BV 4423 .H36 1919
Hand-book of the Mary J
Drexel Home and
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Hand Book of the
mary j. drexel home
and philadelphia
motherhouse of
deaconesses
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HAND-BOOK
OF THE
MARY J. DREXEL HOME
AND
PHILADELPHIA MOTHERHOUSE
OF
DEACONESSES
1913
JUN 12 1998
l^fOtOGICAL SE«f ^^
Inarb of EtiXBtnB.
Hon. WILLIAM H. STAAKE,
Court of Common Pleas No. 5,
City Hall.
G. A. SCHWARZ,
1006 Chestnut Street.
S'rrrrtarg :
Rev. E. F. bach MANN,
2roo S. College Avenue
(Hrf asurrr :
EDMUND R. TEUBNER,
S. E. Cor. Chestnut and Fifth Sts.
Hon. WiLLiAiM H. Staake, W. P. M. Braun,
G. A. ScHWARz, Frederick C. Hassold,
Rev. G. C. Berkemeier, D.D., Rev. G. W. Sandt, D.D.,
Rev. Samuel Laird, D.D., Prof. H. Offermann, D.D.,
E. Clarence Miller.
iEx-aflSrio :
Rev. E. F. Bachmann, Pastor.
Sister Wilhelmine Dittmann, Sister Superior.
'~:»t^i^5i*f-
Rev. Hugo C. M. Wendel, Assistant to the Paste. r
Staake and Pat ton, Solicitors
I^osptlal ^taflT.
itappttaarg i>taff.
Visiting Su}-geo)is
John B. Deaver, M.D.,
1634 Walnut Street.
Harry C. Deaver, M.D.,
1534 N. Fifteenth Street.
Assistant
E. G. Alexander, M.D.,
1627 Oxford Street.
Visiti7ig Physicians
Alfred Hand, Jr. M.D.
1724 Pine Street.
Chas A. Fife, M.D.,
2033 Locust Street.
J. K. Walker, M.D.,
1632 Spruce Street.
Opthalmologist
Charles S. Turnbull, M. D.,
1935 Chestnut Street.
Assistant
J. C. Knipe, M.D.,
2035 Chestnut Street.
Laryngologist and Otologist
Arthur A. Bliss, M.D. ,t
117 S. Twentieth Street.
Assistants
C. L. Manning, M.D.,
35 S. Nineteenth Street.
C. W. SCHAEFFER, M.D.,
117 S. Twentieth Street.
Chief of Pathological and Bacteri-
ological Department
Damon B. Pfeiffer, M.D.,
2028 Pine Street.
Chief of X- Ray Department
Albert G. Miller, M.D.,
2150 N. Twenty-first Street.
Resident Physician
G. Lee Hynson, M.D.
Medical
H. K. Dillard, M.D.,
234 S. Twentieth Street.
Sylvester J. Deehan, M.D.,
843 N. Twenty-fourth Street.
Frederick O. Wagge, M.D.,
4104 Girard Avenue.
Surgical
Joseph Schenberg, M.D.,
426 N. Fifty-third Street.
E. G. Alexander, M.D.,
1627 Oxford Street.
J. Rex Hobensack, M.D.,
1706 Columbia Avenue.
Diseases oftheEar.NoseandThroat
C. L. Manning, M.D.,
36 S. Nineteenth Street
Joseph Schenberg, M.D.,
426 N. Fifty-third Street
C. W. SCHAEFFER, M.D.,
117 S Twentieth Street.
Diseases of the Eye
J. C. Knife, M.D.,
2035 Chestnut Street.
J. J. Stanton, M.D.,
23d and Oxford Streets.
t Died May i, 191 3 ; Successor not yet appointed.
S^xBtnB
NAME
Entered
Consecrated
^^/9¥/
1 i\
9/
< —
■e. —
^ —
I
2
471
5
6
«^
9:^
"— 21
^ — .22
A 24
-25
X26
— 27
28/
^ 29
30
**• — 32
'—33
34
>, ^35
/— 36
^ -37
— 38
— 39
^ 40 y
•^ - — ^41
42
-^43
>44
Jf. 45
^46
^47
48 y.
'49
- — -50
^ — 52
— '53
54
'55
«4_
Wilhelmine Dittmann, S. Superior
Marianne Kratzer
Magdalene von Bracht
Katharine Bossert
Marie Sowa
Anna Baumgarten
Emma Carlson
Else Dodenhoff
Christiane Dorr
Rosa Dittricli
Emilie Schwarz
Julie Mergner
Marie Roeck
Lydia Klein
Marie Koeneke
Mary Barbehenn
Anna Marie Enderlein
Louise Frey
Veronica Eich
Margaretlie Weller
lyina Beideck
Friederike Ostermann
Eleonore Diehl
Lydia Strempfer
Margaret Schueder
Margaretlie Schultze
Emma Tappert
Flora Moyer
Louise Wackernagel
Gottliebin Koch
Elisabeth Kulinle
Katharine Mauntz
Hannah Christmann
Frieda Broecker
Auguste Hirsch
Christine Rothenbach
Lina Keppel
Elisabeth Heun
Johanna Hertel
Edith Stagg
Alice Fisher
Margarethe Heinbockel
Ada Stedtler
Anna Mayer
Viola Sheaflfer
Mane Wizemann
Louise Altvater
Laura Bitting
Marie Munz
Bertha Mueller
Martha Frey
Marie Gerndt
Mary Cassel
Marie Koch
Emilie Goldhagen
MX.
June 19,
June 19,
June 19,
Jan. 23,
Jan. II,
Feb. 2,
Sept. 20,
Jan. 13,
Mar. 17,
Aug. 7,
July 6,
June 30,
Oct. I,
Mar. 27,
May 5,
July 15.
July 23,
Sept. 20,
Oct. 16,
Mar. iS,
Sept. 4,
Nov. 23,
Nov. 2,
Oct. 19,
Oct, 19,
Aug. 9,
Sept. 16,
Oct. I,
Oct. 7,
May 6,
July 6,
July 24,
Sept. 19,
Sept. 19,
Oct. 12,
Nov. ir,
Jan. 13,
Sept. 24,
Sept. 30,
Oct. I,
Oct. 9,
Oct. 7.
Feb. I,
May I,
April 23,
Oct. 8,
Sept. 28,
Oct'. 31,
Aug. 7,
Sept. 2,
Aug, 17,
Oct. I,
Oct. 4,
Jan. 12,
Aug. 15,
884
884
884
885
886
886
886
887
887
888
889
895
889
890
890
890
890
890
S90
891
891
892
893
894
894
895
895
895
895
896
896
896
896
896
896
896
897
897
897
897
897
899
900
900
900
900
900
900
901
901
902
902
902
903
904
April 22
April 22
April 22
Jan. 13
Jan. 13
Oct. 3
May 24
Oct. I
Oct. I
June 18
Oct. 3
May 24
May 24
May 24
May 24
June 6
June 6
June 6
May 24
June 6
May 29
May 29
June 3
June 3
June 3
May 26
June 3
May 26
Mav 26
Ma'v 18
May 18
May 18
May 18
May 18
May 31
May 31
May 22
May 22
Ma}' 22
May 31
May 31
June 3
June 3
June 7
June 3
June 7
June 3
June 3
May 30
May 30,
May 30
June 7
June 7
May 30
May 30
(6
Probattonprs
NAME
Entered Consecrated
82
Ainalie Hartwig
Louise Cluss
Friederike Cluss
Ada Madden
Cora Wagner
Alwine Stadtliinder . . .
Ella Koch
Thekla Daly
Henriette Hertz
Anna Adelheid Koster . .
Elizabeth Grunow ....
Anna Magd. Scheyhing .
Emma Knipscheer . . . .
Edith Bube
Grace Lauer
EmilieFischer
Friederike Fessler . . . .
Marie Preuss
Mary Berntsen
Bertha Reissig
Frieda VVente
Margarethe Rothenhnuser
Laurette Nelson
Mary Wenrich
vSarah Westley
Elisabeth Leister ....
Maude Auchenbach . . .
Oct. 5,
Oct. I,
Sept. 30,
Sept. 17,
April 30,
May 4,
May 4,
Sept. 29,
Dec. I,
Sept. 5,
Sept. 14,
Oct. 2,
May 2,
May 2,
Sept. 19,
Oct. I,
Oct. 8,
Jan. 23,
July I.
Oct. I,
Jan. 19,
April I,
July 19.
Sept. 2,
Sept. 30,
Oct. 2,
Oct. 4,
1901
1906
1907
1907
1908
1 90S
1 90S
1 90S
1908
1909
1909
1909
1910
1910
1910
1910
1910
1911
1911
1911
1912
1912
1912
1912
1912
1912
1912
May II, 1913
May II, 1913
(7)
JOHN D. LANKENAU
The dedication of the beautiful building of the Mary J. DrexelHome
AND PhiladeIvPHIA Motherhouse OF DEACONESSES, twenty-five years
ago, attracted much attention in this country and abroad as evidence of the
fact that the female diaconate, transplanted from Germany four years before,
had taken root and had come to stay. We now offer this "Hand-book" as a
brief record of the development of this work during its first quarter of a
century, which for obvious reasons will remain the most important period
in the history of the Motherhouse. Foundations were laid, methods tested,
problems solved and general direction and character given to the work.
This summarized survey of the past development may be interesting to the
casual reader, but will certainly be valuable to those engaged in similar
lines of work as well as to anyone desiring to enter the diaconate. For this
reason the general principles and the early history of the deaconess work
have likewise been retained from the "Annual" formerly published by us
and familiar to all our friends.
A brief glance at the report of last year's work will assure the thought-
ful that the Motherhouse is endeavoring to be faithful in the discharge of its
duties. It has not been unmindful of the important changes in the social
and religious life of our people during the past years, but has adjusted
itself to them as far as possible, in order to render really effective service.
The Church was fortunate in having established in her midst an institution
for the training of deaconesses more than a decade before the Inner Mission
movement stirred our people and the Social Service ideas took more definite
shape and resulted in aggressive action ; both have impressed the Church
with the fact that little can be accomplished by inexperienced and untrained
volunteers. The great demand for deaconesses in institutions and congre-
gations is far in excess of the number of Sisters at our disposal, and in the
interest of the Church and the great problems before her we hope consecrated
young women throughout the church will soon begin to realize more
definitely the opportunities and blessings offered them by the diaconate.
Yet we have reason to thank God for those who have come to us. At the
dedication of the Motherhouse our Sisterhood consisted of 23 ; to-day, of 82,
showing a gain even somewhat larger in proportion than that of the Kaisers-
werth Conference, which reported 7,129 Sisters in 1888, and 21,975 in 1913.
Of no less importance is the broadening of the scope of our work. Twenty-
five years ago the Motherhouse was limited to its home for aged men and
women ; but five years later an amendment to the charter authorized the
establishment of "a hospital for children, a high-school for girls, and any
similar extension of the objects of the foundation" . . . "in the City of
Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, or in other States, if required."
Thus the way has been opened to great expansion in the future. It rests,
under God, with the Church, and particularly with her young women,
whether the Motherhouse shall be the medium of still greater blessings even
beyond its present fields of labor. May the perusal of the following pages
result in a clearer conception of the female diaconate and in a more rapid
increase of thoroughly efficient and consecrated workers !
Philadelphia, October 16th, 1913.
PART FIRST.
A.— NATURE AND PRINCIPLES OF THE DIACONATE.
Diakonia means, in general, ministry, service; but even in
ihe New Testament it denotes in a general sense the office
(ministry) of the appointed Deacons (1 Tim. 3:8), or Deacon-
esses (Rom. 16:1), whose duties were to care for the poor
and sick of the congregation. CiuTent church-usage under-
stands by the term "diaconate" the ministering" in works of
mercy under the control of the Church. Our present diaconate
corresponds to, and springs from, the Biblical and apostolic
office of Deacon (or Deaconess). It is the exercise of a love
born of li\ing faith in Christ, towards the helpless and needy
of whatever kind, such ministr}- being undertaken as a life-
vocation and officially recognized and regulated by the Church.
As a ser\ice done in gratitude and love to the Lord, it is
performed voluntarily, without compulsion and without re-
ward. AMiere such service is rendered by women, it is called
the Female Diaconate.
Every Deaconess Motherhouse, our own included, is in-
tended for the planting and development of the Diaconate, and
offers to Christian women wdio wish to devote themselves to
this ministry of mercy, the necessary training, the communion
in the life of the Sisterhood, and a permanent home. In the
first place, then, it is to be a training-school where Christian
women are fitted for this vocation. The necessary provision
for this is made by a preliminary course for beginners, and
the continued instruction of all the -Sisters. Again, the
Motherhouse offers the blessings and advantages of a firmly
organized and well-regulated communion, for the protection,
assistance, and improvement of each individual. This com-
m.union rests primarily on the religious basis of a common
(lO)
faith and confession, and is constantly nurtured by the beauti-
ful services of the Lord's house. Besides these blessings,
which it has in common with every Christian congregation,
the Motherhouse offers a compensation for the home and
family life, which those who enter it have given up for the
sake of their vocation. A loving confidence and willing obedi-
ence to their superiors, and a sisterly attachment to their as-
sociates, give to the iNIotherhouse the desired home atmos-
phere, and to the individual member a feeling of belonging
to this great family, united by the bonds of common faith,
love, and service. ]\Iore surely even than the family home,
the Motherhouse secures to its daughters the protection of a
home under all circumstances, especially in case of sickness or
of the enforced inactivity of age. At the same time the com-
pact organization and strict order of the INIotherhouse give
to each Sister the necessary wholesome direction and sound
basis of her whole life-work. Even the less gifted find their
appropriate employment in positions which bring out their
best gifts and qualities. Finally, the Motherhouse forms a
centre from which those who come to it from different parts
of the country for training, can be sent out again wherever
their services may be most needed and may prove most efifi-
cient.
