Deaconess Ministry Resources

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR)

Reports and statements

• Women in the Church: Scriptural Principles and Ecclesial Practices — Sept. 1985
• The Service of Women in Congregational and Synodical Offices with Guidelines for Congregations — 2005

Fact Sheets

• Deaconesses in the LCMS
• Descriptions of Diaconal Care
• Deaconess Job Descriptions

Brochures

• Considering Deaconess Service 
• Congregational Deaconesses    
• Institutional Deaconesses   
• Deaconess Interns 

Bulletin Insert

• Deaconesses in the LCMS

Resources en Español

• Considerando Servir como Diaconisa (Considering Deaconess Service)
• Diaconisas Congregacionales (Congregational Deaconesses)
• Deaconisas Institucionales (Institutional Deaconesses)
• Descripciones de Cuidado Diaconal (Descriptions of Deaconate Care)
• Diaconisas en LCMS (Deaconess in the LCMS)

Educational Resources

• Recommended Reading
• Educational Opportunities
• Concordia Deaconess Conference

LCMS Church Worker Wellness

• lcms.org/wellness

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Find more resources from CTCR

Mercy Essays

Selected essays for deaconesses from Mercy Booklet Series

In timely yet timeless essays, Lutheran theologians look at Christ’s mercy and the way in which He showers healing, compassion and forgiveness on His people.

Readers will learn about mercy’s roots in the Old Testament, how to make the case for showing mercy in the world, the vocation of Christians as it pertains to showing care to the neighbor and even what it means to be a Lutheran engaging in acts of mercy in today’s social ministries.

• View selected essays for deaconesses

• •  Toward a Theology of Mercy: Winning Student Essays for 2008 – Volume I — by Peter J. Brock, Jason M. Gehrke

  •  Toward a Theology of Mercy: Winning Student Essays for 2008 – Volume II — by Mary Moerbe, Samuel P. Schuldheisz

  •  The Church’s Role of Mercy in the Community — by Matthew C. Harrison

  •  The Church Is a Mercy Place — by Matthew C. Harrison

  •  Löhe on Mercy: Six Chapters for Everyone, the Seventh for the Servants of Mercy – Volume I — by Wilhelm Löhe

  •  Löhe on Mercy: Six Chapters for Everyone, the Seventh for the Servants of Mercy – