of the office of a deaconess,
while the fact of her connection with a number of like-minded women in
community life is merely an external feature of the office as it has
developed in the nineteenth century. Whatever form the question may
assume, with the Presbyterian churches of Scotland and England so far
committed to the adoption of the office of the deaconess as an effective
part of the organization of the Church, it seems inevitable that the
Presbyterian Church of America will have to meet this question in the
near future.

The Methodist Episcopal Church of America, although occupying itself
with the question of the diaconate of women later than any of the
denominations previously mentioned, by its acceptance of the office and
by making it an inherent part of its ecclesiastical organization has
taken a higher ground than any Protestant body, with the exception of
the Church of Scotland. The Methodist Episcopal Church has ever offered
a freer scope for the activities of its women members than any other
body of Christians save the Quakers, who are still the leaders in this
respect; but it may be questioned if any furnishes a larger number who
are actively engaged in promoting philanthropic and religious measures.

The honor of practically beginning the deaconess work in connection with
the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States belongs to Mrs. Lucy
Rider Meyer, of the Chicago Training-school, who, during the summer
months of 1887, aided by eight earnest Christian women, worked among the
poor, the sick, and the needy of that great city without any reward of
man's giving. In the autumn the Home opened in a few hired rooms, and
Miss Thoburn came to be its first superintendent. The story of the
growth of the work, the securing of a permanent home, and the
enlargement of its resources is a most interesting one.[88]

The Rock River Conference, within whose boundaries the Chicago Home is
situated, had from the beginning an earnest sympathy and confidence in
the work as it was developing in its midst. A memorial was prepared, and
was presented to the General Conference in May, 1888, by the Rock River
Conference, through its Conference delegates, asking for Church
legislation with reference to deaconesses. At the same time the Bengal
Annual Conference, through Dr. J. M. Thoburn, also presented a memorial
asking for the institution of an order of deaconesses who should have
authority to administer the sacrament to t