In the organization of our Motherhouse the general over-
sight and its representation before the public belong to the
Board of Trustees. The Pastor and the Oberin (Sister Su-
perior) are ex-officio members of the Board, with the right to
vote. At its regular monthly meetings the Board receives
the reports of the Pastor and the Oberin, and discusses and
decides all that belongs to the general management of the
institution, especially the business afifairs.
The institution is connected with the Lutheran Church
(General Council), inasmuch as the Pastor must be a member
of the INIinisterium of Pennsylvania, and annually reports to
that body on the work of the Motherhouse. The inmates of
the house constitute a congregation, in which the Pastor per-
forms all ministerial acts. Pastor and Oberin together con-
stitute the Directory of the Motherhouse with all its branches.
(II)
A Deaconess is a Christian woman (unmarried, or widow
without children) who, from love to her Lord and in gratitude
to her Saviour, has made it her life-work to serve Him in His
poor and needy members, and who, in order to carry out this
vocation of ministering love, has voluntarily joined the Dea-
coness Mother house, performing her functions under its direc-
tion and retaining her membership in it as long as she serves
the Lord in this ministry.
Deaconesses are called Sisters because of their fellowship
of faith and love in Christ as the daughters of one Mother-
house, and because they are to minister to those who are
committed to their care, in true sisterly love.
To designate their office, the Sisters w^ear a special garb
which is, how^ever, not the habit of an order. This garb or
habit is meant to be nothing more than a dignified, practical,
plain, and inexpensive dress, not subject to the changes of
fashion, and corresponding in the main to the plain attire
in vogue during the first half of this century, when the
Female Diaconate was revived. The habit is of value not
only because of its neatness, but also because it secures to the
Sisters a large measure of support and protection in their
w^ork.
Li the Sisterhood are Xursing Sisters, Teaching Sisters,
and Parish Sisters, according to the three principal spheres
of their ministry, the care of the sick and the needy, the in-
struction and training of the young, and the assistance of
pastors in such work as these may assign them.
The Deaconesses of our Home are Christian women
of the Lutheran faith. After a preliminary time of probation,
extending over six months or more, they are received as regu-
lar probationers, provided they have proven themselves quali-
fied for the service. At this point they receive the garb of
the Deaconesses, on the solemn and formal promise made by
them to the Pastor and the Oberin, that they will faithfully
obey their superiors, and abide by all the rules and regula-
tions of the house. Having for several years served acceptably
as probationers, tl>e}' are, with the approval of all the conse-
crated Sisters, set apart to their office by the laying on of
hands.
(13)
The Deaconess differs from the Roman Catholic Sister of
Charity in this, that she does not claim a peculiar holiness,
or a special heavenly reward by reason of her service and
vocation. She knows very well that her w^ork is not in itself
more holy and pleasing to God than any other in which true
Christian faith and love are exhibited ; that she cannot merit
anything- before God ; and that her salvation is assured her
by free grace, through the merit of Christ alone, which she
must apprehend by faith. Another point of dift'erence between
the Deaconess and the Roman Catholic Sister is this, that
the former does not separate herself from the world and her
own family, but performs her service in the world in true
evangelical liberty, keeping up her connection with her family
as far as her duties, as in any other vocation, permit her to
do so. True, she promises at her admission to the Sisterhood
and especially at her consecration, to discharge the duties of
her office with all the strength the Lord has granted her, and
to yield a childlike and willing obedience to the directions of
her superiors ; but this is merely her baptismal and confirma-
tion vow practically applied. She is bound to the Lord, but
not forever to this particular form of service. Whatever she
does in the service of her Lord' is done with the full liberty of
the Christian.
It is true she has in her own heart, though not by public
profession, renounced marriage for the sake of that vocation
which is to be her life-work. But she does not thereby imag-
ine that she lives in a more holy and meritorious estate than
any believing, faithful wife. She is free at any time to give
up her vocation, whenever after prayerful consideration she is
convinced that the Lord is pointing her to a married life, to
serve Him in that estate. No one has a right to blame her
for that, and she will be honorably dismissed, provided that
she has also in this matter been acting fairly and honorably
toward her Alotherhouse.
The Deaconess also willingly assumes a plain and simple
life, without extravagance and luxury, as an humble hand-
maid of the Lord, because her vocation and ministry demand
this of her. But no one urges upon her a self-imposed, merit-
(14)
orious poverty ; she retains full possession .of her private means
and the free disposition of the same.
From the "Trained Nurse" the Deaconess differs in this,
that whilst receiving her necessary support from the Mother-
house, she does not take any payment for her services, as
they are primarily rendered to the Lord, nor will she accept
gifts from those who are committed to her care. Her only
reward is the blessed consciousness : I am privileged to serve
my Lord and to do my modest share in the work of His king-
dom.
This latter principle distinguishes the work of the Deacon-
ess also from all purely humanitarian efforts in similar spheres
of philanthropic work. In distinction from these and from the
work of the trained nurse, the Deaconess is also to care for
the souls of those whom she nurses. She is the assistant and
co-worker not only of the physician, but likewise of the pas-
tor. But the ministry of the Word is not committed to her
irtdgpendently, nor is she ex]5ected to make proselytes for her
denomtuation. She nurses all her sick without distinction of
creed ; and wherever it is desired, she is bound to procure for
her patient a clergyman of the denomination to which he
belongs.
B.— HISTORICAL REVIEW.
I. — The Diaconate of the Ancient Church.
The service of gratitude rendered the Lord is as old as
Christianity. The work of the Son of God, who came to
minister and to give His life as a ransom for many, from the
very beginning influenced grateful hearts to render Him a
counter service. Of such loyal servants of Llim who was their
Lord and Master, Scripture tells us that they served Him in
faithful imitation and in complete surrender of their entire
being. Thus it is said of the mother-in-law of Peter that after
her miraculous cure "she served them," i. e., the Lord and
His own. And especially were the women to whom the ad-
vent of the Lord Jesus brought the greatest gift in freeing
their souls and bodies from shameful slavery, ever ready to
render service to Him during His sojourn on earth (Luke 8:
('5)
2, 3). They were His true followers even up to the cross
(John 19:25; Luke 23:49).
The office of the Diaconate, instituted for the systematic
care of the poor, is one of tire very oldest in the Church. In
fact, it was this office which was first of all separated from
tJTc distincti\-e office of the Apostolate, which at first em-
braced the entire congregational service. But w^ith the rapid
growth of the congregation at Jerusalem, the demands on the
Apostles became correspondingly great, and when finally the
insufficiency of their limited oversight in the care of the poor
members of the Church gave cause for dissatisfaction, the
twehe instituted the office of Deacons, by having seven men
chosen "to serve at tables," i. e., to have the supervision
of the distribution of food, clothing, etc., to the poor in the
congregation (Acts 6:3-6). In this passage w^e find men-
tioned the necessary qualifications of deacons : they must be
"men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,"
to which St. Paul (1 Tim. 3: 8-10, 12, 13) adds further con-
ditions and regulations belonging to this office.
While nothing is said in the N<iw Testament concerning
the establishment of the office of Deaconesses, there is in Rom.
16: 1, 2, a direct mention of a duly appointed sister: "Phebe,
our sister, which is a servant (Greek: diakonos) of the church
which is at Cenchrea." (The form "diakonissa" belongs to
a later time.) The sister mentioned here, the first deaconess
known to us, is entrusted with the high and sacred duty of
delivering the letter of the great Apostle to the congregation
at Rome. 1 Tim. 3:11 is also to be taken as a reference to
the office of deaconesses. The entire contents of this passage
seem to prove clearly that the correct translation is not "their
wives" (A. V.) but "the women," as the Revised \''ersion
has it, i.e., the women in the office of the diaconate.
In the time immediately following the apostolic era, up
to the fourth century, we find but one mention of deaconesses,
and that about 110 A. D. in the report of the Roman Go\'ernor
Pliny to the Emperor Trajanus concerning the life and habits
of the Christians. The conscientious official is unable to dis-
cover an}' e\"il among them in spite of his persistent efiforts
and inquiries, even the rack, so characteristic of the Roman
rT7)
method, pro\ ini;- unavailing. "In order to get at the truth of
the matter," he writes, "1 deemed it necessary to put to the
rack two maids, called by the Christians ''diacoiiisscr.'' But
I was unable to get anything out of them, save a most corrupt
and boundless superstition."
In the fourth century this office attained its highest
development. While the deacons more and more tilled the
rank of the lower clergy, assisting in the ministration of
the \\'ord, the deaconesses remained within the sphere of the
original duties of the office, namely, that of helpers under the
direction of the regular clergy. A\'e read that they were
inducted into their office by the bishop, with prayer and the
laying on of hands; and the "Apostolic Constitutions" dating
from those times, give us word for word the intercessory prayer
made for deaconesses, the prayer which we still use in the
consecration of our Sisters. The same ancient document bear?
testimony to the value of the deaconesses in all manner of
church services. Their duties consisted in acting as door-
keepers and ushers at the women's entrance of the sanctuary
and as intermediaries between the females of the congregation
and their bishop, in preparing female catechumens for bap-
tism, and assisting in their baptism. To this was added the
congregational care of the sick and poor and imprisoned, es-
pecially among women and children.
There were many deaconesses in those times. As an ex-
ample V\-e may mention tlie sisters, forty in all. who labored
under the supervision of Chrysostom, while he was bishop
of Constantinople (v397-407). Some of these sisters were
women of nrible rank, aniong them the wealthy and vouthful
widow Olympias, the faithful and influential aid of her bishop.
Chrysostom, in his service of the Church and in the struggle
against the unbelief and immorality of the court ; and ]\Iakrina.
left by death a virgin bride, the deeply devout sister of Basil
the Great and of Gregory of Nyssa.
But this period of glorious develi;>pment was brief. As
early as the fifth century there began the rapid decline of the
Diaconate. The causes were: (1) The removal of the Church
center from the East to the West. Avhere women were per-
mitted to move more freely among men. making the office of
(tS)
a female intermediary between the women and their pastor
unnecessary ; (2) the marked decrease of adult baptisms as
the nations became Christianized: (3) and above all, the grad-
ual loss of the Gospel and with it the rapid growth of monastic
orders. A living- faith in the Saviour, and practical, heartfelt
love for Him, were now to give place to self-righteousness,
super-holiness, and seclusion from the world.
But few traces of this office remained in the Western
Church up to 800 and in the Eastern Church to 1200. "The
office of evangelical love was killed by the gravediggers of
evangelical faith. Where living faith is the tree, there alone
the office of evangelical love, regulated by the Church, will
find means of flourishing; for this is a love which serves not
for the sake of wages and honor, but in gratitude for divine
grace experienced in the heart."
II. — The Revival of the Female Diaconate.
This revival did not come with the Reformation, and yet
the Reformation did the best work for the future renewal of
the office. The abrogation of the doctrine of meritorious
works and the emphasis laid on the merit of Christ alone, on
faith in Him, and on a grateful and willing communion of faith
with Him and service to Him, certainly laid the foundation
for the Diaconate of our time. "Good, pious works never
make a good, pious man, but a good, pious man performs good,
pious works. Faith is a sure, desperately bold confidence
in the grace of God. so sure of it, that it would for this trust
die a thousand times. And for this reason, without any co-
ercion, a man is made willing and eager to do good to every
one, to serve all, to suffer many things, for the love and praise
of God, who has shown him so much grace. Therefore it is
quite impossible to separate works from faith, just as impos-
sible, in fact, as it would be to separate heat and light from
fire." These golden words of Luther were as much a means of
establishing the Diaconate, as of destroying monasteries and
nunneries. In fact, the great reformer had the verA^ highest
opinion of the peculiar gifts and duties of woman in such
service. "A\'omen," he says, "who love godliness, generally
(19)
have the special grace to comfort others, and to soothe their
pains." At the same time he freely confesses that 'Sve have
not, the necessary persons for such an office (i. e., for the es
tablishment of the Diaconate). Therefore I will not trust
myself to begin it until our Lord God makes real Christians."
It is true, we find isolated beginnings in this direction made
in that glorious time of the new life of the Church, but they
soon disappeared, and thus the traces of this office in the Re-
formed Church of the Lower Rhine region and of Holland
were sporadic and temporary. It was only in Mennonite con-
gregations of Germany and Holland that the office was pre-
served up to the nineteenth century, and it was here that
Fliedner first came into touch with this institution, which, in
the providence of God, he was to transplant into the Evan-
i?elical Church of Germany. Scarcely had the evangelical por-
tion of the German people, led through severe judgment and
divine help in the wars of liberation from the tyranny of Na-
poleon, awakened to a new life of faith; scarcely had the
gauntlet thrown down by the modern Rationalism been taken
up boldly by the old true faith of the fathers, when also the
life of love began anew in the Church. The lack of a well-
ordered system in works of mercy by women was every-
where felt in orthodox circles, j Pious members of the Church,
the Minister von Stein and Amalie Sieveking made efforts to
provide for this want, but without effect. Their energies were
spent in the effort to imitate in the Evangelical Church the
Roman Catholic sisterhoods of mercy. "We wish," said Am-
alie Sieveking, "to have something of like nature in the Prot-
estant Church." However, the manifest blessing of God did
not rest on the work .until it became grounded on the Diac-
onate of apostolic times and ceased to be merely an attempted
imitation of the Roman Catholic institution.
