. These beginninglines of the Deaconess Motto by Rev. WilhelmLoehe, founder of the Confessional LutheranDeaconess Movement in the 1800s, encapsu-late the heart of deaconess ministry, or diako-

nia. Whether or not your church has a calleddeaconess, chances are diakonia is at the heart ofyour churchs life.

What is Diakonia?

Your parish practicesdiakonia when thefaithful are instructed, the sick visited, thepoor assisted, the suffering comforted, thegrieving consoled, the hungry nourished, thefearful encouraged, the lonely befriended,the recovering nursed back to health, theabandoned supported, the ignorant edu-cated, the jaded reassured, the question-ers answered, the outsider evangelized. Orrather, chances are that this is the diakoniawhich, ideally, you would like to see occur, or

occur more thoroughly and consistently, inyour congregation.

Most churches have only two sources fordiakonia: the work of the pastor and the workof the volunteer. But there are two prob-lems with these approaches. The first prob-lem is that if a congregation relies largely onthe pastor to provide diakonia, the pastor will beovertaxed, and worse, will be distracted fromthe primary responsibilities of his call, pro-viding Word and Sacrament ministry. TheApostles themselves realized that the pastorshould not be distracted from his call to Wordand Sacrament ministry to provide diakonia (towait on tables), and that the Church shouldnot even consider failing to provide diako-

nia because of its proper focus on Word andSacrament ministry. The second problem isthat if a congregation relies largely on volun-teers to provide diakonia, diakonia will likely notattain its necessary position at the heart of thelife of the church. Partially this is because thestructure of our society leaves the church inchronic need of sufficient volunteers. Partiallythis is because a congregation needs an officeand an officerofdiakonia. When a congre-gation has a pastor, it sends the message thatWord and Sacrament ministry is not an ad

hoc and optional part of the Churchs life,but rather a central and essential part of theChurchs ministry in the world. When a con-gregation has a diakonal officerthat minis-try for which we deaconesses are trained andcalledit says that diakonia is an essential minis-try of Christ to his Church. God designed theWord and Sacraments to be efficacious untoour justification and our sanctification. Thepastor brings the Word and Sacraments to theparishioners; the deaconess brings the fruitsof the Word and Sacraments to them. Ideally,

the deaconess does not replace volunteers;instead, she both ensures that diakonia will takeplace full-time in the name of the parish, andshe coordinates and educates diakonal volun-teers so that they might perform their diakoniamore effectively.

What is a Deaconess?

Deaconess ministryis commonly describedas having three pillars, meaning that there arethree main areas of service provided by

Theresa List

Deaconess Theresa List is Assistantto the Dean of the GraduateSchool for Diaconal Studies,Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.([email protected])

LCMS Deaconesses: WhoWe Are, How to BecomeOne, and How We CanEnrich Your Congregation

or Institution

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deaconesses: spiritual care, mercy care, andteaching of the Christian faith. The goal ofall three of these pillars of deaconess min-istry is the same, that people be set free bythe glorious love of God in Christ Jesus,

our Lord. All three are designed to bringour flesh-and-blood Christ to people whoare themselves struggling with the realitiesof being flesh-and-blood humans. Spiritualcare brings Christ to people by perceiv-ing peoples spiritual needs and addressingthem with a proper application of Law andGospel to each persons individual circum-stances. Deaconesses address both the day-to-day spiritual needs of the individual andthe crisis-induced spiritual needs of believeror unbeliever alike. Mercy care brings Christto people by removing impediments to per-ceiving Christs merciful presence. As frailhumans, many temporal forms of suffer-ing, born of illness or poverty, heartache orcatastrophe, obscure the love of Christ fromour view. Deaconesses attend to the temporalneeds of people, showing them Christs lovepenultimately in the merciful administrationswhich they bestow on the needy, but alwayswith the ultimate goal of teaching people thatit is the eternal mercies of Christ demon-

strated at Calvary, not the temporal merciesdemonstrated today, which are the bedrock oftheir peace. Teaching the Faith brings Christto people by bringing them face-to-face withthe Living Word who equips them to wit-ness Christ to others and prepares them toface the challenges which their own lives door will hold. These three pillars of spiritualcare, mercy care, and teaching the Faith arethe unifying thread of continuity throughoutforms of diaconal service which might other-wise appear to be quite diverse.

