XIII.

THE DEACONESS CAUSE IN AMERICA.

German Lutherans--Fliedner visits America--Philadelphia--
Mother-house of Deaconesses--Deaconesses in the Episcopal
Church--Among the Presbyterians--The Methodist Episcopal
Church--Deaconess-home in Chicago--Action of General
Conference--Fields of work 204

CHAPTER XIV.

THE MEANS OF TRAINING AND THE FIELD OF WORK FOR DEACONESSES
IN AMERICA.

Advantages of the Home and Training-school--Field of work--In
hospitals--Insane asylums--Infant-schools--Teachers--The
Home-mission deaconess--Her work in London--Similar work
needed in cities of the United States 228

CHAPTER XV.

OBJECTIONS MET AND SUGGESTIONS OFFERED.

Objection that deaconesses resemble Catholic nuns--Their
influence--Numbers in different orders--Order of Charles--
Objection to garb--Its advantages--Objection to the life
answered--Opinion of Bryce concerning American women--Women of
Methodism--Advice to candidates--Associates--The Church
commended by its deeds 247

INTRODUCTION.

How far, and in what form, ought woman's work in the Church to be
organized? What was the deaconess of St. Paul's epistles? What light on
this subject do the primitive and the mediaeval Churches yield us? Can
"sisterhoods" be established without weakening the sense of personal
responsibility in those Christian women who are not thus wholly set
apart to charitable and spiritual work? Can they be multiplied without
danger of introducing into Protestant communions the evils of the
conventual life? Are there modern instances of safe and successful
organizations? What good have they achieved, and what further good do
they promise? In what relation should such organizations stand to the
authority and fostering care of the Church? What should be their scope,
spirit, methods? What regulations are fundamental and indispensable?
What perils are real and possibly imminent?

To answer these, and other questions associated with them, this book is
written. Its authoress is a gifted daughter of the Church, well known in
literary and educational circles. During a protracted sojourn in Europe
she enjoyed unusual facilities for studying the deaconess work as
carried on in many places, and particularly in the insti