The first to turn the work into this channel was Johann
Adolph Kloenne, pastor in the Lower Rhine Province (tl834).
This faithful servant of the Lord, w^ith a warm heart for
every effort of building up the kingdom of God, saw clearly
the necessity of a re-establishment of the Female Diaconate,
and published as early as 1820 an essay on "The Revival of the
Deaconess Work of the Ancient Church in our Ladies' Aid
(21)
Societies.'" This essay he sent to persons of iniUience, be-
longing to the orthodox wing, and they assured him of their
complete and hearty approval. He found a strong champion
and co-worker in the person of the noble Count von der Recke
V'olmerstein, who had done much for practical Christian phil-
anthropy in founding the Rescue Mission in Diisselthal. In
1835 he began writing and working for a renewal of the ofifice
of Deaconesses and soon received the support of the pious
Prussian king, Frederick William IV. We quote the follow-
ing from a letter written by William to the Count : "The re-
\ival of this office has been a cherished ideal with me for
many Acars, for I am confident that it is one of the many
things which our church communion really needs and lacks."
But the realization of the great plans fostered by these
brave Christian men was to be eft'ected by that faithful wit-
ness of the Gospel, Theodore Fliedner, born January 21, 1800.
As a youth of twenty-two, he became pastor of a small Evan-
gelical church in Kaiserswerth, in the very center of a Roman
Catholic district. The little flock was in dire distress. Even
the Church authorities had given it up and declared that the
congregation could not be sustained much longer. In fact,
the small chapel was threatened w^ith a sheriff's sale. But the
faithful young pastor, who had but just arrived on this field
of labor, could not bear to witness the death of his congrega-
tion. In the year 1823 he started on a collecting tour to
Holland and England, and by God's grace the financial object
of his mission succeeded perfectly — thanks to the love of
those of the same household of faith, and to his great gift of
reaching men's purses by touching their hearts.
This proved to be, however, only the less important re-
sult of this journey. It served to strengthen the young man's
faith by bringing him into contact with numerous upright and
pious Christians and fired his ambition to enter personally
into the work of Christian philanthropy, of wdiich he had seen
many evidences abroad. This resolution he began to carry
out immediately by devoting himself with much zeal to the
work among criminals. Twice every month he would journey
to Diisseldorf and visit the prison there, preaching to and
praying with the inmates. He also became the founder of a
(22)
prison society for the Rhine country and ^^'estphalia, which
still exists and has been the means of doing much spiritual
good among criminals.
The same year brought Fliedner into friendh' intercourse
with Pastor Kloenne, and it was the latter's influence which
led to his interest in deaconess work. The following year
found the indefatigable worker on a new collecting tour in
Holland. It was on this occasion that he met the Alennonite
Deaconesses mentioned above. He writes of this interesting
experience as follows: "Beside this there are in these congre-
gations deaconesses, elected by the church council, and placed
under its supervision, whose work it is to care for the female
poor. They receive no pay, belong to the best families in the
congregation, and show much willingness to perform their
work, which requires great personal sacrifices of time," etc.
In the meantime he devoted himself with renewed love
and care to the work among the prisoners, and endeavored to
secure means of providing for discharged female prisoners.
But when no other place of refuge could be found for them,
he declared himself ready to establish an asylum with this
object in view at Kaiserswerth. In this great undertaking he
was ably seconded by his devoted wife Frederike, nee IMiin-
ster ; and before the necessary funds and shelter were at hand
the first inmate made her appearance, 1833. \\'hat was to be
done? This first ex-prisoner, who was soon followed by an-
other, found shelter in a little house of the pastor's garden.
A matron was put in charge, and Fliedner and his wife gave
their personal assistance. Before long the inmates were able
to move from the little garden-house, the cradle of the institu-
tions at Kaiserswerth, -into an asylum specially built for their
accommodation. From this time on one work of mercy fol-
lowed another. In 1835 Fliedner opened a knitting school
in the garden-house, and in the spring of 1836 this had de-
veloped into a Little Children's School, or Christian Kinder-
garten. Next he turned his attention to the sick, and
from the very beginning he combined the proposed building
of a hospital with the establishment of a Deaconess Home.
In April, 1836, he bought the laroest and finest house in the
town for this purpose, fully trusting in the help of his Lord.
(23)
THE MEMORIAL WINDOW
and in May was founded the Rhenish-Westphalian Deaconess
Society. The faithful couple had many wonderful experiences
of God's manifest help in providing- the necessary funds, and
on the 13th of October, 1836, the hospital was opened. The
tirst sister entered on the 20th. She was Gertrude Reichert,
daughter of a physician, and the hrst deaconess of modern
times. "She was the first grain of mustard seed sown, small
and humble, but in faith and in imitation of the church of the
Apostles. Therefore it has a great promise."
A comparison between the ancient and modern form of
the Female Diaconate may not be out of place here. Such a
comparison will show the following differences between the
two : In the ancient Church a deaconess was chosen from the
ranks of the congregation which she was to serve ; now she
is sent from the Motherhouse, having been chosen by it, to the
congregation that desires her help. The deaconess of the
ancient Church lacked the special preparation for the calling
which every modern deaconess receives. While the former
wore no special garb to indicate this office, our deaconesses
wear a regularly prescribed garb.
However, all these changes are distinctly of an external
nature, and demanded by the conditions of modern times.
And in spite of these changes, the deaconess of to-day has
as true a claim to this ancient title as the ministers of the
Gospel have a perfect right to the claim of being the follow-
ers of the presbyters and bishops of the ancient Church,
though there may be many dififerences between the office of
the clergy of our time and that of the apostolic era. The only
essential difl^erence between our modern deaconesses and
those of the ancient Church is this, that the latter formed an
integral part of the organism of the Church, whilst in our time,
for the present at least, such is not always the case in America
and rarely so in Europe ; it seems more expedient to o-ather
the deaconesses in associations independent of the official con-
trol of the Church authorities.
It would lead us too far to folloAv in detail the history of
the origin and growth of the different IMotherhouses. We
close this historical review with a few statistical figures to
show how wonderfully God has blessed the work of the Fe-
(25)
male Diaconate. If ever the Scriptural ])r()inise has been
fulfilled: "A little one shall become a thousand" (Isaiah 60:
22), it has been in this case. Out of a small, humble begin-
ning-, despised by the v.orld, ridiculed by the Church of Rome
in the sure expectation of an early failure, by the grace of
God a great work has been developed, branching out in every
direction.
In 1864, when Fliedner died, there were, in addition to
Kaiserswerth, not less than 31 Deaconesses Motherhouses,
with 1,597 Sisters in 406 stations, with a total income of $200,-
000. Of these 425 Sisters, m Stations and about $41,000
belonged to Kaiserswerth.
Thirty years later, in 1894, there were 68 Motherhouses,
with 10,412 Sisters, in 3,461 stations, w^ith about $2,200,000
income; and in 1913, seventy-seven years after the work began,
there were 87 Motherhouses, with 21,965 Sisters, in 7,923
fields of labor, and an income of $5,850,000.
In 1913 the following houses had the largest number of
Sisters: Kaiserswerth, 1,435; Bielefeld, 1,330; Stuttgart, 980;
Konigsberg, 927 ; Neuendettelsau, 841 ; Dresden, 777 ; Christi-
ana, 539 ; Stockholm, 378; Copenhagen, 322.
These numbers tell their own tale, \\4ioever is able to
appreciate what they mean — what healing and alleviation of
distress in soul and body, what faithful labor in the name and
for the glory of our Saviour, wdiat divine blessings both on the
Sisters and on those to whom they ministeied, wil! acknowl-
edge: "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."
But at the same time it will be impossible for him to pass ^"his
work wdthout sympathetic interest, which will soon prompt a
prayer for God's further blessing and a word of encourage-
ment to those who are inclined to enter.
For the benefit of those who desire further information
on this subject v,e recommend the following books, which can
be ordered through our house :
(26)
ScHAEFER : Die weibliche Diakonie. Three volumes
F. Meyer : Von den Diakonissen und ihrem Beriif.
E. Wackek : Der Diakonissenberuf.
E. Wacker: Diakonissenspiegel.
Schaefer: Im Dienst der Liebe.
ScHAEFER : Diakonissen-Katechismus.
Fr. Meyer: Deaconesses and their Calling. Translated by Emma A. End-
lich. Milwaukee, Wis. : Geo. Brunder.
E. Wacker: The Deaconess Calling, its Past and its Present. Translated
by Emma A. Endlich. Appendix by A. Spaeth, D. D., Mary J.
Drexel Home, Philadelphia. Single copies, $0.50 ; by the dozen,
$0.40; by the hundred, $0.30.
Julie Mergner: Der Diakonissenberuf. 75 cents.
Julie Mergner: The Deaconess and Her Work. Translated fioni
the German by Mrs. Adolph Spaeth. Illustrated, 75 cents.
Proceedings and Papers of Ten Conferences of Ev. Luth. Deaconess
Motherhouses in the United States. 1896-1913.
The Deaconess and Inner Mission Work. Bulletin No. 2, published
by Inner Mission Society. Philadelphia. Mary J. Drexel Home.
J. S. Buettner: Gottes Befehl im Diakonissenberuf.
C. GoldER: History of the Deaconess Movement. German and English
editions. Cincinnati, O. Jennings & Pye. (Written from Metho-
dist viewpoint, but generally fair.)
J. F. Ohl: The Inner Mission. Illustrated, ,f i.oo.
(27)
PART SECOND.
I|iat0rg of nur mntI|^rI)nuBr.
A.— THE FIRST DEACONESSES IN AMERICA.
In the year 1849 the tirst Kaisersvverth Deaconesses ar-
rived in the United States. They labored in the service of in-
stitutions of mercy, established by a Lutheran clergyman, the
late Dr. ^^'. A. Passavant, who died June 3, 1894. (See "Life
and Letters of W. A. Passavant, D.D." by Prof. G. H.Gerberding,
D.D. ) His name will always be mentioned in connection with the
Deaconess cause in this country as that of a zealous and faith-
ful laborer in the Lord's vineyard, who was the first to recog-
nize the value of the ministry of the Sisters, and to labor vig-
orously for the introduction of this work from the fatherland
into this country.
While attending the first convention of the Evangelical
Alliance in London, 1846, he was encouraged and inspired to
undertake the establishment of institutions of mercy. And
as he journeyed on to Kaiserswerth he gained an insight into
the work of the Deaconesses. He at once asked Fliedner for
a number of Sisters for hospital service in America, and in
June, 1849, Fliedner himself brought four of his Deaconesses
into this country to the city of Pittsburg, where they took
charge of the Infirmary and Deaconess Institution, established
by the Rev. W. A. Passavant. On July 17, 1849, the hospital
was dedicated in the presence of Fliedner, to whom the Fe-
male Diaconate owes its reorganization in this century. In
the month of May, 1850, the first American probationer, Louise
Marthens, was consecrated as a Deaconess, and in 1857 an
additional Sister was sent from Kaiserswerth. F)Ut owing to
a lack of proper training and pastoral care the work made no
further progress.
Dr. Passavant, who was constantly engaged in founding
new institutions, could not possibly find the time for the quiet
work of building up the Sisterhood. And vet the proper
(29)
development of the Deaconess cause, with the necessary tech-
nical and religious training of the Sisters, requires the entire
time, thought, and strength of a man. In this limitation to the
one cause lay Fliedner's strength and, to a great measure, the
secret of his success. Passavant was so overwhelmed with
the largest and most vital problems of the Church in his day,
and devoted himself so unselfishly and, in a large measure,
successfully to their solution, that his early failures in the
deaconess work detract little from his greatness. Since 1893,
however, his hospital in Milwaukee, Wis., founded by him in
1864, had a Deaconess Motherhouse connected with it, which
has at this time 42 Sisters. The Rev. J. F. Ohl was the first
Rector, remaining until 1898. Since 1902 the Rev. Herman L.
Fritschel is in charge.
Before proceeding to our own ^Motherhouse, we deem it
proper to mention briefly the other Lutheran Deaconess In-
stitutions, a summary review of whose history will be found
in the published proceedings of the Seventh Conference of
the Lutheran ]\Iotherhouses in the L'nited States, held in
Philadelphia in April, 1908.
1. The Motherhouse at Baltimore, founded by the Gen-
eral Synod in 1895, the Rev. Charles E. Hay, D. D., pastor,
report! no: 41 Sisters.
2. The Swedish Motherhouse at Omaha, Xeb., founded by
the Rev. E. A. Fogelstrom in 1890, and now in charge of the
Rev. P. M. Lindberg;45 Sisters.
3. The Swedish Motherhouse at St. Paul, ]\Iinn., founded
1902 and connected with the Swedish Hospital of the ^linne-
sota Conference of the Augustana Synod. The pastor. Rev.
C. A. Hultkrans, reports 25 Sisters.
4.-6 The Norwegians have three Motherhouses, the oldest
in Brooklyn (founded I885, though the first deaconess came
there from Norway in I8S3) with 19 Sisters, since 1909 in charge
of Rev. A. O. Fonkalsrud ; another in Minneapolis (1889) has
39 Sisters ; rector since 1912 the Rev. M. Rufsvold ; and the
youngest and largest in Chicago (l897) with 61 Sisters under
Rev. A. Oefstedal. In the past few years Minneapolis and
Chicago have experienced the most rapid growth of all our
Motherhouses.
