Deaconesses trace their roots to Biblical times when women were set apart by the early church to care for the poor, for widows and orphans, and provide stated in 315 that deaconesses did not receive ordination and were to be considered as part of the laity). Deaconesses carried out various tasks and ministries which did not require Holy Orders – they helped with the Baptism of women converts, especially when it was done by total immersion; they presided at prayer services for women; and they distributed Holy Communion in the absence of a priest. As adult baptisms became less frequent, deaconesses became rarer, but were found in the Roman Catholic Church until the eleventh century.
The modern deaconess movement began in Germany in 1836 when or ELCA.
The spiritual revival in the Americas and Europe of the nineteenth century brought rapid social change. Women who began to seek new roles for themselves turned to deaconess service. For women with a calling to serve God, this was a socially acceptable role at that time. Allowed to function as lay ministers or servants and not ordained clergy, women filled the traditional societal role of caregivers and teachers for various churches.
- Church of England. The ministry of women, 1920. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ; Macmillan,
- De Swarte Gifford, Carolyn. The American Deaconess movement in the early twentieth century, 1987. Garland Pub., ISBN 082400650X
- Ingersol, S. (n.d.). "The deaconess in Nazarene history". Herald of Holiness, 36.
- Diakonissen-Anstalt Kaiserswerth.Vierzehnter Bericht über die Diakonissen-Stationen am Libanon : namentlich über das Waisenhaus Zoar in Beirut, vom 1. Juli 1885 bis 30. Juni 1887. 1887. Verlag der Diakonissen-Anstalt,
- Forbes Ludlow, John Malcolm Woman's work in the church : historical notes on deaconesses and sisterhoods, 1978, 1866, Zenger Pub. Co., ; ISBN 089201007X
- Grygo, Elizabeth N. The Deaconess Movement in the Russian Orthodox Church, 1860-1917..Thesis (M.A.I.S.)--University of Washington, 1990
- Gvosdev, Ellen. The female diaconate : an historical perspective, 1991., Light and Life, ; ISBN 0937032808
- Lauterer, Heide-Marie. Liebestätigkeit für die Volksgemeinschaft : der Kaiserwerther Verband deutscher Diakonissenmutterhäuser in den ersten Jahren des NS-Regimes, 1994. Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, ; ISBN 3525557221
- Markkola, Pirjo. Synti ja siveys : naiset, uskonto ja sosiaalinen työ Suomessa 1860-1920. 2002, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, ; ISBN 951746388X
- Olson, Jeannine E. One ministry many roles : deacons and deaconesses through the centuries, 1992, Concordia Pub. House, ; ISBN 0570045967
- Salmond, James David. By love serve : the story of the Order of Deaconesses of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, 1962. Presbyterian Bookroom
- Späth, A. Phöbe, die Diakonissin : vortrag, 1885. Zu beziehen durch .
- Webber, Brenda, Beatrice Fernande. The Joy of service : life stories of racial and ethnic minority deaconesses and home missionaries, 1992. General Board of Global Ministries
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