Who Becomes a Deaconess and Why?

The decision to become a deaconess isa complex one. Part of what goes into thatdecision is a deliberate and calculated con-clusion that ones own personal talents arecongruous with the skill-set needed to be acompetent deaconess. The other part of thatdecision is much more personal, and occurswhen a woman who is considering deaconessministry from the outside has that stirring IS

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sensation inside which makes her feel that sheis looking in a mirror, or that, in consid-ering the deaconess ministry, she is cominghome to herself and embracing who she hasalways been.

Frequently, women who end up becom-ing deaconesses tell the story that, at an ear-lier point in their lives, they never knew thatdeaconesses existed. Upon discovering thishidden gem of deaconess ministry, women fre-quently feel like they are looking in a mirror,seeing themselves in deaconess ministry, dis-covering that they can become professionallywho they have always been avocationally.

Deaconesses and the Missouri Synod

Deaconesses are professionalchurchworkers. The position of deaconess in the lcmsis a called and rostered one, meaning that thedeaconess is called by a congregation or insti-tution of the Synod, either to serve thereinor to serve in a secular institution, such as aprison or hospital, in the name of the lcms.Similar to teachers and other non-ordainedchurch workers, deaconesses are consideredministers of religioncommissioned, gener-ally participating in the worker benefits pro-gram of the calling institution, and generally

considered to be self-employed.Deaconesses are not new to our Synod. The

lcms has had deaconesses serving in Americafor fully as long as the church body now knownas the lcms has existed. As both the faces of theAmerican concepts of professional educationand the process for the training of church work-ers has changed over the years, so has the natureand location of deaconess education. Since1979, by virtue of synodical resolution, deacon-ess training has been conducted by lcms institu-

tions of higher education. In 1980, ConcordiaCollege (now University), River Forest becamethe sole institution offering the deaconess pro-gram to lcms women. Since lcms deaconessesmajor in theology and since the heart of dia-conal ministry is spiritual care, already sincethe inception of the River Forest DeaconessProgram, discussions between lcms deacon-esses and other lcms theologians were explor-ing the possibility of educating deaconesses atour synodical seminaries. By resolution of theS

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2001 synodical convention, our two seminarieswere authorized to begin deaconess programs.As a result, we currently have three synodicalinstitutions which offer deaconess programs:Concordia University, River Forest, whichmaintains the b.a. program and the colloquyprogram; Concordia Theological Seminary,which offers an m.a. program; and ConcordiaSeminary, which offers both an m.a. programand deaconess certification via the HispanicInstitute of Theology.

In earlier days, deaconess education wasnot the unique venue of the Synod. In earlyAmerican Lutheran history, deaconesseswere either educated in Germany and thensent to work in the United States, or they

were trained locally by the myriad of regionalLutheran church bodies. In 1911, the SynodicalConference, which was the union of conser-vative Lutheran synods of the United States,decided to begin educating deaconesses toserve within the various synods of the con-ference. A pamphlet written in that year byRev. Hertzburger, son of a former deaconess,1argued that a woman could and should serve inany ecclesial capacity save that of the Office ofPublic Ministry (the pastoral office). In clari-fication of just what constituted the pastoraloffice, Hertzburger clarified that the Christianwoman has no role within the worship ser-vice (Gottesdienst) of the community. Outsideof the worship service Hertzburger contendedthat not only couldwomen serve the Lord freely,according to their skills and interests, butthat the Church was obligatedby God to makeuse of the gift God had given to the Churchin the personages of women. God had givenboth deaconesses and pastors, with both theircommon and their unique spiritual gifts, to the