{30)
7. Since 1905 there is a Danish Deaconess Institution
founded by the Rev. J. Aladsen in Brush, Col., furnishing- the
Sisters in charge of the Sanatorium for puhnonary tubercu-
losis, founded also by him in 1903. He is doing remarkable
work with his three Sisters.
8.-9. Summing up by including ^Milwaukee and our own
Motherhouse, we find that according to the statistics of April,
191,'', there are 9 Lutheran Deaconess Alotherhouses. with 358
Sisters, in 78 different fields of labor — i. e.. in 17 parishes, in
14 hospitals, in 12 Homes for the Aged, in ^ Orphans' Homes
and the rest in fourteen different kinds of work, including
vSisters in the foreign field.
B.— OUR DEACONESSES IN THE GERMAN
HOSPITAL.
The German Hospital in Philadelphia was founded and
chartered in 1860. In the following year it acquired its own
building and property at Twentieth and Norris Streets. But
during- the Civil War the United States Government took pos-
session of it and used it as a military hospital. Consequently,
the first patients were received into the German Hospital,
properly speaking, only towards the close of the year 1866. A
new era of prosperity and success was inaugurated in the his-
tory of the hospital in 1869, when IMr. John D. Lankenau w^as
elected president. In 1872 the hospital was transferred to its
present location at the southwest corner of Girard and Corin-
thian Avenues. Extensive changes were made in the building
during 1874 and 1875. Ten years later, "in memory of his
wife, son and daughter," President Lankenau added a large
wing to the old buflding. \\hich. at the same time, received a
fourth story. He also built a new operating room, fitted up
with all modern improvements, and a laundry, stable, mortu-
ary, and boiler house, not to speak of many important improve-
ments in the interior of the buildings.
And } et. perhaps, of even greater importance were the
measures carried through by the venerable president, as-
sisted by faithful and judicious counselors and co-workers, by
(31)
which the inner administration of the hospital was reorgan-
ized and the introduction of Deaconesses effected. In testi-
mony of this the words of the president may be quoted, when
at the dedication of our Alotherhouse, he said: "By the en-
trance of the Sisters a more healthy system of management
was introduced into the hospital and a complete change of
the old system of nursing was inaugurated."
In the fall of 1882 the way was opened for the introduc-
tion of Deaconesses into the German Hospital by a change in
the charter, by which the co-operation of the Church was
frankly and openly invited by the Hospital Board. Thus an
opportunity was afforded for such changes in the internal ad-
ministration of the hospital and its methods of nursing as
would make it a possibility worthy of consideration to call
Deaconesses from Germany.
The President, Mr. John D. Lankenau, and with him
Consul Chas. H. ]\Ieyer, had already made several attempts to
induce Kaiserswerth or some other large Motherhouse in (jcr-
many to give up some Sisters to our hospital. Consul Rasch-
dau, of the German General Consulate in New York, had also
taken a very special and active interest in our affairs, and in
1883 had made various attempts to secure Sisters for us. But
on all sides our applications were refused. The Sisters were
too urgently needed at home, and could not be spared for
America.
In the spring of 1883, during a business trip to Germany,
Consul Chas. H. Meyer undertook once more to secure Dea-
conesses for us. He visited Kaiserswerth, where Pastor Dis-
selhoff, the son-in-law. and Rev. Geo. Fliedner. the son of the
late Inspector Fliedner, carried on the blessed work of their
father with so much success. But interesting and instructive as
this visit was, its main object was without result, and, in fact,
it almost irresistibly forced upon us the disheartening convic-
tion that all endeavors would be in vain. However, Consul
Meyer did not give up hope, but continued his efforts unremit-
tingly.
tn- Hamburg, not long after this, he learned through the
Rev. C. Ninck, a warm friend of the Deaconess cause, that
in the hospital at Iserlohn there was a small independent
(33)
community of Sisters, under the direction of a Superior, ^larie
Krueger, who had been trained in Kaiserswerth, and that
possibly this little band of Deaconesses might be in a position
to accede to our proposal. A correspondence was opened with
the Sister Superior, which resulted toward the end of 1883 in
an agreement that she with six Sisters would come over to
Philadelphia in the spring of 1884.
It was not easy for the Sisters to bid farewell to their field
of labor in Iserlohn and to their old home. Repeated efforts
were made by the Towai Council and citizens of Iserlohn to
shake their resolution. But the Sisters remained true to their
word, and departed with the thanks of the town "for the ex-
cellent and self-sacrificing manner in which they had filled
their office." On the 7th of June, 1884, the little company
embarked on the steamer "Pennland," in Antwerp, and after
a safe voyage reached the harbor of New York on the 19th
of June, landing at Jersey City. They w^ere there received
by the President of the German Hospital, ]\Ir. J. D. Lankenau,
and conducted to their new home in Philadelphia.
The names of the Sisters who came as pioneers in the
Deaconess work in Philadelphia deserve to be recorded here :
Sister Alarie Krueger, from Ehrenbreitstein on the 'Rhine.*^*^
Sister Frederike AVurzler, from Deutschenthal, near Halle.*^
Sister AA^ilhelmine Dittmann, from Neuwied.
Sister Alarianne Kraetzer, from Harzgerode, Harz Alts.
Sister Alagadelena von Bracht. from St. Vieth, Eifel Mts.
Sister Alma Kohmann, from Eibau, Saxony./^
Sister Pauline Loeschmann, from Writzen,^Iark Bran-
denburg.
The last named left the Sisterhood soon after her arrival,
and Sister Frederike Wurzler, whose services were invalu-
able to us owing to her rich experience, especially in surgical
nursing, was obliged to return to Germany utterly broken
down in health, and died there after a protracted illness. We
also lost the first Superior Sister or "Oberin" and Sister Alma
by death. The remaining three Iserlohn Sisters still belong
to our house and serve it most faithfully. Sister AA^ilhelmine
Dittmann even as "Oberin" since Easter, 1909. Thev cele-
brated the twenty-fifth anniversarv of their Deaconess activity
(34) '
on April 21, 1897, and of their arrival in this country on June
19, 1909.
The beginning- of the work in our Hospital was in many
respects very difficult for the Sisters. The new south wing
was not yet completed ; the persons who until this time had
charge of the house were, at least for awhile, still on the spot ;
and the w^ay was yet to be gradually broken for a perfect
understanding of the peculiar character of Protestant Deacon-
ess work, not only among the physicians, but even in the
Board of Trustees. The work made an important advance
through the appointment of a standing Deaconess Committee,
which was named by the President of the Board in February,
1885, for the purpose of formally organizing the Deaconess
work in this country, winning new Sisters, securing proba-
tioners, and providing for their training. This committee held
its regular sessions every month, and made all the arrange-
ments necessary in the interest of the Deaconess cause. The
members of the Deaconess Committee were the following
gentlemen : J. D. Lankenau, President and Treasurer ; Chas.
H. Meyer. Secretary ; Rev. W. J. Mann, D. D. ; Rev. A. Spaeth,
D. D. ; Rev. F. Wischan ; J. C. File, President of the German
Society ; J. H. Tilge ; G. A. Schwarz ; and Sister Marie Krue-
ger, the Superior.
A further advantage was gained for the Deaconess cause
by a change in the mode of appointing resident physicians,
this position having generally been occupied by three young
doctors, just graduated. As such a plan was incompatible
with the principles of the Deaconess work, it was so modified
that one resident physician of riper experience was appointed
as Medical Superintendent. From T»ly. 1885, this place was
satisfactorily filled by -Dr. Geo. A. Bodamer, until he was
succeeded in 1889 by Dr. Carl Frese. He was followed in
1902 by Dr. Henry F. Page, wdio is still in charge.
C— PRELIMINARY HISTORY OF OUR MOTHER-
HOUSE.
The most important step in the further development of
the Deaconess work, however, was the determination of the
(35)
President, Mr. J. D. Lankenau, to erect the necessary build-
ings for a Deaconess Motherhouse in connection with the
contemplated Mary J. Drexel Home. The idea of founding
an asylum for aged and infirm Germans, culminating in the
Mary J. Drexel Home, had been conceived by Mr. Lankenau
several years before any one thought of the Deaconesses.
For this purpose he had bought all the lots adjacent to the
German Hospital, and the amended charter of 1882 contained
a paragraph giving the management of this institution eventu-
ally into the hands of the Hospital Board.
The introduction of Deaconesses suggested to our Presi-
dent the establishment of a real Deaconess Institution in
connection with the proposed Mary J. Drexel Home. There
could be no doubt that if the work of Deaconesses was to take
firm foothold among us, and become permanently established,
steps should be taken as soon as possible toward founding a
separate Motherhouse, where probationers could be received
and trained, and where disabled and aged Sisters could have
a home in the evening of life. The Deaconess Institution, as
such, would have to be established and directed in a churchly
spirit, if any growth were to be expected for it. And as the
Sisters from the beginning had found their spiritual home in
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Johannis and their
spiritual guide in its pastor, the Rev. Dr. A. Spaeth ; as, more-
over, since the amendment of the charter in 1882, three pas-
tors from the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsyl-
vania were to be in the Board of Trustees of the Hospital,
there was no question that the Motherhouse which was to be
founded, must stand in organic union with the Lutheran
Church. But there was still the possibility that the Mary J.
Drexel Home might have its own administration, different
from that of the Deaconess Institution. The founder of both
institutions, however, after mature consideration, decided that
the Mary J. Drexel Home and Motherhouse of Deaconesses
should not only be combined architecturally in one magnificent
building-, but should also be placed under one management.
For these a special Board of Directors, as an independent cor-
poration, was to be created, in which the Board of Trustees
of the German Hospital was to be represented by three mem-
(37)
bers. The carrying out of this measure required another
change in the charter of the German Hospital. This was pro-
posed in the session of the Deaconess Committee of September
26, 1885, by Consul Chas. H. Meyer, and was adopted for sub-
mission to the Board of Trustees. At the same time j\Ir. J.
D. Lankenau announced that he was ready to begin building
the new institution as soon as the Corporation of the German
Hospital agreed upon the amendment. During the same ses-
sion the name of the new institution was decided upon : "The
Mar}' J. Drexel Home and Philadelphia Motherhouse of Dea-
conesses."
xA.fter the preliminary approval of the proposed amend-
ment had been passed by the Corporation in the meeting of
January, 1886, the first steps were at once taken for beginning
the building. xA-t the session of the Deaconess Committee on
March 27, 1886, Air. Lankenau announced his intention to en-
trust the design and execution of the building to the architect,
Mr. G. Knoche. He was then unanimously chosen by the
committee as architect of the proposed building, and i\Ir. Lank-
enau concluded the necessary contracts with him.
On the 20th of September, 1886, ground was broken, and
on November 11th the corner-stone of the new building was
laid by Mr. John D. Lankenau with appropriate ceremonies.
A full description of this solemn act was afterward published
in German and English.
While the external building was making rapid progress,
important steps were also taken for the internal development
of the Deaconess work, though the time following immediately
after the laying of the corner-stone was in many respects full
of severe trials and anxieties. On the 30th of November, 1887,
the Sister Superior. Marie Krueger, died, and until May, 1888,
Sister Wilhelmine Dittmann acted pro tempore as Sister Su-
perior. At the same time the internal affairs of the Sister-
hood were regulated by weekly conferences of the older Sis-
ters held under the direction of their pastor, Dr. A. Spaeth.
Repeated eft"orts to secure experienced Sisters from the other
houses in Germany proved unsuccessful. The committee hav-
ing charge of this work became more and more convinced
that the clear duty before us was to train our future Sisters
(38)
ourselves from the probationers who would enter our Mother-
house. For this purpose it seemed to be highly important and
necessary to secure at least one thoroughly trained Sister from
a German Motherhouse, who, as Training Sister (Probe-
meisterinj would be fully competent to train our probationers.
U'ith a view^ to this end Dr. A. Spaeth, during the summer
of 1886, visited the most prominent German Motherhouses,
Kaiserswerth, Bielefeld, Hannover, Altona, Stuttgart and
Neuendettelsau. At the latter place an understanding was
reached with the Rector, Rev. F. iMeyer, to the effect that one
of the ablest and most experienced Sisters from that excellent
institution, founded by Loehe in 1854, should be sent over to
stay with us a number of years and take charge of the train-
ing of our probationers. But in the end even this agreement
came to naught, as the state of health of the Sister selected
for this work did not permit her coming to this country. But
after all we owe much to the Neuendettelsau Alotherhouse, in-
asmuch as several Sisters at present charged with important
work, received their training there. Aleanwhile the need be-
came more and more tu'gent. It was absolutely necessary
to secure an able and competent Housemother or Sister Su-
perior for our orphaned band of Sisters, and, if possible, at the
same time, a suitable minister as Housefather or Rector who
could devote his whole time and strength to the training
of the Sisters and to the systematic development of the Dea-
coness cause. For the former position, through the efforts of
President John D. Lankenau and Consul Chas. H. Meyer,
\\'anda von Oertzen, a woman of great energy, executive
ability, and wide experience in nursing, was secured. She ar-
rived on May 26, 1888, and w^as solemnly inducted into her
office on the evening 'of June 18, 1888. For the position of
Pastor and Rector of the Motherhouse of Deaconesses, at the
first meeting of the newly incorporated Board of Trustees, on
the 18th of February, 1888, Dr. A. Spaeth proposed the Rev.
