Talk to uncover deaconess order

Researcher Rachel Tombs shows some of the archive items relating to the Presbyterian Deaconess movement, including a lapel pin and a sign from the former college. PHOTO: SAM HENDERSON

An upcoming public talk will shed light on the often-overlooked women who were determined to serve the community.

Researcher Rachel Tombs will explore the expectations, freedoms and challenges of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand deaconess order.

‘‘At the time that the deaconess movement was established, there wasn’t other ordination that women could do in the church, so women couldn’t be ministers in the Presbyterian church,’’ Ms Tombs said.

‘‘So it was thought to be an appropriate way that women could serve the church in an ordained capacity and use their womanly skills.’’

The service began in 1903, operating from a building on the corner of High and Alva Sts.

Women were required to have a university entrance qualification or some level of education.

‘‘And you needed to know the Bible pretty well.’’

Women came from across the country to be residential students.

Some were as young as 18 or 20, but not all of them.

‘‘Some of them were coming from careers. Many of them had been working as teachers, for example, or office clerks.’’

These women were both a part of the established gender order as well as a challenge to it.

‘‘Some of them were doing it because they believed in gender equality and feminism and some of them were doing it because they believed in women’s roles and what a woman’s job was.’’ While expectations placed on the women were strict, the role gave many a chance to pursue an independent career.

‘‘This was an opportunity for them to work, for them to do public work, for them to be someone who meets with people and talks about the Bible.’’

Sister Gladys Smith, of Tapanui, worked at Knox Church for many years, continuing her focus on serving even into retirement. PHOTO: SAM HENDERSON

The presentation will highlight local figures such as Gladys Smith, who worked as a parish deaconess at Knox Church from 1952 until she retired in 1966.

She was a lively character who navigated the city to visit parishioners.

‘‘She went around town on her bicycle and she joked that she had to wear two pairs of bloomers in her deaconess uniform because of the cold when you’re riding your bicycle,’’ Ms Tombs said.

The women were ‘‘more than being put in a box.’’

‘‘They did what they had been asked to do and they served and they also had agency and they lived public lives.’’

The work varied from physical demands such as helping clean a house for an elderly person to providing companionship and being present at major moments in someone’s life such as being there for bad news or
when there was a death in the family.

‘‘If you were a parish deaconess, you would do a lot of visiting.

‘‘Just taking care of people, really.’’

Rev Catherine Little, of Queenstown, was ordained as a deaconess in Caversham in 1969, and was later ordained as an assistant minister in 1974. PHOTO: SAM HENDERSON

This was a time when a parish would have hundreds of members and there was an expectation that church leaders would visit and be there for them.

By the 1960s the service began to be less popular as other pathways emerged.

In 1964 ordination for females became available within the Presbyterian Church and some deaconesses took up the opportunity to be ordained as ministers.

Social work began to be professionalised and was increasingly organised through the government and registered bodies.

This meant there were fewer roles for deaconesses and in 1974 the service was shut down.

‘‘And at the same time the influence of the church and the kind of congregational numbers are decreasing, so the church is reassessing ‘where do we have the resources and what work do we want to do’.’’

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Presbyterian Research Centre in support of the Presbyterian Church Deaconess Collection, which is a recognised Unesco Memory of the World Collection.

sam.henderson@thestar.co.nz