The Order of Lay Deaconess

Why Deaconesses?

The Church has long affirmed that every Christian is called to serve according to their gifts. Throughout 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 provides 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 interpreted Paul’s reference to the “women” 1 Timothy 3:11 as deaconesses. St. John Chrysostom took this position, along with others in the early Church, and understood Phoebe to be a deaconess : a woman set apart for recognized ministry. From the third century onward, women were set apart with a special liturgy for diaconal ministry—serving in catechesis, baptismal preparation, pastoral care, and works of mercy, especially among other 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 deaconesses for the entire Anglican Communion. The resolutions affirmed that the order of deaconesses bears the "stamp of apostolic approval" and commended the practice of bishops setting apart deaconesses with a distinct liturgy. 

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 support. It fits within the Church’s authority to establish commissioned ministries that do not contradict Scripture and serve the upbuilding of the Body (Article XX, Thirty Nine Articles).

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

In our Diocese , men and women may be ordained to the diaconate, and the canons allow 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 parish life together. It strengthens our parish by recognizing and equipping qualified and called women for lay ministry.

This Order is rooted in Scripture, shaped by tradition, 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 early other Church Fathers affirmed this practice, citing the example of Phoebe in Romans 16 and Paul’s description of serving women 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.


  • They will assist  in pastoral care, catechesis, spiritual direction, prayer, and women’s discipleship. They will lead specific ministries under the direction of the rector. Their ministry builds on what they are already doing—now formally set apart in a way consistent with the tradition of the Church. 


  • 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.


Resources:

The Anglican Deaconess Association

Deaconesses: An Historical Study by Aimé Martimort

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