The Disappearing Deaconess

The Disappearing Deaconess examines not just the history of deaconesses but also patristic teaching on male and female and the evolution of ministries in the early Church to conclude that the order of deaconess was inherently problematic for early Christians because it appeared to elevate women over men in the hierarchy of the Church, contrary to Christian beliefs about both the natural order and the divine economy. That explains why many local churches never had deaconesses and why those that had them eventually stopped having them. This book also includes two important appendices addressing proposals to create a new order of deaconesses and the larger issue of male and female as understood by Church Fathers. The first outlines a theological basis for the distinction of male and female as the key to understanding many gender issues, including the exclusion of women from clerical orders. The second is a public statement signed by over 300 Orthodox clergy and laity opposing the creation of a new order.