Deaconesses

    • Why Deaconesses?

    The Bible teaches that every Christian is called to serve according to the gifts God has given them. Throughout the Church’s history, some lay individuals have been publicly set apart for specific ministries of service, instruction, and pastoral care. One such ministry is the order of deaconess—a lay vocation for women that is both biblically grounded and historically rooted.

    Biblical and Historical Foundations

    Scripture offers examples of women entrusted with official service in the early Church. In Romans 16:1–2, St. Paul commends “our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae.” Many have understood Paul’s reference to “the women” in 1 Timothy 3:11 as referring to deaconesses. St. John Chrysostom held this view, along with other early Church Fathers, interpreting Phoebe as a deaconess—a woman set apart for recognized ministry. From the third century onward, women were commissioned through a special liturgy for diaconal service—especially in catechesis, baptismal preparation, pastoral care, and works of mercy among women.

    Though the office declined in the medieval West, it was revived in Anglicanism in the 19th century as a way to recognize and commission women for public ministry in line with ancient practice. In 1920, the Lambeth Conference—the once-a-decade gathering of the global Anglican Communion—passed Resolutions 46–50, endorsing the order of deaconess for the whole Communion. These resolutions affirmed that the office bears the “stamp of apostolic approval” and commended the setting apart of deaconesses by bishops with a distinct liturgy.

    Deaconesses Kneeling
    Deaconess Cross

    Theological and Pastoral Rationale

    The restoration of the lay office of deaconess is not a novel innovation but a recovery of historic practice with biblical warrant. It falls within the Church’s authority to establish commissioned ministries that do not contradict Scripture and serve the building up of the Body (Article XX, Thirty-Nine Articles). The ministry of deaconesses accords with the formularies of classical Anglicanism: the Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal, and the Thirty-Nine Articles.

    This ministry enables us to live more fully into a biblical and ecclesial vision of women’s diaconal service, while maintaining the traditional understanding of Holy Orders.

    In our Diocese, both men and women may be ordained to the diaconate, and the canons provide for a variety of licensed lay ministries. The office of lay deaconess exists within this canonical framework as a distinct and fruitful avenue of service—particularly for women who sense a call to ministry but not to ordination.

    Restoring the office of deaconess allows us to draw from the wisdom of the early Church and the Anglican tradition for the benefit of our common life. It strengthens our parish by recognizing and equipping called and qualified women for lay ministry.

    This order is rooted in Scripture, shaped by tradition, aligned with classical Anglicanism, and ordered for the good of the Church today.

    FAQ

    A deaconess is set apart for lay ministry in service to the church. Under the direction of the rector, she serves in ministries of mercy, catechesis, prayer, spiritual direction, pastoral care, and discipleship, with a particular focus on women’s ministry. 

    In the early Church, women were set apart with a distinct liturgy to serve as deaconesses. This ministry originally developed in the early centuries of the church in service to women, with a focus on catechesis, baptismal preparation, and pastoral care.

    St. John Chrysostom and other Church Fathers affirmed this practice, citing the example of Phoebe in Romans 16 and Paul’s description of serving women in 1 Timothy 3:11 as the biblical basis. Ultimately, the ministry of deaconesses goes back to Scripture.

    Reformers like John Calvin and Martin Luther acknowledged the ministry of deaconesses in the early church.

    The Anglican Church revived this ancient office in the 19th century, and today it is being renewed in different parts of the ACNA.

    No. The ministry of a deaconess takes place outside the liturgical and sacramental roles reserved for clergy. 

    Ordained deacons are part of Holy Orders (i.e., clergy) and receive the laying on of hands by the bishop for ordained ministry.

    Deacons have distinct liturgical responsibilities, including reading the Gospel in the liturgy, preaching at the rector’s discretion, and assisting at the altar in Holy Communion.

    Deaconesses, by contrast, are commissioned as lay ministers, not ordained clergy. While they may participate in certain liturgical roles open to all laypersons, their ministry is not liturgical in character, and they do not carry preaching or sacramental responsibilities in the principal services of the Church.

    These distinctions preserve the Church’s historic threefold ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon, while also providing space for official, recognized lay ministry outside of Holy Orders.

    Deaconesses will assist the rector in pastoral care—especially for women—as well as in catechesis, spiritual direction, prayer, and discipleship. They will also lead specific ministries under the rector’s guidance.

    Deaconesses may at times wear a distinctive blue cassock when serving in their role. This particular shade of blue—often called “Marian blue”—connects their ministry to St. Mary the Virgin, reflecting humility, devotion, and faithful service to our Lord. They may also wear a simple cross for the Order of Deaconesses as a visible sign of their office.

    These are not clerical vestments, but signs of a commissioned lay ministry, consistent with the Church’s tradition of publicly recognizing women set apart for service.

    “At the Doors of the Church: The Restoration of Deaconesses” by Blake Johnson

    The Anglican Deaconess Association

    Deaconesses: An Historical Study by Aimé Martimort

    The Form for the Setting Apart of a Deaconess