1. Rt. Revd Anthony Thorold Deaconess Isabella Gilmore
A story from
the Rochester Diocese
Rt. Revd Anthony Thorold
Bishop of Rochester
Deaconess Isabella Gilmore
Head Deaconess of
Rochester Deaconess House

2. The first Deaconesses in the Church of England
1862 – The Bishop of London had visited Kaiserwerth Deacon House in Germany.
The Church of England borrowed the idea from German Lutherans and copied the way of working
Mostly Works of Charity not working in churches e.g nursing

3. The First Deaconesses – not clergy but the beginning of the story
From 1841 Religious Sisters in the Anglican Church but not ordained
The first was Deaconess Elizabeth Ferard London Diocese in 1862
Deaconesses Living in Community
Sent out to work
Returned to deaconess house

4. Bishop Thorold & Isabella see a different way of training
Rt Revd Anthony Thorold
Bishop of Rochester
Deaconess Isabella Gilmore
Head Deaconess of
Rochester Deaconess House

5. From 1887 onwards in the Rochester Diocese
Deaconesses Training in the Deaconess House
Sent to work in parishes

6. “ The position the Deaconess holds in this Diocese is the same as a that of a Deacon, she is licensed to the parish, receives her own stipend, and is entirely independent of the Head Deaconess, but is responsible to her Vicar and her Bishop.”

7. From 1887 onwards ……
Isabella Gilmore’s training methods were copied and many other Diocesan Houses were set up in the same way and in other countries
This led to the women trained in Rochester being more like male deacons because they worked under the authority of the Bishop and a Parish Priest in parishes
Different from Religious sisters and community based deaconesses who worked for and belonged to a Community
Just as there was Deacon, Priest and Deacon Isabella Gilmore and Bishop Thorold saw the revived Diaconate as an order of Ministry for women
Deaconesses where never large in numbers but were much appreciated in parishes. They took increasingly bigger roles in the liturgy. In the absence of a priest they could baptize.

8. 100 years Later! Clerical Ordination
It took another 100 years for the Church of England’s General Synod to decide to ordain women – as deacons.
1994 – another 7 years to ordain women as priests
2015 – and another 21 years to ordain women as Bishops

9. What happened to training and women?
From 1970’s Deaconess Houses began to be closed down altogether and women and men trained together. But women were more likely to train on local schemes than residentially
Women are more likely to be older at the start of training
Women are more likely to be self supporting

10. From - Statistics for Mission:2012. Ministry
Archbishops’, Council