Deaconesses in Europe and their Lessons for America Part 8

Valuable suggestions will be obtained from the study of every successful deaconess inst.i.tution, and none will perhaps furnish more practical models for American Methodism than does the establishment at Mildmay Park in North London. Its methods of work are flexible, and allow place for a diversity of talent among the workers, while a wide variety of charitable and evangelistic effort is undertaken. These two causes give a breadth and vigor to the work at Mildmay that impress every one who has knowledge of it.

Whenever we find a good cause carried on successfully and prosperously, we know that behind it there must be a strong man or woman who has "thought and wrought" to good purpose. So the first question that arises in the mind of the visitor who for the first time forms one of the audience in the great Conference Hall, or looks about in the adjoining building to see the deaconess home, is, "Who first thought this out? Who was the founder of this wonderful mission?" And the answer tells us that Mildmay originated, as did Kaiserswerth, in the prayerful determination of a Christian minister and his wife to reach out to every good end that G.o.d's spirit of enlightenment could suggest to them. Rev.

William Pennefather was rector of Christ's Church at Barnet, and while devoted to his ministerial duties his sympathies did not end with his own people, nor his own denomination. His home was sometimes called the "Missing Link," for it was a meeting-place for n.o.blemen and farmers, bishops and clergymen of all churches; a place "where nationalities and denominations were easily merged in the broad sunshine of Christian love."[65] He carried his principle of Christian fellowship further, for, after mature deliberation, in 1856, he issued a call for a conference to be held at Barnet whose object was "to bring into closer social communion the members of various Churches, as children of the one Father, animated by the same life, and heirs together of the same glory."[66] These conferences have been continued from then to the present time, and are known and prized in many lands. I was present at the conference of 1888, and representatives were there from nearly every Protestant country, while on the platform were leaders of nearly every Protestant denomination, furnishing a wonderful ill.u.s.tration of the union of the Christian Church in Christ; a spiritual union so real and eternal that the minor differences of faith were swallowed up in the great fact that in Christ Jesus all are one.

Gradually a variety of missionary and evangelistic agencies grew up about the conferences. In 1860 the little Home was opened at Barnet which subsequently developed into the deaconess house at Mildmay Park.

The question of calling into more active exercise the energies of educated Christian women, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, was one that was attracting attention at the time in England. Mr. and Mrs.

Pennefather had long desired to do something in this direction, and their desire took this practical form. In its beginning it had to battle with all the "definite and indefinite objections" that could be advanced against any attempt at organizing woman's work. But those days of latent suspicion or more open antagonism are long past. The inst.i.tution has justified its right to be by doing a work that otherwise would have remained undone.

In 1864 Mr. Pennefather was called to St. Jude's, Mildmay Park, and the philanthropic and religious undertakings which he had begun were transferred to his new home. He took with him the "iron room" that had been erected for the conferences at Barnet, and continued to use it for the same purposes at Mildmay; while the missionary training-school and home were accommodated in a house which he hired for the purpose.

His new parish was in a part of London where poverty and want abounded.

There was no adequate provision for the education of the poor and neglected children, so he erected a building where elementary instruction could be given at a very low price. A soup-kitchen was started at the iron room: clubs of various kinds were formed, and other agencies were set at work, both for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the people. The degraded and miserable neighborhood gradually underwent a transformation, and the police testified that there was a manifest restraint on the lawless locality. "To many of the waifs of life no human hand was stretched in kindness until he came to the district and taught them what Christianity was."[67]

A small legacy coming to him, he bought a house with a large garden attached, and made it a mission center for the needs of the infirm and aged; while the ignorant and careless, who would not enter a church, were often induced to attend meetings here.

The training-school had been started at Barnet for the purpose of training foreign missionaries; but Mr. Pennefather now saw that there was as great a demand for home mission workers in the sorrowful and benighted portions of the vast metropolis, so, after much deliberation and consultation between himself and his wife, he decided to initiate the ministry of Christian women as deaconesses. He hesitated about the name to be given to the women whom he employed as Christian workers, but no other was suggested conveying the same idea of service to Christ among his suffering and needy ones, and, as the appellation had already won respect through the good reports of the deaconess houses on the Continent, he decided to adopt the same name. They continued to work in his parish only until the terrible visitation of the cholera in 1866.