Augustus Cordes, wdio, as the assistant of the late Pastor
Ninck in Hamburg, had known the work of the Deaconesses
from practical experience. The correspondence opened with
him by resolution of the Board, had the gratifying result that
on the 7th of August, 1888, we had the pleasure of welcoming
(39)
him at our House, where he cheerfully and vigorously entered
upon the duties of his important office. Thus, almost simul-
taneously, the two most important practical problems for the
continuation and development of the work were solved in a
most satisfactory manner. We had secured an Oberin (Sister
Superior) and a Rector for our institution, both of whom de-
served our fullest confidence, and from whom the happiest
results could be expected for the healthy and continued growth
of our cause.
In the meantime important progress had also been made
in the internal organization of the work. The former Com-
mittee on Deaconesses, appointed by the Board of Trustees of
the German Hospital, had given place to the incorporated
Board of Trustees of the Mary J. Drexel Home and Philadel-
phia Motherhouse of Deaconesses. At a meeting of the com-
mittee on January 22, 1887, a sub-committee had been ap-
pointed, consisting of Messrs. John D. Lankenau, Chas. H.
Meyer, and A. Spaeth, D. D., to draft a charter for the new
corporation, with the advice and co-operation of James Par-
sons, Esq. On October 20, 1887, the charter was finally
adopted, and the following gentlemen were appointed mem-
bers of the new corporation : John D. Lankenau, Rev. A\"illiam
J. Mann, D. D., Rev. Adolph Spaeth, D. D., Rev. Frederick
Wischan, Rev. Hugo Grahn, Chas. H. Meyer, John C. File,
Gustavus A. Schwarz and J. Henry Tilge. When the charter
had been granted by the court, the new corporation organized
at its first meeting on February 18, 1888, by electing the fol-
lowing officers : President, John D. Lankenau ; Vice-President,
Chas. H. Meyer; ^Secretary, Rev. Hugo Grahn; Treasurer,
Chas. Woerwag; Attorney, James Parsons, Esq. In a com-
munication dated March 7, 1888, the President officially in-
formed the Board of the German Hospital of the organization
of the new corporation, at the same time expressing his sin-
cere thanks for their kindness and willingness in conveying
the lease of the western part of the Hospital ground to the
new corporation, and closing with the hope that there would
always exist the kindliest feelings and ready co-operation be-
tween the two sister institutions.
As the Deaconess cause thus gradually developed and
(41)
shaped itself in this Western world, it also gained the confi-
dence and recognition of the older Motherhouses in the Ger-
man Fatherland, which had, from the beginning, shown a kind
interest in our history. The General Conference of Deaconess
Motherhoiises which meets once in three years, at its conven-
tion held in September, 1888, at Kaiserswerth, declared itself
ready to invite our Motherhouse for the present to take part
in the conference as a guest, provided that our rules and regu-
lations should be found in accordance with the principles rec-
ognized b}^ the General Conference. In 1894 our Motherhouse
was admitted as a regular member of that conference, and
since then the Lutheran Motherhouses in Baltimore, Md., in
Omaha, Neb., and in Milwaukee, Wis., have also joined the
same, giving the Lutheran Deaconess work in America the
stamp of approval by the highest authority on Deaconess work
and principles in Europe. These four Motherhouses, together
with the Norwegian Motherhouses in Brooklyn, in Minneapo-
lis and in Chicago, and the Swedish IMotherhouse in St. Paul,
are, since 1896, united in an American conference of Lutheran
Motherhouses, which meets bi-ennially and has done much
towards uniformity of principles and methods of the work in,
this country. The Danish Motherhouse at Brush, Col., also
reports to this Conference and is recognized by the same.
D.— OUR SISTERS IN THEIR OWN MOTHERHOUSE.
The charter of the corporation of the Motherhouse having
been adopted in October, 1887, and our Sisterhood having
received a new Oberin and their own spiritual adviser in the
person of their Pastor, everything was ready for the formal
organization and opening of the Motherhouse.
This event was signalized by the dedication of the mag-
nificent building on December 6, 1888. With this date the
real history of our House begins. At 3 P. M. on that mem-
orable day the members of the Board, the officiating clergy-
men and the Deaconesses moved in procession to the Chapel.
At the main entrance the architect, Mr. G. Knoche, handed the
key to the President, Mr. J. D. Lankenau, who, in an ad-
mirable address, formally surrendered the building to the
(42)
Board of Trustees with the promise that he would make pro-
vision for its maintenance and support. The Vice-President,
Consul Chas. H. Meyer, responded in behalf of the Board,
assuring- the generous donor of their consciousness of the
grave responsibilities assumed, but also of their grateful recog-
nition and appreciation of Mr. Lankenau's act, and conclud-
ing with the best wishes for the founder and the institution.
This was followed by the formal consecration of the house
and with the liturgical order of the Vesper Service, the Rev.
Dr. W. J. Mann making the German address, and the Rev.
Dr. Jos. A. Seiss speaking in English. After this the new
Rector, Rev. A. Cordes, was solemnly installed by the Rev.
Dr. A. Spaeth.
On that memorable day the Sisterhood consisted of eight
consecrated Deaconesses and twenty probationers, five of
whom, being trained for the Swedish Motherhouse in Omaha,
did not properly belong to our own House.
Meanwhile the work of our Sisters had been sought also
in other places. In the spring of 1887 parish work was un-
dertaken in the German Lutheran St. Paul's congregation.
There, through the influence of the Rev. F. Wischan, a Dea-
coness Society had been formed which asked that a Sister
might be assigned to them.
The first case of private nursing and the first work out-
side of Philadelphia was undertaken in January, 1889, when
a Sister was sent to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., to take charge of a
family stricken with typhoid fever.
In April of the same year the first monthly Conference of
Sisters was held.
Since 1890 the German monthly, "Der Diakonissen-
Freund," has been 'published as the organ of our cause, and
has met with general favor throughout our Church and our
country. Whilst the 3'ear 1890 had seen a number of new
enterprises within the Motherhouse and outside, the following
years w^ere devoted to quiet development. A great deal of
labor was demanded from the Sisters and their leaders. The
Rector found some relief in the appointment of a secretary
and assistant in the person of the Rev. A. Blum (June 1, 1892).
On March 31, 1892, the Isolating House was completed bv
(43)
Mr. Lankenau, and handed over to the Board of Trustees.
It is used for the reception of such patients who, whilst under
treatment in the Children's Hospital or in the German Hos-
pital, are found to be afflicted with contagious disease. It
has done most valuable service to both institutions.
An invaluable blessing was bestowed upon our Sisterhood
when in 1890 our President opened his cottage by the seashore
at Cape May Point, N. J., which he most generously devoted
to the recreation of the Sisters, he himself being the kind host
who invited the Sisters to his table and offered a most com-
fortable home to those who needed rest and the refreshing
sea-breeze and bath during the summer heat.
A great loss was sustained by our IMotherhouse when,
m July, 1892, Rector Cordes resigned while visiting in Ger-
many. ^^'hat he was to our House through his assiduous and
many-sided labors shall never be forgotten and deserves our
grateful remembrance. His place was vacant from June, 1892,
to July, 1893. The Rev. A. Blum acted as substitute, faith-
fully discharging the duties laid upon him. In the month
of May, 1893, the Oberin was afflicted with severe illness, and
for a time had to withdraw from the management of the
House.
On the Fourth of July, 1893, the new pastor. Rev. Carl
Goedel, arrived, and was solemnly installed in his ofBce on the
following Sunday, July 8th, by the Rev. Dr. A. Spaeth. He
had formerly been in the service of the Rhenish Church as
pastor in W^einsheim, near Kreuznach. By the grace of God he
succeeded in discharging the duties of his office to the full
satisfaction of the Board.
The year 189-! brought a change in the Board, inasmuch
as the Rev. F. Wi^chan resigned, and Rev. G. C. Berkemeier,
D. D., of the Wartburg Orphans' Home, Mount Vernon,
N, Y., was chosen in his place. This choice was made possible
by a change in our charter, obtained some time before, which
demands that the clerical members of the Board must belong
to the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in North America, being no longer confined, as before, to the
Ministerium of Pennsylvania. By this action and the elec-
tion of the Rev. Mr. Berkemeier, the New York Ministerium
(45)
is brought into closer contact with our institution. And it is
fair and proper to give a pul)lic recognition to the warm in-
terest which we there find for our cause, and which is sho>vn
by the fact that quite a number of Christian women have
come to us from that part of the Church. It is an advantage
to the Church at' large that the work of the Female Diaconate
within these two oldest Lutheran Synods is concentrated in
one Motherhouse, and that a separation into different smaller
institutions has been avoided.
On the 30th of T^Iarch, 1894, the Rev. A. Blum left us,
after several years of faithful service, to accept a call as pas-
tor. The position of Secretary, which had been filled by him,
was first taken by one of the Sisters ; afterwards by ]\Iiss
Nora R. Ohl, who resigned to enter upon other work in 1908.
She has been succeeded by a Deaconess.
On the 21st of July, 1895, death removed Mr. J. Henry
Tilge, who had been a member of the Hospital Board since
1882, and who, when our work was begun, was also elected
a member of the Board of the Mary J. Drexel Home.
Of great importance not only for our House, but also for
the entire Deaconess work in our Church and in the United
States, was the First Conference of Lutheran Deaconess
Houses in America, held in our House, September 16-18, 1896.
Vital questions w^ere there discussed, involving the fundamen-
tal principles of the Diaconate, and a hearty agreement was
reached by the representatives of the Motherhouses of Phila-
delphia, Milwaukee, Omaha and Baltimore. Before the close
of the sessions the Conference efifected a permanent organiza-
tion. The second meeting of the Conference was held in Mil-
waukee, Wis., October 20-22, 1897 ; the third in Omaha, Neb.,
October 4, 5, 1899; the fourth in Baltimore, Md., January 5-7,
1903; the fifth in Philadelphia. April 26-28, 1904; the sixth in
Milwaukee, October 10, 11, 1905; and the seventh again in
Philadelphia, April 21, 22, 1908. The proceedings and papers
of these highly successful conventions are ptiblished in pamph-
let form and can be had on application.
Our beloved Oberin, ^^'anda von Oertzen, was, in June,
1897, obliged to intermit her labors in order to go abroad and
seek relief from a serious ailment. It was, however, the Lord's
(46)
plan to release her entirely from His service upon earth. After
a ling-ering- illness, she peacefully fell asleep on the 14th of
November in the Deaconess ^lotherhouse, Bethanien, Berlin.
What Wanda von Oertzen was to our two institutions,
and to each one of the Sisters is known only by our closest
friends. The thoughtfulness of our President has given last-
ing expression to our enduring love and respect by the erec-
tion of a memorial tablet in the stair-hall of the Motherhouse.
Thus the memory of the departed will be perpetuated to the
future generations of our House, whilst those who were asso-
ciated with her will keep her in faithful and grateful remem-
brance as long as they live.
Before this season of trial and privation and anxious wait-
ing had come to an end, it pleased God to lay a fresh burden
upon us in the sudden death of our Vice-President, the Ger-
man Consul in this city, ]\Ir. Charles H. Meyer, who was
taken away during the night of August 13, 14, 1898. His name
will likewise continue to be linked not only with the history
of our House, but also with that of the work of the Diaconate
in our land. From the very beginning he was the most faith-
ful and indefatigable co-worker of our. founder, and an in-
telligent, warm-hearted friend of our Sisters, whose compan-
ionship he sought not only in their fields of labor, but also
during their hours of leisure and recreation, and for whom he
made many a vigorous plea. Though a very busy man, it
was his delight to devote his comparatively brief periods of
freedom to the service of our institution. To many he was a
loyal personal friend. As such he will continue to live in
our memories; and his labors for our cause will, as he himself
hoped, be his enduring legacy to us, to our Motherhouse, and
to the German Hospital.
On the 30th of January, 1898, Sister Emilie Schwarz was
installed into the ofifice of Sister Superior of the Motherhouse.
In February, 1901, she resigned, and our former Training Sis-
ter, Sister Magdalene Steinmann, was installed Sister Superior
on the afternoon of ^^^^itsunday, 1901.
By a unanimous vote, the well-known and highly re-
spected attorney and present judge of the Court of Common
Pleas, Hon. AVilliam H. Staake, a most active lavman of our
(47)
AUDITORIUM OF LANKENAU SCHOOL
SITTING ROOM FOR SENIOR GIRLS
Church, was, at the beginning of the year 1898, elected a mem-
ber of the Board, and at the Board's first session in 1899 he
was unanimously chosen Vice-President of the institution. At
the same meeting- Mr. Hermann Hessenbruch was elected a
member of the Board.
The event which during the past years has been of great-
est import to us was the death of our President, founder and
maintainer, Mr. Johann Diederich Lankenau, on August 30,
1901. Of the many afflictions that have come to our Mother-
house in the few years of its existence this has been the most
se\'ere. The loss of our kind and loving President, who had
been a father to all, was most keenly felt.
The death of our founder has completed the first period
in the history of our Motherhouse. A\'e who have been in-
trusted ])y our late President with the direction of all the work,
must preserve his memory to posterity by a faithful continu-
ance and development of the projects to which Mr. Lankenau
had given his loving consideration, and which, through the
grace of God, had been promoted by his advice and large
munificence.
On the 7th of January, 1902, the Hon. William H. Staake
was unanimously elected President and Mr. G. A. Schwarz
Vice-President of the Board of Directors. The vacancy in the
Board caused by the death of Mr. Lankenau has been filled
by the election of Mr. ^^'illiam P. M. Braun as member of the
Board of Trustees.
On March 9, 1902, our first Treasurer, Mr. Charles A.
Woerwag, died. Mr. Edmund R. Teubner was elected his
successor, and by his faithful support our institution has a
sound system of finances. ^Ir. \\'oerwag was succeeded in
the Board of Trustees- by the Rev. Samuel Laird, D. D., who
is also a member of the Board of the German Hospital.
