Nineteenth Century England: The Order of Deaconess
The first Anglican sisterhood was founded in 1845 (The sisterhood of the Holy Cross, near to Regent’s Park in London) and this ignited the debate within the Church of England about what form any involvement of women in ministry might take. In the 1850a support for the restoration of the Order of Deaconesses began to grow as the need for assistance for clergy ministering in large urban settings increased with industrialisation. The potential of a dedicated women’s order within the Church of England was recognised after observation of such orders which were successful in continental Europe. The institution in Kaiserwerth in Germany in particular was influential in the development of the order in England. It was a Lutheran foundation, started in 1833 to train women for charitable and religious works. Famous English women such as Elizabeth Fry and Florence Nightingale received some of their training there. In 1861 the North London Deaconess Institution was set up with Elizabeth...