Then when men were swept into eternity by hundreds, and hundreds more were in dire distress, the deaconesses were invited by the minister of another parish to come to his a.s.sistance. In this way the bounds of the work began to enlarge. A small hospital was added to the home and a medical-school mission was begun.

It now became necessary to build a large hall; the iron room was too small for the conferences, the church too small for the congregation, and the missions had outgrown the capacity of the mission room. When the plan for a new building was made known money came in unsolicited from various sources. The undertaking was pushed rapidly forward, and in October, 1870, the hall was opened. It will seat 2,500 people, having a platform at the west end, and a gallery running around the sides and east end.

Thanksgiving and prayer were built into the walls from the very foundation; and before the bas.e.m.e.nt rooms were cleared of rubbish, or the floor laid, a prayer-meeting was held to ask for a blessing upon the future undertakings of the mission. The bas.e.m.e.nt was divided into five rooms, to be used for night-schools and other agencies for the benefit of the poor.

Adjoining the hall, at the west end, was built the deaconess house. From his home near by Mr. Pennefather had watched the completion of the work with great interest. In one of his letters he says:[68] "Sometimes I can scarcely believe that it is a reality, and not all a dream--the Conference Hall, with its appendages, and the deaconess house actually in existence. May the Holy Spirit fill the place, and may he make it a center from whence the living waters shall flow forth."

From a letter written to one of these deaconesses, we gain his opinion as to the need of deaconesses, and what was his ideal of a Home.[69]

"The need for such an inst.i.tution is great indeed. I do not suppose there was ever a time in the history of Christianity in which the openings for holy, disciplined, intelligent women to labor in G.o.d's vineyard were so numerous as at present. The population in towns and rural districts are waiting for the patient and enduring love that dwells in the breast of a truly pious woman, to wake them up to thought and feeling. O! if I had the women and had the means, how gladly would I send out hundreds, two by two, to carry the river of truth into the hamlets of our country, and the streets and lanes of our great cities.

Will you pray for the Home? Ask for women and for means. I want our Home to be such a place of holy, peaceful memories that, when you leave it, it may be among the brightest things that come to your mind in a distant land, or in a different position; and each inmate can help to make it what it should be." But Mr. Pennefather did not live to see the great extension in usefulness and importance that the Deaconess Home was to obtain in later years. He pa.s.sed away from life April 28, 1873, leaving to his wife, who had ever been his sympathetic and devoted helper, the care of continuing the work he had begun. She is still the head of the Mildmay Inst.i.tutions, a.s.sisted by a resident superintendent, and aided by the counsels of wise, experienced men, who form the board of trustees.

From the beginning of the erection of the new building every portion of it was put to use. In one of the bas.e.m.e.nt rooms is the invalid kitchen, where, daily, puddings, jellies, and little delicacies are prepared and sent out to sufferers in the neighborhood, who could not otherwise obtain suitable nourishment. From eleven to two o'clock tickets are brought in, which have been distributed by the sisters or by the district visitors; and those who come to take the dinners, while waiting their turn, have a kind word, or sympathetic inquiry about the sick one, from the deaconess in charge.

A flower mission occupies another room. Kind friends send here treasures from the garden and green-house, field and wood, and children contribute bouquets of wild flowers. A deaconess superintends the willing hands that tie the bunches, each of which is adorned with a brightly colored Scripture text. Ten hospitals and infirmaries were regularly visited during 1888; and more than thirty-eight thousand bunches of flowers were distributed, each accompanied by an appropriate text.

Near at hand is the Dorcas room, where deaconesses are kept busy in cutting out clothing and superintending the sewing cla.s.ses. During the winter of 1887 thirty widows attended this cla.s.s three times a week, glad to earn a sixpence by needlework done in a warm, lighted room, while a deaconess entertained them by reading aloud. A large amount of sewing is given out from the same room, and the garments that are made are often sold to the poor at a low price. A most impressive scene is witnessed during the winter months, when, on three evenings of the week, all the bas.e.m.e.nt rooms are crowded with the men's night-school, which has, it is believed, no rival in England. The ordinary number of names on the books exceeds twelve hundred. There are forty-nine cla.s.ses, all taught by ladies, the majority of them being deaconesses. The subjects range from the elementary to the higher branches of general and practical knowledge, including arithmetic, geography, geometry, freehand drawing, and short-hand. The Bible is read in the cla.s.ses on Monday and Friday, and a scriptural address is given by some gentleman on Wednesday. The school always closes with prayer and singing. The men may purchase coffee and bread and b.u.t.ter before leaving, and of this they largely avail themselves. A lending library is also attached to the school. The highest attendance during last session was five hundred and eighty-one, the lowest two hundred and eighty-seven.

