St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

Patriarchate of Alexandria’s Blessing of Deaconesses Inspires Encouraging Response from Distinguished Theologian, Emeritus Professor Evangelos Theodorou

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Submitted by:
Presvytera Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald

During a telephone interview on Saturday, February 18th, 2017, the distinguished theologian, Emeritus Professor Evangelos Theodorou of the University of Athens School of Theology, respected authority of liturgical theology and the historiography of the ordination of deaconesses shared his appraisal regarding the recent blessing of deaconesses for the Orthodox Church in Africa to assist in the mission field.

For the original news release, see:

http://basilica.ro/en/patriarch-theodoros-of-alexandria-performs-first-consecration-of-deaconesses/

Professor Theodorou emphasized that,

This is a fresh and important step. The Synod’s decision to respond to pressing contemporary pastoral need is rooted in much prayer, study and discussion. As the Holy Apostles in the Book of Acts guided by the Holy Spirit responded to the pressing needs of the Church in their context, so likewise, guided by the Holy Spirit, is the Holy Synod of Alexandria responding to this and other needs confronting the growing Orthodox Church in Africa.

The original news release indicates these devout and tested women were received with a cheirothesia (laying on of hands), apparently similar to a sub-deacon. While no orarion (diaconal stole) was conferred on the candidates, the beautiful photographs nevertheless, depict the new (sub)deaconesses wearing the sub-diaconal towel on their heads and carrying the sub-deacon’s water-bowl. This is truly significant and lovely!

That these newly appointed lay-ministers are identified as “deaconesses”, follows an important historical precedent. For example, “monastic-deaconesses” (nuns appointed as sub-deaconesses) ministered to incarcerated women in jails and prisons on behalf of the Archdiocese of Athens (1930’s).

This action undertaken by the Patriarchate of Alexandria, indeed is a wise first step.  God-willing, may they sooner rather than later discern throughcheirotonia (ordination) faithful and tested female servants of God to the diaconate; as were St. Phoebe (1st c.), St. Olympias (4th c), St. Irene of Chrysovalanton (9th c) and numerous other holy women.

The Professor advised Saint Catherine’s Vision’s 2014 international: Call for the Rejuvenation of the Ministry of the Ordained Deaconess . Together with SCV he emphasized,

…The deaconess can serve the ever-expanding needs of the local church under the direction of the bishop. She can assist in areas such as pastoral care, education, mission, and philanthropy. She can expand the outreach of the church particularly through evangelism and witness as well as care for the sick, destitute and unchurched. She can bear witness to the values of the Gospel in the wider society.

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria performs first consecration of deaconesses

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On the feast of the Saint and Great Martyr Theodore of Tyre, 17 February 2016, the day on which His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa celebrates his name day, a festive Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Holy Church of St Nicholas, within the Missionary Centre of Kolwezi.

Together with the Alexandrian Primate concelebrated Their Eminences Nicephorus, Metropolitan of Kinshasa, Innocent, Metropolitan of Burundi and Rwanda, and the local Metropolitan Meletios of Katanga, accompanied by the Clergy of the Hy Metropolis.

As the official site of the Patriarchate reports, His Beatitude the Patriarch spoke during his homily about the Great Martyr St Theodoros, emphasising the confession of martyrdom before the persecutors of faith and his love for Jesus Christ.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy the Primate of the Alexandrian Throne consecrated the Catechist elder Theano, one of the first members of the Missionary staff in Kolwezi, to “Deaconess of the Missions” of the Holy Metropolis of Katanga and read the prayer for one entering the “ecclesiastic ministry” for three Nuns and two Catechists, in order for them to assist the missionary effort of the Holy Metropolis, particularly in the Sacraments of Baptisms of adults and marriages, as well as in the Catechetical department of the local Church.

Note that it is the first time in the history of Missions in Africa that these consecrations have been done.

See more photos and original story here.

