wfn.org | Deaconess position offers alternative for lay women

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Dec. 14, 1998	Contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York     {733}

NEW YORK (UMNS) -- As a United Methodist deaconess, Marian Styles
McClintock says she probably has the freedom to do things she couldn't
do in the ordained ministry.

For example, the Patterson, N.J., resident can work within the church or
use her gifts elsewhere, as she has at the YWCA. "You can carry your
ministry anywhere outside the church," she explained during a December
lunch at the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries headquarters. 

In fact, the denomination's 71 active deaconesses work in a variety of
areas: community outreach, children and youth ministries, rural or urban
ministries, social services, nursing and teaching. 

Josephine Lewis of Chicago has established Phoebe's Place, a senior
citizen's center that includes an Alzheimer day care program. Debbie
Pittman teaches computer classes in Bluefield, W. Va., an economically
depressed area. Joanne Reich is involved with HIV and AIDS ministries in
Georgia.

In some ways, they are far removed from their historical sisters, the
solemn-looking women in high white collars who were officially
recognized by the church beginning in 1888. But today's deaconesses
continue to share a lifetime call of service to the church and a
commitment to ministries of love, justice and service.

That's why Betty Purkey, executive secretary for the deaconess office at
the Board of Global Ministries, and others hope to revitalize the
deaconess movement.

In 1939, when the three branches forming the Methodist church merged,
the new denomination had 1,026 deaconesses. "Some of the deaconesses had
been doing what pastors do (outside of the sacraments)," she explained.
"They were really a viable and vital force in the church."

Deaconesses also were pioneers, establishing community centers, clinics,
orphanages, hospitals and homes for young working and immigrant women.

The movement's decline began in 1956, when the Methodist General
Conference approved the ordination of women. Later, in the 1960s, many
no longer worked as closely with the institutions they had founded. When
the church created the categories of lay workers and diaconal ministers
in the 1970s, some women chose that option to have a "closer
relationship to the annual conference," Purkey noted.

But after the 1996 General Conference, the denomination's top
legislative body, eliminated the category of diaconal minister, the
position of deaconess became the only recognized avenue of work for a
lay woman who does not wish to become a deacon or elder.

Purkey, a longtime board staff member who moved to the deaconess office
in 1995,  realized "we had to determine our future or it would be
determined for us."

The number of active deaconesses was declining as more neared retirement
age and although there was a good racial-ethnic mix, she recognized a
need "to be intentional about being inclusive."

Informing women about the opportunities in the deaconess movement was
crucial. "We feel there are many women out there in church-related
vocations and the helping professions who don't know about it," Purkey
said.

Strategizing sessions have led to such ideas as deaconess teas in
various annual conferences, a new brochure, the creation of a new video
to interpret the role of the deaconess in the church and the expected
hiring of two young women as interns to focus on college and university
campuses.

The recruitment strategies have had some success. Between October 1997
and October 1998, 13 women were commissioned as missionaries. Four other
women currently are in process.

A major emphasis is the "supportive community" that links the
deaconesses together. It was that sense of community that led Purkey
herself to become a deaconess in 1982.

Dana Jones, the editor of Response Magazine, is in the process of
becoming a deaconess. She said she is "awed" by the opportunity to
become part of a community of gutsy, creative women who are "filled with
vision."

Deaconess candidates feel a "calling from God" to commit themselves to
full-time service. They have at least a bachelor's degree or the
equivalent and work in a church-related or helping profession, such as
teaching, social work or community development. They must complete a
list of biblical and theological studies.

Once commissioned, a deaconess finds her own job, which is then approved
by the bishop of her conference. "You can serve where you feel called to
serve," Purkey said.

While many deaconesses do not work directly in local churches, they
usually are connected to one, according to Purkey. Deaconesses often do
volunteer work with churches as well.

More information is available through the Deaconess Program Office,
United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, 475 Riverside Dr., Room
320, New York, NY 10115 or by calling (212) 870-3850.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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