The influence of this school is very great, and many pa.s.s on from it to the men's Bible-cla.s.s, which is held on Sunday afternoons in the largest bas.e.m.e.nt room.[70]

A servants' registry is attached to the deaconess house, and through its means about four hundred servants are annually provided with places.

Nearly fifty deaconesses make their home at this central house, many of them having work in the different parts of the city, perhaps at remote distances, but returning at night to the home-like surroundings and purer air of the central house. The large sitting-room, the common living-room of the deaconesses, is a charming place. It is of great size, but made cheerful and attractive by pictures, flowers, and bright and tasteful decorations that are restful to the eyes. Both Mr. and Mrs.

Pennefather made it a principle of action to have the home life cheerful, pleasant, and attractive, so that when the sisters come in toward evening, tired physically, and mentally depressed and exhausted by the long strain of hearing tales of misery, and seeing sights of wretchedness and squalor the day through, they could be cheered not only by the words of sympathy and love of their a.s.sociates, but by the silent, restful influences of their surroundings.

As I looked around the great room with deep-set windows, brightened by flowers, and still more by the happy faces of the deaconesses, some of whom were young girls with the charms of happy girlhood set off by the plain, black dress and wide white collar of the deaconess garb, I could but think the founders wise in arranging such pleasant, home-like surroundings for their workers.

From the windows you look down into a beautiful garden, a rare luxury for a London dwelling. This garden was among the later accessions of Mr.

Pennefather, being purchased by him shortly before his death. A train of circ.u.mstances led to its possession which he regarded as markedly providential; and the delightful uses to which "that blessed garden," as it has been called, has since been put, seem to justify the importance he attached to securing it. During the conference times great tents are reared here for the refreshments which the weary body needs. A fine old mulberry tree extends its branches, and under its ample shade meetings of one kind or another are held at all hours of the day. The lawn, with its quiet, shady walks, furnished with comfortable garden seats, provides a meeting place for friends, where, in the intervals between the services, those who perhaps never see each other during any of the other fifty-one weeks of the year may walk or sit together. "Here in more ordinary times may be seen the children of the Orphanage (where thirty-six girls form a happy, busy family) playing together, or the deaconesses in their becoming little white caps, who have run out for a breath of air. Here, too, during the summer, a succession of tea-parties is held for the different cla.s.ses which have been reached by the deaconesses in the more densely populated parts of London, to whom the garden is a very paradise."[71]

Before leaving the Central Deaconess Home I must speak of one branch of work--the artistic ill.u.s.tration of Scripture texts--because it so ill.u.s.trates the happy freedom and wisdom of the Mildmay methods, which seek to develop the strength of each sister in the line of her special apt.i.tudes. Two of the deaconesses have marked ability as artists, and they devote their time to illuminating texts and adorning Christmas and Easter cards with rare and exquisite designs. From the sale of these illuminations over five thousand dollars were realized last year for the benefit of the inst.i.tution.

The Conference Hall, too, should have a further word of recommendation for the truly catholic spirit in which it serves the interests of a myriad of good causes. Besides the crowded meetings of the conference there are held Sunday services throughout the year. The hospitality of its rooms is readily granted to every good cause with which the mission has sympathy. During 1887 "temperance society meetings, railway men and their wives, Moravian missions, Pastor Bost's mission at La Force, the MacAll Paris missions, the Sunday closing movement, young men's and young women's Christian a.s.sociations, a Christian police a.s.sociation, the Children's Special Service mission, the Christmas Letter mission, Bible readings for German residents, and various other foreign and home missions have all in turn been advocated here."[72]

The larger number of the deaconesses at the central house, as well as the twenty-five at the branch house in South London, are employed in twenty-one London parishes, where their work has been sought by the clergymen; they go to all, undertaking every kind of labor that can give them access to the hearts and homes of the people. While co-operating with the clergyman in charge of a parish their work is superintended from the Deaconess Home. They visit from house to house among the sick and poor, hold mothers' meetings, teach night-schools, hold Bible-cla.s.ses separately for men, women, and children; hold special cla.s.ses for working women and girls who are kept busily employed during the day, and during the winter months have a weekly average of more than nine thousand attendants on their services. They are solving the problem of "how to save the ma.s.ses" by resolving the ma.s.ses into individuals, and then influencing these individuals by the power of personal effort and love.