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

Female Servers in Aleppo, Syria

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Photo from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. www.antiochpatriarchate.org

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

Deacons, Women and the Call to Serve

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A special web round-table discussion sponsored by America Media and the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture includes panelist George Demacopoulos, theologian and founding co-director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University.

 

 

 

Full transcripts and videos available here

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

Theologian’s Response to Patriarchate of Alexandria’s Decision to Restore the Ministry of Deaconess

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Theologian Presvytera Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald, co-founder of the pan-Orthodox organization St. Catherine’s Vision, has responded to the recent decision of the Patriarchate of Alexandria to restore the ministry of deaconess for the Orthodox Church in Africa.

Her response can be read below, and a PDF can be downloaded here:

Earlier this month the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria decided to proceed with the restoration of the ministry of deaconesses as an aid in the Orthodox mission field. In a November 23, 2016 telephone interview, theologian and Emeritus Professor Evangelos Theodorou of the University of Athens School of Theology, a respected authority of liturgical theology and the historiography of the ordination of deaconesses, stated:

“This is a timely and wonderful development. No doubt, the Orthodox Church in Africa has been growing and making profound inroads in many places. We have much to learn from them. Growth also implies new challenges and opportunities. We know through the Church’s history how unforeseen pastoral, educational and other needs, naturally arise as the Church grows. Inspired by the grace of the Holy Spirit, through this, as well as other pastoral decisions, the hierarchs of the Church in Africa are wisely acknowledging and responding to the needs of the Church.”

When asked about various dissenting opinions that followed this announcement, the professor stressed that:

“The ordination of deaconesses has been witnessed to in three Ecumenical Councils. There has never been an Ecumenical Council to abolish them. Furthermore, every bishop has the right to ordain clergy and appoint ministers for his diocese as he discerns. This has always been the case through history. We know that in recent memory, Saint Nektarios of Aegina ordained two nuns as deaconesses and the late Archbishop of Athens, His Beatitude Christodoulos, ordained a nun as a deaconess in his metropolis while he was serving as the Metropolitan of Demetrias (Volos).”

Over the past decades, Professor Theodorou spoke on the history, ministry and ordination of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church in many venues, including a major presentation at the 1988 Rhodes Inter-Orthodox Consultation on the topic, The Place of Women in the Orthodox Church and the Question of the Ordination of Women. This consultation unanimously
advocated for the rejuvenation of the ministry of female deacons. In 2015, tribute was paid to Professor Theodorou’s academic career at a conference organized in his honor at the School of Theology of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece. This conference also focused particularly on the ordination of deaconesses.

Professor Theodorou has also served as an advisor for the Saint Catherine’s Vision 2014 publication: A Call for the Rejuvenation of the Ministry of the Ordained Deaconess In this document and throughout his academic career, he emphasized:

“The need for the ministry of deaconesses is not new. The Scriptures, the Fathers and the ancient liturgical texts in the life of the Church affirm in various ways how ‘the ministry
of a woman deacon is especially important and necessary.’ Certainly, this ministry may be needed more in some places than in others. This has always been the case in history.
…Today, the ministry of women ordained to the diaconate can be of great benefit in many places within the life of the Church. The deaconess can serve the ever-expanding needs
of the local church under the direction of the bishop. She can assist in areas such as pastoral care, education, mission, and philanthropy. She can expand the outreach of the church particularly through evangelism and witness as well as care for the sick, destitute and unchurched. She can bear witness to the values of the Gospel in the wider society.”

In reflecting on the Patriarchate of Alexandria’s decision, Professor Theodorou also reminds us of a statement by Metropolitan Chrysostom of Chalkidos at the 2004 meeting of the Synod of Bishops of the Church of Greece on The Role of Women in the Overall Structure of the Church:

“Rejuvenating the Order of Deaconesses. Metropolitan Chrysostom affirms: It is certainly possible to rejuvenate this praiseworthy order, with its many diverse and blessed activities, as long as the Church decides this is necessary after careful study and weighing the Church’s needs, being illumined by the Holy Spirit concerning the ‘signs of the times’ “.