Church, and it was shameful when the Churchdid not embrace both deaconesses and pas-tors. Interestingly, this argument was proposedin response to the proliferation of deaconessesin the less Confessional and less Scripturallyfaithful Lutheran conference known as theGeneral Synod. Pastor Hertzburger wantedto see Scriptural and Confessional Lutheransembrace deaconess ministry, and the SynodicalConference concurred. The conference beganoffering Scripturally and Confessionally

focused diaconal education in the name of theconference and for the benefit of congrega-tions and institutions formally or informallyaffiliated with the conference. By the 1940s,this conference-oriented deaconess educa-

tion had become university-based education intheology and diakonia, and the location of thiseducation was Valparaiso University. To thisday, Valparaiso offers a pan-Lutheran deacon-ess program.

Earlier in our history, graduates of theValparaiso University Deaconess Programwere eligible to be rostered deaconesses ofthe lcms. This is no longer the case. Onereason is that there is no longer a conferenceof conservative American Lutheran churchbodies which are in altar-and-pulpit fel-lowship with each other. Another reason isthat the Zeitgeistof the Valparaiso UniversityDeaconess Program has changed and nowdeviates from the conservative Lutheran posi-tion, most notably in favoring the ordinationof women. The Valparaiso University gradu-ate herself may be quite conservative and con-fessional, and may hold unswervingly to herlcms convictions (if she is lcms); but sincethe program encourages womens ordinationand other positions not consistent with the

convictions of the lcms, Valparaiso UniversityDeaconess Program graduates must collo-quize to obtain lcms rostering. Currently, allrostered lcms deaconesses are either grad-uated or colloquized by lcms institutionsof higher earning, or they graduated fromValparaiso University at a time when the lcmswas still rostering graduates of the ValparaisoUniversity Deaconess Program.

Deaconesses: Professional Conferences

Parishes and institutionswhich are famil-

iar with lcms deaconesses will have alreadydiscerned that two main different deacon-ess conferences exist. These two confer-ences are professional associations of deacon-esses. A deaconess could graduate from anygiven deaconess program (Synodical or thatof Valparaiso) and choose not to join a pro-fessional conference. However, most deacon-esses do choose to join a professional confer-ence, partially for purposes of professionalenrichment, but especially due to a sense of IS

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sisterly community. Historically, deaconesseshave been identified both by the recognitionof the Church (which currently is attained byapproved theological and vocational educa-tion) and the sisterly community between dea-conesses themselves. This community resultsfrom the sisterhood of identity and purposebetween deaconesses, often despite superfi-cial differences in diakonal job descriptions. Infact, until quite recently, American Lutherandeaconesses were known not by that title, butrather by the title of sister. In a few pocketsof American Lutheranism and in most areasof international Lutheranism, deaconesses arestill known as sisters.

The two main deaconess conferences towhich lcms deaconesses generally belong arethe Lutheran Deaconess Conference (ldc) andthe Concordia Deaconess Conference (cdc).The ldc tends to be comprised of graduates ofthe Valparaiso Deaconess Program, and there-fore has members of several different Lutheranchurch bodies. The cdc is comprised of ros-tered lcms deaconesses (generally deaconessesactively serving in or retired from called posi-tions). The uniforms, properly called garb,of the two conferences differ. (Deaconessesof either conference have the option of wear-

ing or not wearing their garb.) The ldcformal garb consists of a navy blue dress or suitworn with the pin which is the symbol of theldc, namely a Jerusalem cross with a bowl ofwater, symbolizing the service Christ renderedby washing the disciples feet. Navy is wornbecause it is traditionally a common uniformcolor for practitioners of service professions.Informally, ldc deaconesses can wear thepin with any outfit. The cdc has only formalgarb, which consists of the navy blue suit ordress, and two crosses: a three-inch gold cross

stitched on the left sleeve and a one-inch ver-sion of the same cross pinned over the heart.This golden cross is comprised of stylized fishlaid nose to nose (symbolizing the Christiancall to be fishers of men), whose tails flairout like Easter lilies. This symbol representsthe gift of eternal life (hence the gold) won forus by Christ on the cross, which is the heart ofthe message (hence the positioning of the twocrosses near our hearts) which we herald toothers (hence the Easter lily shape).