But a few steps from Conference Hall is the Nursing Home, where about one hundred "nurse sisters," nurses, and probationers make their home in the intervals between their duties, and are presided over by a lady superintendent of their own. Adjoining is the Cottage Hospital, a beautiful building, the gift of a lady in memory of her son. The walls have been painted and decorated throughout by some ladies who delight in using their skill to make beautiful the homes of the sick.

A large hospital and medical mission also exist in Bethnal Green, a densely populated part of London that in some portions can vie with the worst slums of the city. It was so necessary to provide better accommodations for nursing the sufferers than could be found in their poor homes that a warehouse was fitted up with beds and transformed into a small hospital. In 1887 four hundred and thirteen patients were received at the hospital, and in the dispensary for outside patients sixteen thousand four hundred and eighteen visits were paid during the year, nearly two thirds of which number were to patients in their own houses. There is no place in which a hospital could be more sorely needed than in this dest.i.tute part of London, and perhaps no place where it could be more appreciated. "I had no idea," said a man of the better cla.s.s who was brought in, "of there being such a place as this; you give as much attention to the poorest man you get out of the street as could be given to a prince."[73]

Every Christmas some kind of an entertainment is arranged for the hospital patients, and, through the gift of friends, articles of warm clothing are distributed to protect against the winter's cold.

A variety of mission work is carried on in connection with Bethnal Green. There is a Men's Inst.i.tute, open every evening except Sunday and Monday, in connection with which is a savings' bank that is well patronized. There is a Lads' Inst.i.tute, where the deaconesses have cla.s.ses and meet the boys in a friendly way; a men's lodging-house, where a comfortable bed and shelter can be had for eight cents a night.

The latter is an enterprise which could be imitated with profit in all our large American cities, where it is very difficult for the homeless and poverty-stricken to obtain a decent lodging, or to find any place, in fact, where liquor is not sold. There are also evangelistic services in the mission here, Sunday-schools, Bible-cla.s.ses, temperance meetings, a soup kitchen, and a coffee bar, where, during Christmas week, between four and five hundred men and boys were given light refreshments, and at the same time some idea of the kindliness and good-will that are a.s.sociated with this happy season of the year.

There are also two convalescent homes, one at Barnet and one at Brighton. The home at Brighton is especially designed for the poor patients of the East End mission. The report for the year ending December 31, 1887, says that five hundred and fifty men, women, and children enjoyed its benefits for a fortnight or longer.[74]

Mildmay nurse deaconesses have also charge of the Doncaster General Infirmary, the Nurses' Inst.i.tute at Malta, and the Medical Mission Hospital at Jaffa, where two hundred and nineteen patients were received the last year, of whom one hundred and seventy-five were Moslems.

There also exists under the supervision of Mildmay workers a railway mission that was begun in 1880 for men on duty at two of the London stations. An organized mission has sprung up from this small beginning that has now extended over three great lines of railroads which employ thousands of men.

The long list of labors given do not exhaust the efforts of Mildmay workers, for, besides special teas for policemen and postmen, and the mission room and day-school at Ball's Pond, there is also an educational branch that is meeting the demand for higher educational advantages for women, under distinctly religious influences, by the Clapton House School.

The questions involuntarily present themselves, when reading the undertakings just enumerated, that involve not only faithfulness and devotion in service, but disciplined, practiced faculties, "What cla.s.s of women are these by whom so much has been accomplished? And what is the training that has made them so effective?" It is difficult to answer the first question. The deaconesses are of all cla.s.ses, many of them being ladies who devote their time, talent, and means to forward the cause. There are a good many daughters of clergymen, who are carrying out the a.s.sociations of their life at home. Just how many are self-supporting and just how many are maintained by the Inst.i.tution are facts that are never known; as Mrs. Pennefather says in a letter of February 11, 1889, "There are certain points we deal with as strictly private. While every probationer pays four guineas for her first month, the after monetary arrangements are never known except to myself and the resident lady superintendent."