Saint Catherine’s Vision invites everyone to join us in prayer that God reveal His holy will on this important issue for the Church. For further information about Saint Catherine’s Vision, please visit our website: www.saintcatherinesvision.org
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Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald is the co-founder and Executive Director of Saint Catherine’s Vision and the author of Women Deacons in the Orthodox Church: Called to Holiness and Ministry, published by Holy Cross Orthodox Press. She also serves as adjunct professor of theology at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

New St. Phoebe Center Brochure Now Available

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The St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess is pleased to provide this brochure that explains how restoration of the ancient ordained role of the female deacon could help build up Christ’s Church and its people.

Please download and share.

Download the new St. Phoebe Center Brochure

 

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

“Invisible Leaders in the Orthodox Church” Document Released by Aphaia Resources

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Written by Patricia Fann Bouteneff, “Invisible Leaders in the Orthodox Church” is most likely the first list of its kind that begins to acknowledge the powerful and important work of female members of the Orthodox Church. Patricia admits it is not exhaustive. Already, after posting the document on her Facebook page, many of her followers have submitted names of women carrying out noteworthy and life-changing work in a variety of diverse professions and ministries.

Patricia writes, “One of the better kept secrets in the Orthodox Church today is how many of our leaders are or have been female. They tend not to stand out, as we are trained to expect our leaders to wear cassocks, beards, and pectoral crosses or otherwise be male. But knowing about the specific roles women are playing in the Church today is important, all the more if you desire to fulfill your own calling. As the historian Eva C. Topping said in a 1998 interview in St. Nina Quarterly, “Women need to know their own history in the Church. … We cannot make the contributions women are called to make, unless we are first informed of our history and enlivened by the true vision of Orthodoxy that all are equal in Christ.” She is right: we women must know our history, but I would add that we have an even greater need to understand our present reality.”

Read the entire article here.

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

Work of St. Phoebe Center is Mentioned in Commonweal Magazine article “Will the Church Get Women Deacons?”

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In an article titled “Will the Church Get Women Deacons?” appearing in the July 8, 2016 issue of Commonweal Magazine, author Rita Ferrone suggests that “Clergy who obsess about the dangers of clericalism in women are projecting their own sins and selling short women’s capacity for virtue.”

The magazine is billed as an “independent journal of religion, politics and culture edited by lay Catholics”. The author of several books about liturgy, Ferrone points out: “There is also conversation in Orthodox circles about the “rejuvenation” of the ministry of women deacons. Here one might mention the scholarly work of Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald, Saint Catherine’s Vision (a pan-Orthodox theological fellowship), and the St. Phoebe Center for the History of the Deaconess.”

Read the entire article here.

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

2017 Conference to be Held in Irvine, California

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Join St Phoebe Center

A 2017 Pan-Orthodox Conference hosted by the St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess will be held October 6 & 7, 2017 at Saint Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church, Irvine, California, where Rev. Fr. Steven Tsichlis is rector.

The theme of the conference is “Renewing the Male and Female Diaconate in the Orthodox Church”.

The keynote address will be given by Rev. Dr. John Chryssagivis, Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne, who will speak on the theology, history, and purpose of the diaconate (male and female).

As more details become available they will be posted here and on our Facebook page.

St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess

St. Phoebe Officers Announced

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AnnMarie Mecera, CHAIR

AnnMarie Mecera, CHAIR

Dr. Caren Stayer, SECRETARY

Caren Stayer,
SECRETARY

Gus-Mecera

Gust Mecera, TREASURER

In a meeting held December 10, St. Phoebe board members elected AnnMarie Mecera as Chair; Dr. Caren Stayer as Secretary; and Gust Mecera as Treasurer. AnnMarie and Caren are both founding members of the St. Phoebe Center. Gust’s bio can be found here.

The election of officers comes with plans for the organization to become a non-profit  with 501c3 status. Bylaws are currently being developed; in early 2016, the board hopes to submit its 501c3 application. This move will provide credibility and accountability to the organization and will also allow donations to be tax-deductible.