The affairs of the Home went along most satisfactorily
until early in 1904, when Pastor Goedel felt constrained to
resign in order to return to the Fatherland and to make room
for a man more in sympathv with the language and the spirit
of this country than he found it possible to be; but as a suit-
able successor could not be secured at that time, he most gen-
erouslv decided to remain at his post for two more vears. His
(19)
resignation was finally accepted by the Board of Trustees with
deep regret, and in full appreciation of the many and faithful
services he had rendered in the thirteen years of his pastorate
at the Drexel Home. With his family he sailed for Germany
on June 21st, 1906, and on his arrival found an invitation to
become the pastor of the independent Lutheran congregation
in Montreux, on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, where he is now
laboring with marked success. The Rev. E. F. Bachmann,
who had served Concordia Evangelical Lutheran congrega-
tion in Buffalo, N. Y., since 1892, and who had declined a call
to the Drexel Home in 1904, was persuaded to accept a second
call and entered upon his duties as pastor of the ^lotherhouse
on August 4th, 1906. On September 23d the first regular Eng-
lish service was held in the beautiful chapel of the Drexel
Home, and since then our Sunday evening services have been
English. English is also used in the classroom, and, in fact,
so generally by most of the Sisters, that candidates from
English Lutheran congregations soon feel perfectly at home.
They are expected, however, to acquire the German langua'^e
also, in order to profit no less by our German services and
to enable them to study the German sources on the Diaconate
and on Inner Missions; at the same time the unsurpassed de-
votional literature of the German Lutheran Church is made
accessible to these Sisters and, finally, they are the better fitted
for their work in hospitals and parishes. By the grace of
God the vexing troubles of the language problem are unknown
in the Drexel Home. The summer of 1907 the pastor spent
abroad to become accpiainted with some of the leading men
and Motherhouses of the Diaconate in German}- and to attend
the Triennial Convention of the General Conference of Dea-
coness Motherhouses held at Kaiserswert. September 17th-
19th. The beneficial influence of this sojourn abroad is grate-
fully acknowledged by the pastor and has made itself felt in
the work of the Motherhouse.
Perhaps the most inijiortant event of late }ears for the
future development of our work was the purchase in March,
1908, of the large property adjacent to the grounds of the
Motherhouse, and extending westward between South College
(Girard) Avenue and Poplar Street in triangular form, the
(50)
base on Twenty-second Street and the apex on Twenty-
fourth Street. The happy consummation of this purchase, by
which the hopes of a score of years were reaHzed, is due pri-
marily to the indefatigaljle efforts of our honored President,
the Hon. W. li. Staake.
The month following- the acquisition of the above-men-
tioned property brought both joy and deep sorrow. We had
the privilege of welcoming in our midst the Seventh Confer-
ence of Lutheran Alotherhouses in this country, convening
here April 21st-22d. A\'hile still rejoicing over the success
of this gathering of fellow-workers in the Diaconate, on April
23d a double blow fell upon us, that at first quite staggered us :
the total loss of the A'illa Lankenau by fire and the resignation
of our Sister Superior, Magdalene Steinmann. A\'e were hum-
bled and out of the depths cried unto the Lord ; He heard us,
He helped us and to-day we gratefully acknowledge, that He
doeth all things well. Sister ^Magdalene Steinmann had faith-
fully served the Motherhouse as a deaconess since 1889 and
as Sister Superior since 1901, but returned to Germany on
wSeptember 2d, 1908, in accordance with her original intention
to remain in America for only a limited number of years.
After nineteen years of unremitting labor she is now enjoying
well-deserved rest and the quiet of her private home in
Schwerin, Germany. The Board of Trustees appointed Sister
Wilhelmine Dittmann, one of the seven Sisters who came
from Germany in 1884, to act temporarily as Sister Superior,
but she proved herself so well qualified, that when a perma-
nent incumbent of this most important office was to be chosen,
she was unanimously nominated by the Board and as unani-
mously elected by the Deaconesses as Sister Superior. She
was inducted into her crffice on the afternoon of Easter Sunday,
April 11th, 1909.
In the meantime the rebuilding of the Villa Lankenau had
also begun, and on June 15th the Board of Trustees met at the
almost completed new villa and with appropriate ceremonies
inserted the corner-stone. Though the costly furnishings of
the former villa can never be replaced and their loss is de-
plored so sincerely because of the many articles dear to the
memorv of Mr. Lankenau, vet the new villa is in manv re-
'(51)
spects superior to the former and lacks none of the comforts
of an elegant home.
On May 7th, 1909, the Lord called from our midst a most
faithful member of our Board, the Air. Joseph A. Bremer, well
known as an active Church-worker and as a successful busi-
ness man. He had rendered most valuable services to the
Home since his election to the Board of Trustees in Alarch,
1893, but had been forced by physical infirmities, that pre-
vented his regular participation in our meetings, to resign in
February, 1909. With deep regret and with sincere apprecia-
tion of his share in guarding and developing the interests of
the Motherhouse, Mr. Bremer's resignation was adopted. He
passed away three months later, on the very day that his suc-
cessor, Mr. Frederick C. Hassold, was elected. In Mr. Has-
sold we have gained a member whose business ability, prac-
tical experience and sympathetic interest well qualify him to
assist in the solution of the manifold problems awaiting us.
The successful completion of the first quarter of a cen-
tury of our work was marked by a quiet but most enjoyable
celebration at the Motherhouse on the exact date of arrival of
the Sisters from Iserlohn on June 19th, but for i^ractical rea-
sons the public jubilee was deferred until the usual anni-
versary in the fall, and September 29th was fixed as the date.
This day was one of the most glorious in the historv of our
work, second only to the day of the dedication of our Alother-
house, as those declare who had been present also on that
occasion. The secular as Avell as the religious press gave
liberal space to the reports of this jubilee and justified the
statement in an editorial of "The Lutheran," that "The eyes
of many have been opened to the diaconate as never before,
and to the possibilities of the Church, if she will Init learn to
use this arm of Christian service." The principal speaker of
the day was the former Rector Cordes, to whom the Mother-
house is indebted for much that has helped to place its religious
life and work on such a high plane. In the morning he
preached a powerful sermon on thanksgiving, and at the
service in the afternoon he filled the hearts of his hearers with
enthusiasm by his appeal for personal and untiring support of
the diaconate. All who have heard him felt grateful to him for
(53)
having crossed the Atlantic in order to rejoice with us. The
Church was officially represented by the President of the Gen-
eral Council, the Rev. Theodore E. Schmauk, D. D., LL. D.,
and by the President of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, Prof.
Jacob Fry, D. D., both bringing official congratulations and
stirring the large audience by their testimony of the Church's
appreciation of the deaconess work. The Hon. William H.
Staake, President of our Board of Trustees, had welcomed
the many friends at the opening of the afternoon exercises,
and the Rev. Dr. Spaeth closed the service with a masterful
summing up of the principal sentiments of the occasion,
leading up to new inspiration and new consecration. It was
a solemn hour. Letters and telegrams of congratulation w^ere
read in the evening at the social gathering in a large tent on
the grounds, and physicians, as well as clergymen, gladly bore
testimony to the efficient and self-denying services rendered
by the' Sisters and of the rich blessing resting on their labors.
Especially honored on this day were the three survivors of
the original seven Sisters, Sister Superior W'ilhelmine Ditt-
mann. Sister Magdalene von Bracht and Sister Marianne
Kraetzer, each still active and in most responsible positions,
and all three in the diaconate since 1870!
How fortunate, also, that we still had with us two
members of the original Deaconess Committee of the German
Hospital Board, appointed in 1885, Mr. G. A. Schwarz and
Prof. Adolph Spaeth, D. D., LL. D., and likewise, the Rev.
Hugo Grahn, D. D., who was a member of the first Board of
Trustees of our Motherhouse, organized in 1887. Before
another year had passed. Dr. Spaeth, whose whole-souled
eloquence had been the closing climax of our jubilee, had
entered into eternal rest. Though suffering seriously for
some time, his friends, and even his family, were quite unpre-
pared for the shock, when the Lord called him from his labors
on Sunday, June 25, 1910. Li him the Church lost one of her
most devoted and energetic leaders and her most eloquent
preacher, especially in the German language ; the Theological
Seminary at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, one of its most scholarly
and inspiring teachers; but our Alotherhouse lost in him a
spiritual father. He contributed, more than any other man,
(54)
toward its character and policy, and there is not a page in
the history of the first twenty-five years of our deaconess
work without his telling influence. Together with Pastor
Goedel, he issued, in 1896, the invitation to the Lutheran
Motherhouses in this country, resulting in the organization of
a Conference that has done much for the uniformity of
principles and practice. Of this Conference, Dr. Spaeth was
the first, and during his lifetime, the only President. Within
less than two years another charter member followed him,
the Rev. Hugo Grahn, D. D.. who entered into his rest, after
a most busy and useful life, on April 17th, 1912. He had
served our Alotherhouse with rare fidelity, especially as sec-
retary of the Board from the date of its organization, until
advanced feebleness prompted him to decline a re-election
to this office in January 1909, though he continued as an
active member of the Board. The loss of these servants of
the Lord is still keenly felt, but with gratitude to God we
rejoice in having been able to secure as their successors the
Rev. H. OiTermann, D. D., N. T. Professor at the Mt. Airy
Seminary, and Mr. E. Clarence Miller, one of the leading men
in the Church as well as in financial circles. The former
entered the Board in January, 1911. as the successor of Dr.
Spaeth, the latter in January, 1913, in the place of Dr. Grahn.
At this writing our Vice-President, Mr. G. A. Schwarz, re-
mains as the only charter-member of the Board. May it please
God to spare him for many more years of further service to
our Motherhouse and to the German Hospital, of whose Board
he also is one of the most active and faithful members.
The most important step for the development of our work
in recent years was ,the purchase of the large triangular plot
of ground, with its spacious buildings, directly west of the
, Motherhouse and extending from Twenty-second to Twenty-
fourth street. After the buildings had been remodeled, in
jjart rebuilt, and the grounds laid out anew, our school for
girls was transferred there from the fourth floor of the Mother-
house'. In grateful memory of the founder and benefactor
of our institution, who so modestly refrained from naming
any part of these institutions after himself, this school now
bears his name and is known as "The Lankenau School for
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Girls." The school was opened here on October 12th, 1910,
but the formal dedication did not take place until February
7th, 1911, when all the alterations had been completed. The
President of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, the Rev. E.
T. Horn, D. D., L. L. D., and the President of the Philadel-
phia German Conference, the Rev. Otto Kleine, took part in
the exercises as the representatives of the Church ; a German
address was delivered by Prof. H. Offermann, D. D., and an
English address by the Rev. J. A. W. Haas, D. D., President
of Muhlenberg College. The exercises took place in the audi-
torium of the school and were attended by many persons
interested in educational work. It was a day of great rejoic-
ing for every one connected with the Motherhouse, but, above
all, for the President of the Board, the Hon. William H.
Staake, whose indefatigable efforts had brought the negotia-
tions for the purchase of this property to a most satisfactory
conclusion. Nor should Sister Julie Mergner be forgotten,
under whose' able administration the school developed to the
point that justified the investment of more than $200,000 in
the expansion of our educational work. The course of study
has now also been increased, so that three departments are
formed ; the Junior, the Intermediate and the Senior, of four
years each, making a twelve-year course, parallel to that of the
public elementary, grammar and high schools. The services
rendered by the Lankenau School are appreciated by an ever-
increasing number of parents and their daughters, who find
that the instruction and training received here give superior
standing in other educational institutions and have really laid
the foundation for a successful, useful, and therefore happy
life of many of our students.
The Kindergarten, which had been conducted in the
basement of the Motherhouse under rather unfavorable con-
ditions, likewise found a comfortable home in one of the build-
ings of the Lankenau School, having its own well-equipped
play-ground entirely separate from that of the school.
No less gratifying than the expansion of our educational
work was the further branching out into new fields of labor.
True, the shortage of experienced parish Sisters compelled
us, to our own keen sorrow, to withdraw the Sister from the
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German Lutheran Zion's Church, in Easton, Pa., where she'
had labored with marked success for six years, in order to
place her at Zion's Lutheran Church, in Philadelphia, whose
parish work had been interrupted by the' illness and eventual
leaving of their Sister, and where conditions demanded a
deaconess even more urgently than in Easton. We were,
however, able, in January, 1910, to resume the parish diacon-
ate at St. Paul's German Lutheran Church in Philadelphia,
where a Sister had been placed as early as 1887, and where,
as a result of the changed conditions caused by immigrants,
deaconess work was now more necessary than ever before.
A new line of work was entered when, in response to a
most urgent request from the Rev. A. B. Moldenke, Ph. D.,
of St. Peter's German Lutheran Church, in New York City,
we sent two of our Sisters on July 11th, 1910, to take charge
of Elsinore Camp, near Plainfield, N. J. Here about eighty
children from the over-crowded tenements of New York enjoy
a two weeks' outing each, during July and August. Since
then we have had two Sisters there every summer, and, though
the duties and responsibilities tax every possible talent, from
house-keeping to nursing and child-training, our Sisters go
gladly, realizing the valuable service they can render these
children, who naturally are wild with delight in romping over
the wooded crests of the AVatchung mountains, but who also
are accessible to spiritual truths, especially at the daily devo-
tional exercises.