Diakonal Education

The nature of the curricula of theSynods various deaconess programs is simi-lar, independent of which educational insti-

tution the deaconess student chooses toattend. We maintain a continuity of educa-tional standards between the various schoolswhich offer deaconess programs. This conti-nuity consists of educating deaconesses to becompetent theologians and competent practi-tioners ofdiakonia in its three major forms ofteaching the Faith, furnishing spiritual care,and providing mercy care. This educationtakes place both in the classroom and in thefield. Deaconess students at all three institu-tions major in theology and take core classes

in diakonal history and practice. In addition,all deaconess students do field work, or on-the-job training, in congregations and insti-tutions.2 Since some deaconesses are calledto serve in congregations, and others arecalled to serve in institutions such as nursinghomes, hospitals, and prisons, ideally dea-coness students will experience field work inboth congregational and institutional set-tings. Finally, all deaconess students serve aone-year long, full-time internship in a con-

gregation or institution, for which they arecompensated with salary and benefits.Although core characteristics of deacon-

ess education are consistent among differ-ent synodical schools, each program has itsindividual specialties and foci as well. Theunique specialty of Concordia University,River Forest is the b.a. Deaconess Program.This program leads the graduate to a b.a.in theology, producing graduates certifiedin deaconess ministry. This program is fiveyears longfour years of liberal arts edu-

cation majoring in theology and specializ-ing in diakonia, and one year of internship.3Concordia Theological Seminary maintainsan m.a. program leading the graduate to anm.a. and certification in deaconess minis-try. The unique specialty of the Fort Wayneprogram is that it has two distinct foci: gen-eral theological education with an emphasisin specific diakonal courses, and in humancare. Concordia Seminary maintains both theHispanic Institute of Theologys deaconessS

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program, which is a distance-education pro-gram for native Spanish speakers seeking tobecome deaconesses, and the m.a. programin Deaconess Studies. The unique specialtyof the St. Louis program is that it offers thelargest number of specialized deaconess the-ology courses. All three schools offer coursesin deaconess history and skills for deaconesspractice. In addition, Concordia Seminaryhas two courses dedicated to issues which dea-

conesses need to be able to address com-petently, namely, the role of women in theChurch and special spiritual needs of women.Both seminary programs are about three yearslong, two years of academic and one year ofinternship.

Concluding Thoughts

Women in the lcms who find that they havea desire to serve their Lord in the areas ofspiritual care, mercy care, and teaching of the

Christian Faith should consider the office ofdeaconess. Likewise, if you know a woman whodemonstrates a servant heart, who cares forhurting people, and who loves to study GodsWord and share it with others, recommendthe deaconess program to her and share whatyou have learned about diaconal ministry. Ifyour congregation or institution is interestedin calling a deaconess, it has two options. Ifinterested in calling a deaconess from the

field, one contacts the District Office andrequests to call a deaconess. If interested incalling a deaconess who is being newly placedinto the field, one contacts the three schoolswith deaconess programs and requests a can-didate. In addition, a congregation or insti-tution can aid in the education of a deacon-ess and can determine if a deaconess wouldbe right for them by employing a deaconessintern for a year. Interns are available fromall three schools. Contact may be made with: IS

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Concordia SeminaryDeaconess Studies Program801 Seminary PlaceSt. Louis, MO [email protected]

Concordia Theological Seminary6600 North Clinton Street

Fort Wayne, IN [email protected]

Concordia University7400 Augusta StreetRiver Forest, IL 60305708-209-31361-800-285-2668www.curf.edu/departments/deaconess

Notes

Until the mid-1960s, deaconesses were singlewomen, in accordance with the post-industrialrevolution western expectation that marriedmen focused on paid employment and marriedwomen focused on child-rearing and house-hold management. If and when a deacon-ess decided to marry (which was encouraged),she resigned the diaconal call in favor of hercall to be a wife and mother. As social ethos

changed, so did this requirement.Congregations and institutions near the pro-gram schools may request field workers.All program lengths given for all three schoolspresume the beginning student; students whohave previous higher education in requiredareas may have shorter programs on a case-by-case basis. Concordia University, River Forestin particular offers a colloquy program forwomen who are already deaconesses but whoare seekinglcms rostering.

