Deaconesses: A Tradition for Today and Tomorrow

The articles gathered here draw on multiple disciplines to argue for the restoration of this venerable order . . . As we face the challenges of a rapidly changing world, may the ministry of deacons, both male and female, flourish once again! John H. Erickson, Professor Emeritus, St. Vladimir’s Theological SeminaryThis book is a remarkable achievement: scrupulously attentive to both history and theology; inclusive of Orthodox traditions and experience of the broadest purview; concrete, practical, and informative; inspiring in presentation, and visionary in scope.Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Professor of History and Religion, Brown University Contents Foreword: Message by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew  p. xi Introduction: The Editors p. xv I. GENERAL PERSPECTIVESChapter 1: 'The Diaconate in Christ": A Fresh Look at the Role of DeaconsJohn Chyssavgis p. 3 Chapter 2: The Role of Women in the Church. The Ordination of Woman, and the Order of Deaconesses: An Orthod