NOTE.--There is a further department at Mildmay that has never been named, but is certainly an important and busy one; it might be called the "Department of Inquiry," for certainly the personal visits and letters received, inquiring into the details of the inst.i.tution, must be very large. My obligations to Mrs. Pennefather are great, who, both by letter and printed matter, has placed a great number of facts at my disposal, of which I have availed myself freely in writing this sketch. Mrs. Pennefather's words, "we are glad when we can help any Christian work with the experience G.o.d has permitted us to gather," echo the words of the great apostle, "Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teacheth in all good things." I remember, too, the gracious patience with which, during one of the crowded days of the last conference, Miss Coventry, the superintendent, spent a long hour with us, answering fully and minutely the many questions which we put when trying to supplement our want of knowledge by her long experience. Indeed, the spirit of Mildmay impressed me as generous and helpful; as has been said, "Over the whole house rules the spirit of love, devotion, and prayer."*

* "Deaconess Work in England," _The Churchman_, May 12, 1888.

The second question is more easy of response. There is a probation house, where ladies that present themselves as candidates are received for a month, and are given work in teaching orphan children, or go out to the city missions and the night-schools under the care of a deaconess. If the probation has proved satisfactory the candidate enters the training-school called "the Willows," a mile or two from the Central House, a pleasant home which about three years ago came into the possession of the inst.i.tution and the inmates of the school, formerly accommodated in five small houses, are now gathered, at slightly greater expense, under one roof in the larger, pleasanter home. The following extracts, taken from a little circular called "A Missionary Training-school," will give us a good idea of the life of the embryo deaconesses, and the instruction, practical and theoretical, that they receive. "The house, which lies a little back from the road, is entered through a conservatory pa.s.sage, and on the other side of the s.p.a.cious hall, with its illuminated motto, 'Peace be to this house,' above the fireplace, are the lady superintendent's sitting-room and the large dining-room, where, on the day when I visited 'the Willows,' about thirty of us sat down to dinner. Several others were absent in connection with their medical studies. Both these rooms open on a terrace, and beyond stretches a garden which, even in lifeless winter-time, looked inviting, and, in its spring beauty and summer loveliness, must be in itself a training for the young natures which are learning in the slums of Bethnal Green and Hoxton their hard acquaintance with sin and sorrow. Perhaps in these days of strain and toil too little has been thought of the need of young hearts for some gentle relief from the first shock of meeting with the evil with which older workers have a mournful familiarity."

The inmates of the Training-school are not deaconesses alone. The school was started to prepare workers for the foreign field, but the crying need of the vast metropolis turned attention to the home field. The Church of England Zenana Society sends its candidates to Mrs.

Pennefather for training, and she is glad to accept them, believing that a variety of companionship is needed by those who, in zeal for their personal work, might lose the broad sympathy for all kinds of Christian labor, which is an invaluable cultivation for wise and useful laborers.

The several cla.s.ses who pa.s.s through the course of training may be designated as follows:

a.) Those who pa.s.s on to the deaconess house.

b.) Candidates for (1) the Church of England Zenana Society; (2) the Church Missionary Society.

c.) Those who receive medical training for working among the women and children of India.

d.) Those who are as yet unconnected with any society.

e.) When vacancies occur some few are received who merely return to home or parish work, but who are greatly benefitted by training and experience.

"The general routine of life seems to be as follows: Prayers at eight o'clock, then breakfast, followed by a certain amount of domestic duty which falls to the lot of each. For it is not forgotten that these years of training are not for the sake of home life, but as preparation for the self-denials of missionary life. Speaking broadly, the mornings seem to be chiefly devoted to cla.s.ses; afternoons to out of door and district work; and thus theory and practice pleasantly relieve and support each other."

There are regular Bible-cla.s.ses held by different clergymen, and once a fortnight there are lectures on the history of missionary work. There are cla.s.ses in Hindustani, drawing, and singing, and for those whose education is defective, elementary cla.s.ses in arithmetic, geometry, and short-hand. The probationers are also given training in the duties of the store-room, and the order and method that they are taught in caring for the minutest details must certainly form valuable habits in all those who have any desire to profit by the instruction they receive.