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book reviews

0

Under the Influence: HowChristianity Transformed

Civilization

Alvin J. SchmidtGrand Rapids, Michigan:

Zondervan, 2001

[Christ] climbed the high mountain, Hecaptured the enemy and seized the booty,He handed it all out in gifts to the people(Ephesians 4:8 The Message).

Alvin Schmidts Under the Influence serves asspecific and powerful commentary on thistext and its contextEphesians 4:1-16. Asthe apostle Paul in these verses looks ahead,down the aisle of history, anticipating theimpact Gods people, faithfully taught andled, would make on the culture around them,so Schmidt looks back up that same aisle twomillenniums later to evaluate that impact.Both writers agree that the grace of the LordChrist working through love cannot help buttransform everything it touches. Thus, down

through the centuries, faith working throughthe Saviors love has: Amplified the worth of the unborn, the

newly born, and children. Created conditions in which justice and

liberty can thrive. Elevated the dignity of marriage and

sexuality. Transformed the freedoms and self-deter-

mination of women. Revolutionized attitudes toward the sick,

the dying, the weak, the poor. Accented a vocational view of work and its

significance. Provided fertile soil in which science,

music, literature, art, and architecture

could flourish.Christianity has indeed transformed civiliza-tion, as Schmidts subtitle claims! Chapter bychapter, overwhelming evidence supporting thiscontention nearly bludgeons readers into theadmission that without the work Christ beganand his Christians have continued (Acts 1:1),civilization as we know it would not exist.

No doubt aware of the charges of trium-phalism that could easily attach to his workfrom both academic and theological quarters,Schmidt contextualizes his theses, meticulouslydocumenting them with impeccable sourcesand carefully attributing the motivation for

the contributions of Christianity to authenticfaith in the physical resurrection of the Lordand the forgiveness that flows from his crossand open tomb.

Chapter by chapter, specific facts tumble sorapidly from the pages that reading becomesalmost tedious. We begin to feel weve heard itall before. But many of us, indeed perhaps the

vast majority of us, have not! And that seems

to be Schmidts very point.Our society suffers from a collective amnesiain regard to the seed from which the gardenof our civilizations compassion, our free-doms, our scientific advances, and our artisticendeavors have sprung. Forgetful of theirsource, we have fallen little by little into thetrap of believing we can continue to harvest thefruit that springs from a sanctified Christianworldview while neglecting the plant that boreit. Painful lessons will likely follow in the wakeof this experiment. That is the first take-awayfrom Schmidts work.

The second challenges all who like to thinkof ourselves as servant leaders. As we considerthe bold and imaginative approaches Christiansin other eras have invented and executed toaddress the needs of the societies in whichthey lived, so their zeal and creativity shouldsurely rally the same passion and ingeniousaction in Gods people today. Touched by thelove of Jesus and empowered by his resurrec-tion, we see and seize opportunities to serve byleading. Service, in and of itself, is important.But only servant leadership will continue the

world-changing legacy left by those who havegone before us. May those who come behindus find us faithful!

Dr. Jane FryarAssociate Professor of Education

Concordia University, [email protected]

Dont Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart

Kenneth HaugkSt. Louis, Missouri:

Stephen Ministries, 2004

Kenneth C. Haugk is a pastor, clinicalpsychologist, and the founder and executivedirector of Stephen Ministries, an organizationthat trains lay members of congregati

issues 2005-39-1 spring

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