Early in 1911 the Motherhouse found itself in a position
that made it possible to yield to the repeated and urgent pleas
of the Rev. G. A. Benze, D. D., under whose leadership a
Home for the Aged had been founded about three years
previous, by the Lutherans of Erie, Pa., and on April 20th
two of our deaconesses were placed in charge of that Home
at a public service, which gave unmistakable evidence of tlie
warm welcome accorded them. The same cordial spirit has
marked the attitude of the Board and the general public ever
since and has done much to offset the fact that this is the
station farthest removed from the Motherhouse.
Since June 1st, 1913, the German Hospital has inaugurated
a long-cherished plan and has been granted a Sister whose ex-
(58)
elusive duty it is to look after the interests of patients in need
of far more than medical or surgical treatment can supply.
While from the very beginning cases of poverty and other
distress have received the special attention of the Sisters under
whose notice they happened to come', bringing material relief
in most instances, the creation of this special "Social Service"
department has decided advantages and deserves the most
hearty co-operation.
Many more fields are anxiously, almost impatiently, wait-
ing for Sisters, among them, at this writing, three institutions
for children and at least fifteen congregations. The petitions
for deaconesses would rapidly increase, should we reach the
point when we could grant them. What a grand opportunity
for blessed service presents itself to Christian young women.
The leaders of the Church are realizing the necessity of having
trained deaconesses for many of the phases of congregational
and institutional activity, and we may rest assured that the
cry of the needy will be answered by the Lord and that He
will prompt many hearts to obey His call for laborers in
His vinevard !
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Uppart nf tift Mark nf tijp UJotljf rljauaf
Wet. 1, 1912— ®rt. I, 1913.
1. The Old People's Home. — This was originally intended
by Mr. Lankenau as "The Mary J. Drexel Home," with which
the Motherhouse and all the other institutions were afterwards
united under one roof. It was opened November 11, 1889,
and offers a lifelong home to well-recommended, well-behaved,
temperate and respectable aged couples or individuals of Ger-
man descent, not suft'ering from incurable, infectious or repul-
sive diseases. They must be over sixty years of age and un-
able to provide for their own support ; they must have been liv-
ing in Philadelphia for at least five years previous to their
admission, and belong to a recognized Protestant Church.
.After a certain period of probation they are fully received.
They pay an entrance fee of $300 and bind themselves to leave
to the Home any other real or personal property they may
possess.
Two Sisters are in charge of the Old People's Home,
which, during the past year, had forty-eight inmates. Of
these, one died. Vacancies are quickly filled from a long
"waiting list," on which at present are 48 names. The health
of the inmates is most satisfactory, and they evidently find
themselves quite comfortable in their home, owing to the
beautiful, healthy quarters which they occupy, the care they
receive, the regular Sunday services and daily devotions, and
also to the fact that, as far as the state of their health permits,
they are kept busy with lighter work about the house.
2. The Children's Hospital comes next in the date of its
foundation. It was opened on May 15, 1889, and was in-
tended not only to relieve the German Hospital to some ex-
tent, but also to serve for the practical training of the Sisters.
The service among these little patients, though very la-
(6i)
borious, is most cheerfully rendered, and is a blessed work,
inasmuch as the Sister in this case is not only a hospital nurse,
but also takes the place of a mother and friendly comforter.
And certainly these little ones are the most grateful patients.
As a rule they enjoy their stay in these beautiful and airy
rooms under the loving- care of the Sisters. The Hospital,
with them, is not a place of terror, but whenever the first try-
ing pains are over, we see everywhere happy and contented
faces.
One of the illustrations shows a ward in the Children's
Hospital and the Sisters among the little ones that are com-
mitted to their care.
Nothing is left undone to facilitate the work of the insti-
tution and add to the comfort of the patients. The new and
commodious operating room has the top and sides constructed
almost entire!}' of glass, which allows plenty of light, so essen-
tial to good surgery, at all times of the day, while electric
lights of sufficient power to almost ecpial daylight are used
in emergency cases at night.
During the year 1912. one of the most successful in the
history of the Children's Hospital, there were treated in the
wards and private rooms 1055 patients, ^■iz. : 449 surgical, 234
medical, 10 eye, and 362 nose and throat cases. Of this num-
ber 419 were treated free, and many of the rest were unable
to pay the regular rate of one dollar per day. There' were 598
1:)oys and 417 girls; 989 Avhite and 26 colored; 916 were dis-
charged cured, 50 improved, and 15 unimproved. The deaths
numbered 40 — a mortality of less than four per cent. The
work in the various dispensaries has been heavy, there having
been 13,079 visits made by 3,275 patients. Is it not a blessed
privilege to assist in the relief of such a ^"ast amount of
suffering?
Our sincere thanks for faithful co-operation are due the
entire medical force, especially the chiefs of the various staffs.
Dr. John B. Deaver, Dr. Harry C. Deaver, Dr. Alfred Hand,
Jr., Dr. Charles S. Turnbull, Dr. Arthur A. Bliss, and to the
Resident Phy.sician, Dr. Loyal A. Shondy, who served faithfully
and efficiently until June 1, 1913, when he was succeeded by Dr.
G. Lee Hynson, who is well fitted for this position by his
(62)
previous experience. On May 1st, 1913, a severe blow fell
upon the Children's Hospital, when Dr. Arthur A. Bliss sud-
denly passed away within less than forty-eight hours after he
had performed his last operations at our hospital. For twenty-
four years he had been in charge of our Ear, Nose, and Throat
department, in which he combined with his expert knowledge
and rare ef^ciency such a spirit of intelligence and sympathetic
co-operation with our Sisters and the jNIotherhouse, that when
a Medical Board was created, he was appointed chairman, and
as such rendered most Aaluable services in the development of
our hospital work. His memory will be cherished by all with
lasting gratitude. Until the regular election of his successor,
his former assistant, Dr. Clarence W. Schaefifer, who has won
the fullest confidence of the IMotherhouse during a three-year
term as resident physician, is in charge of this department.
A special report of the Children's Hospital is published
annually, and can be had on application.
3. Next in order of time is our educational work, bcLun
in 1890 as the School for Girls and since 1910 carried on as
the Lankenau School for Girls. The aim is "to train young
girls to become truly cultured women, well grounded in the
Christian faith, and prepared for the practical duties of life."
From two classes the school has de\-eloped to a full twelve-
year course, enabling it to place properh^ any girl of school
age". The three elements emphasized in our aim from the be-
ginning— culture, religion, and practical adaptability — place
a still further expansion of the course upon us as a sacred
obligation to be met as demands arise and circumstances
warrant, at the same time it is clear, howe\"er, that the
Lankenau School can ne\er be a mere college preparatory
school. It has a higher calling and a broader scope. There
is, up to the i)resent, no other boarding school for such young
girls within the Lutheran Church in this country. The im-
portant service rendered, therefore, t(j Lutheran parents who
desire to send their daughters away from home for their
education, is obvious.
In the year 1912-13 the total number of pupils enrolled
was ninety-nine ; of these, 46 were day pupils. The faculty
consisted of seventeen teachers, eight of whom are deacon-
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esses. The Lankenau School has been making steady progress
in every direction, and the expressions of confidence and grati-
tude coming to us from parents and graduates, as well as the
excellent standing of our former pupils on entering other
schools, justify the conclusion that our school fills with credit
an important place in the educational system and meets a
real demand. \\'hen the Lutheran Church and, in fact, many
outside of it — for more than thirty per cent of our pupils are
not from Lutheran families — will have awakened to this fact,
even our present spacious quarters will be crowded. It
certainly is encouraging that of the twenty-three new pupils
entered on September 15th of the present year, eleven are in
the first, or freshmen class of our Senior department. (High
School), bringing that class up to twenty-one. The total
number of pupils enrolled by October 1st is ninety-five, fifty-
nine of whom are boarders. Sister Julie Mergner is directly
in charge of the school. W'e cannot close this paragraph with-
out a word of sympathy for Miss Augusta Schmidt, a most
efiicient member of our faculty from the organization of the
school until last year, when she was forced by prolonged ill-
ness to resign. We gratefully testify to her efificient and faith-
ful services and assure her of our abiding esteem and our
deepest sympathy in her aftfiction. A recent graduate of the
Philadelphia Normal School has been added to the faculty,
Miss Cora Klebsattel, who completed her course at our
Lankenau School three years ago. The regular catalogue will
be furnished upon request to any person desiring further in-
formation.
4. Our Christian Kindergarten, opened on October 5,
1893, has been in charge of Sister Anna Marie Enderlein for
the past twelve years, during which time she has trained for
such work twenty-seven young women, besides a num-
ber of our Sisters. One of the latter is now her assistant.
Last year the total number of children enrolled was 135, while
up to October 1st of this year it was eighty, and the highest
attendance sixty. Bible history and verses, hymns and
prayers are taught daily, as well as stories, games and useful
pastimes. Especially in our day of many attractions which
are a menace to good morals and citizenship, the importance
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of filling the minds even of these little ones with high ideals
and a consciousness of personal responsibility to God, cannot
be overestimated; and the value of the Christian Kindergarten
for this purpose needs no proof.
II.— THE WORK ON OUT-STATIONS.
1. The first and principal field of labor is, of course, the
German Hospital, to which the Motherhouse itself owes its
origin. It constantly requires the service of about thirty
Sisters and a great number of assistants. They are at work
on eight stations, under the supervision of as many Sisters.
besides one in the dispensary, two in the operating room, two
in the kitchen, one' in the diet-kitchen, two in the pharmacy,
and one in the X-ray laboratory. The Directing Sister is
Magdalene von Bracht, assisted by Sister Marie Koeneke as
Superintendent of Nurses. Besides a number of male and
female nurses, more than fifty-six ])upils of the Nurses' Train-
ing School assist in the work. The number of patients per day
is 180 to 190 ; frequently, however, over 200. In the past year
3,589 house patients were cared for, and 8,671 dispensary
cases treated in 29,494 \isits.
Since June 1st, 1913, the hospital has oj^ened a "Social
Service" department, of which Sister Friederike Fessler has
been placed in charge. Special cases of distress have always
been relie^•ed by our Sisters as far as their means and time
permitted, but now^ much more systematic and effective work
is possible. A\'e feel assured that much blessing will result.
2-6. In Parish v^^ork there are now five Sisters, divided
among the following Lutheran congregations: Zion's, St.
Johannis, and St. Paul's, Philadelphia ; St. Paul's, New York,
and St. John's, Easton, Pa. In connection with the care of
the sick and poor, the teaching of children has been assumed
in four parishes, viz. : Christian Kindergarten work in three,
and in one congregation instruction in religion and in the
German language on five afternoons per week and on Satur-
day mornings.
7. The Easton Hospital, at Easton, Pa., has been in
charge of our Sisters since its organization in 1890. For the
past nine years Sister Marie Sowa has been the superin-
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tendent, during which period remarkable progress has been
made. She is assisted in the various departments by three
Sisters. The training school for nurses has eighteen pupils.
In the past year 1,176 house patients were nursed and 509
were treated in the dispensary. The success and satisfaction
with which our Sisters labor there is largely due to the
sympathetic and intelligent co-operation of the Board of
Managers and the Advisory Board.
8. In September, 1893, two Sisters were sent to take
charge of the Lutheran St. John's Home, in Allegheny, Pa. As
the first few inmates did not demand the entire time and
strength of the Sisters, these began to look after the poor and
the sick of the neighborhood. In several cases of serious
illness they rendered such efficient aid to the local physicians,
that these planned a hospital in that portion of the city, to be
placed under the direction of our Sisters. The result was the
St. John's General Hospital, opened in 1896 and served by our
Sisters until the lack of Sisters for the German Hospital led
us to withdraw them on July 15, 1909. In the meantime, the
original St. John's Home was removed to a most beautiful
location at Mars, Butler Co., Pa. There is now one building
for the aged and another for orphans, and at present plans
are under consideration for an additional Iniilding.
Sister Friederike Ostermann has been in charge of this
work since 1900, assisted by two other deaconesses, caring for
twenty-two aged men and women and for thirty-six children.
For the latter, a special teacher, Mr. H. Freitag, has been en-
gaged by the Board, whose valuable assistance is very much
appreciated.
9. Since February, 1907, one of our Deaconesses is devot-
ing her entire time to the "Kensington Dispensary for the
Treatment of Tuberculosis," organized in 1905, with her co-
operation by several Lutheran pastors and laymen in that
and.meighboring districts of Philadelphia, and now controlled
by an incorporated Board of Managers, composed of Lutheran
women.' The benefits of this charity are dispensed to sufiferers
without distinction of race or creed. Alore than 200 patients
are at present treated there, not merely for their diseased
lungs, but also for the consequent aft'ections of the nose and
(67)
throat. F'ven dentistry is called upon to aid in the cure oi
incipient cases and in giving relief to those beyond human
help. The blessings gone forth from this work, most unsel-
fishly supported by a number of physicians of highest rank,
are generally recognized.
Since 1909 the Dispensary is located in its own well-
equipped property at the corner of Hancock Street and Susque-
hanna Avenue. The beautifully located farm, "River Crest,"
on the Schuylkill near Phoenixville, Pa., purchased about two
years later, is being prepared to accommodate especially
children threatened with this disease. For the management
of "River Crest" a second Sister is desired, but we have not
yet been able to grant the urgent plea of the Board.
10. Our latest station is the Lutheran Home for the
Aged, at Erie, Pa., founded under the leadership of the Rev.
G. A. r.enze, D.D. On April 20th, 1910. we had the pleasure of
Benze, D.D. On April 20th, 1910, we had the pleasure of
inducting two of our Sisters into this work at a public service
in St. John's Church, in which the various Lutheran congrega-
tions of Erie united. The warm welcome accorded our Sisters
on that occasion and the loyal support given them ever since
has materially lightened the burden of responsilnlity resting
especially on Sister Frida Broecker, who is in charge. At
present thirty aged men and women are under the care of
the Sisters.
11. The Lutheran Settlement of the Inner Mission
Society, at 1333 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, has had
Sister Louise A\"ackernagel connected witli this most im-
portant and blessed work since 1907, but owing to her im-
paired health, she had to be withdrawn September 1st. 1913,
to the deep sorrow of the people among whom she labored
and the sincere regret of the Board of the Inner Mission
Society. As no other Sister was available for this work, this
station is. at least for the present, given up by the ]\Iother-
house.
12. From July 5(\ to August 20th. 1913. two Sisters were
in charge of Elsinore Camp, near \\"atchung. X. J., and took
care of three different groups of children, numbering 25 to 30
each, sent there bv the Rev. A. P.. ]\Ioldenke, Ph. D., of St.
(69)
Peter's Lutheran Church. New York City. We feel assured
that the children will have received more than mere bodily
benefit from their camping' experiences.
CONCLUSION.
We cannot close this report without an expression of
sincere appreciation and gratitude to all the friends, especially
to many of the pastors, for the opportunities given us to
present the cause of the Female Diaconate, and for their
active efforts in securing candidates for the Sisterhood. We
are encouraged by the ever-increasing circle of loyal sup-
porters and feel assured of larger growth and usefulness in
consequence. Rut we cannot refrain from adding also an
urgent appeal to the Church at large for a more general as
well as active interest in this work. Frcim the outline of
the development of the Female Diaconate as presented on the
previous pages, and no less from the historv of our Philadel-
phia Motherhouse, God's guidance and blessing are as plainly
evident as the great need of the Diaconate in the Church of
to-day. From the large cities, and even from smaller manu-
facturing towns, come most earnest pleas to send deaconesses
as God's angels of mercy to the destitute and suft'ering, to
the endangered and the lost, many of whom have once been
or still are communicants at Lutheran altars.
Many requests of this nature are received from congrega-
tions and institutions, and this in spite of the fact that 'Our
present inability to furnish Sisters for new work is generally
known. How many more would have l^een asked for. had
there been a reasonable hope for a favorable reply! Some
friends do not see the A-alue of deaconesses until they are in
need of them, as the}- have probalily never before given our
repeated appeals for Diaconate more than a passing notice.
Yet we would not hesitate a moment to send them a Sister that has
needed years of training to qualify her for the broad lines of work
and sympathy expected of her, had we the right one to spare.
True, some wonder why our JNIotherhouse has had so many
losses during these twenty-five years, but it must not be over-
looked that even the consecrated Sister is at lil)erty to ]ea\"e.
(70)
and that in many cases they are almost incessantly urged by
relatives and friends, prompted usually by selfish reasons, to
forsake' the Diaconate after they have received their training.
It takes women of heroic fibre to remain loyal to this cause of
the Lord. AVe cannot expect to do better than Fliedner, who
during the first forty years, from 1836-1876, of 940 consecrated
deaconesses, exclusive of probationers, lost 418 !
In view of the support the Female Diaconate is finding in
other denominations in this country, our plea for larger sup-
port is not unreasonable. In 1908 the Protestant Episcopal
Church reported 157 deaconesses, not counting the more than
twenty-five female orders with several hundred Sisters, and
the IMethodist Episcopal Church 731 deaconesses and 420 pro-
liationers, a total of 1151, while our Lutheran Church in this
C(_)untry had only 307. Shall we' also mention that the Ro-
man Catholic sisterhoods in the United States are said to
have a total meml)ership of 56,000? Perhaps it would
prove a wholesome stimulus to hear that in round numbers
they claim 600 colleges and academies for women, 700 institu-
tions of charity and 3,000 parish schools ; that they have a total
of 1,000,000 dependents to care for, have 70,000 girls in their
academies and colleges and 800.000 children in their parochial
schools. This gives one a fair idea of the possibilities of truly
consecrated women banded together to further the interests
of their Church. We are no advocate of any service rendered
otherwise than in absolutely evangelical freedom ; but the
most bitter opponent of Romanism will have to admit that,
with noble exceptions, of course, the spirit of true consecration
to the Lord's cause is indeed quite feeble among us compared
to that self-sacrifice' so willingly rendered by Romanists. Let
us not charge them with work righteousness and hope of re-
ward, while the possession of the blessings of the full gospel
leaves the great mass of our people inactive, because at heart
ungrateful.
AA'hat we need throughout the Church is a genuine ap-
preciation of the truths so masterly and devoutly set forth
by Luther, especially in the explanation of the second and
third articles of the Apostles' Creed, and yet so thoughtlessly
confessed! W^e need luore plain honesty in dealing with our-
(71)
selves and with our God, that we will stand by what we tell
Him, for the fact is that to no one are promises of greater
import made and with no one more thoughtlessly broken
than with Him, on whom our eternal destiny depends. As
soon as the mass of our people will treat religion seriously,
the cry of the Church for men and means will be turned into
jubilation, and not merely the deaconess cause will thrive
beyond all present expectations, but every branch of the
Church's work, will assume unheard-of proportions. The dea-
coness cause is not suffering more than any other of the
Church, Init no other cause is such a sensitive indicator of the
spiritual condition of the Church. The largest and most
rapidly growing Motherhouses in (iermany are found in
districts well known for the spirituality of the inhabitants,
who are, however, just as strong in their support of Inner
^ilissions and Foreign Alissions as of the deaconess cause.
Among the leaders with such broad sympathies, Loehe and
von Bodelschwingh are perhaps the best known, both as in-
tensely interested in the conversion of. the heathen as in the
saving of their brethren fallen by the wayside at home, and
laboring as incessantly for true spirituality among the masses
as for the relief of bodily distress.
In conclusion, permit us to suggest to e\-ery pastor to
inform himself by reading the literature on the diaconate ;
to visit the Drexel Home, if at all possible ; to refer to the
diaconate as occasion oft'ers. either in his sermons or in the
catechetical instruction, where the last clauses of Luther's
explanation of the first and second articles lead right up to
it in the practical- application ; and to bring qualified persr)ns
who are inclined toward the diaconate. into touch with the
Motherhouse by correspondence, or, which is far more satis-
factory, by a personal visit. While the result may mean a
temporary loss to the working force of the congregation, it
would mean a blessing to some one else, who, having stood
idle, must now step into the l^reach. In reality, a direct
blessing to the family, the pastor, and the parish would result.
as actual experience proves.
It is encouraging to report that the General Council, dur-
(73)
ing the closing session of the Toledo convention in September,
1913, resolved, that on Septuagesima Sunday the pastors call
the attention of their people to the Female Diaconate. This
makes it possible for the Motherhouses within the General
Council to mail to each pastor for that purpose a brief state-
ment regarding the status and needs of this cause.
The Federation of the Women's Missionary Societies
within the General Council, meeting at Toledo directly after
the adjournment of that official body, added to its various
missionary departments one especially charged with the work
of bringing the deaconess cause directly to the attention of the
various synodical, conference, and local societies, for the pur-
pose of enlisting young women in this service of the Church.
The chairman, Airs. William P. AI. Braun, of Philadelphia, is
thoroughly interested in this work, and by her close associa-
tions with the management and the Sisters of our Mother-
house, as well as for other reasons, is exceptionally well quali-
fied for this position. We rejoice in the above action taken
on the eve of our Silver Jubilee, and enter with new courage
upon the second quarter of a century of our efforts in behalf
of the Church in her ministrations of mercy. Let us remem-
ber that we ourselves are to go forth and also to pray that the
L()rd may send forth laborers. (Luke 10:2.) Let us do our
own duty to the fullest extent and leave the rest to the Lord ;
we are responsible for our efforts, not for the result. Having
worked together in this common cause, we shall rejoice
together over the humble yet large share the Female Diaconate
of our day is called to have in the bringing of the Kingdom.
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CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION.
1. Our Deaconess Motherhouse adheres to the Evangeli-
cal Lutheran Church. Onl}- such young women and widows
as are members of the Lutheran Church, will be admitted.
2. The motive for entering the calling must be a pure
desire to serve the Lord. One who seeks merely a provision
for life, or expects to attain a higher position by means of
the deaconess calling, is not fitted for the service.
3. We desire in those applying for admission a devout
and sincere mind, turned to spiritual things. This disposition
must not, however, be based upon vague emotions, but upon
the believing recognition of the truth of the gospel, as it is
presented in the Holy Scriptures. The following passages
are especially to be considered in this connection: Matth. 16:
24, 25: 20:1-7: and 25:14-30; Luke 14:12-14, and 10:2;
Phil. 3:7-11; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; 1 John 2: 15-17.
4. It is also of great im]M)rtance that one who wishes to
become a deaconess should have begun to experience the
grace of Christ in her own inner life. One who desires to
serve the Saviour among the poor, the sufl:'ering, and the de-
graded, and to help in leading them to Christ, must understand
her own heart well enough to realize that she dare not rely
upon her own strength, but only upon Him who has said:
"Without me ye can do nothing."
5. No young woman nuist take a step of such imi)ortance
without the blessing of her parents. Her application for ad-
mission must therefore be accompanied b_v the written consent
of her parents, or if she be an orphan in her minority, of her
guardian.
6. A young woman who desires to choose the deaconess
calling must be of an unblemished reputation, and must there-
fore furnish a testimonial to that eltect from her pastor. 1
Tim. 3 : 7.
(75)
7. A deaconess must possess good physical health. She
also needs strength and endurance, so as to be equal to the
labors of the calling. To one of a very delicate constitution,
or afflicted with a chronic ailment, the service is too severe.
She is not called upon to undertake that for which the Lord
has not fitted her.
8. Those applying for admission must be between the age
of 18 and 36.
9. The following qualifications are furthermore necessary
to become a good deaconess : She must possess a mind capable
of development, must be able to adapt herself to the associated
life, must be peaceful, unassuming and willing to obey. A
cheerful disposition and a pleasant manner are desirable gifts
for the calling.
10. While candidates may enter at any time, about May
1st or September 1st is most advisable. Those who do not
know German must be willing to learn it, and German candi-
dates must study English. They must be able to read, write
and keep accounts, either in German or English ; they should
also be acquainted with the chief contents of the Holy Scrip-
tures, and know the most important texts and facts. It is
also expected that they have some practice and experience
in the usual household duties and woman's handiwork.
11. All candidates must pass through the Preparatory
Course. The branches taught in this course include the study
of the Holy Scriptures and of the doctrines of the Church, the
history and principles of the Diaconate and other works of
mercy, medical instruction, and such general branches as his-
toi'y^ geography, arithmetic, the study of German and English,
singing and needlework. To this is added about two hours
daily of household duties or hospital work.
12. The pupils of the course w^ear plain wash dresses of
their own selection, and aprons furnished by the Motherhouse.
A list of the articles to be brought is sent each applicant.
Everything must be of substantial material and simple make,
and no unnecessary article should be brought.
(77)
^6. This period will be especially a time of self-examina-
tion and preparation. After the conclusion of the course the
superiors will decide whether a candidate is to be invested,
and therewith received into the Sisterhood as a probationer.
14. Each one, upon being- received into the Sisterhood,
gives her solemn promise to obey the rules of the House and
willingly to undertake any service of mercy to which she may
be called.
15. The Motherhouse provides for the bodily wants of
those who, after having passed through the course, have been
received into the Sisterhood. It cares for the consecrated
deaconesses in their old age, or when they are disabled in the
service.
16. The deaconess is bound by no vow, but it is taken
for granted that she recognizes her calling as her life-work.
Any young woman who, after prayerfully considering the
foregoing conditions, has the desire and the hope that God
may use her in the deaconess calling, should apply in writing
to the Pastor or the Sister Superior of the Mary J. Drexel
Home, 2100 South College Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa., adding
to the application: (1) A sketch of her life; (2) a certified
record of confirmation ; (3) the written consent of her parents
or guardian; (4) a testimonial from her pastor; and (5) a
certificate of good health from her physician. AVhen her
papers are found satisfactory, she will receive i.otice as to the
time when she may enter.
(78).
Jlyuc^/^uluv'^^'^^^^
Maoul^^^l^
FORM OF BEQUEST OF MONEYS OR OTHER
PERSONAL PROPERTY.
I hereby give and bequeath to the "Mary J. Drexel Home ant
Philadelphia Motherhouse of Deaconesses," the sum of
<$ ), to be used for the purpose of the said corporation.
[seal.]
Note. — If the personal property does not consist of money, a brief
description of it can be inserted, instead of the words "the sum of
dollars ($ )," in the above form of bequest.
FORM OF DEVISE.
I hereby give and devise unto the "Mary J. Drexel Home and
Philadelphia IMotherhouse of Deaconesses," its successc s and
assigns, all that certain lot or piece of ground, with the buildings and
improvements thereon erected, situate (follow here with a brief description
of the real estate intended to be devised).
[seal.]
Note. — The laws of Pennsylvania provide that all gifts, devises and
"bequests to any charitable institution, by deed or will, must be executed at
least one calendar month before the decease of the donor or testator, and
attested by two credible and at the time disinterestd witnesses.
All donations of moneys intended for the institution should be sent
to the Treasurer, Mr. Edmund R. Teubner, office of Drexel & Co., Chestnut
and Fifth Streets, Philadelphia.
All donations of merchandise, or other personal property, should be
sent direct to the Home, addressed to the "Sister Superior, Mary J. Drexel
Home, 2100 South College Avenue, Philadelphia.
(80)
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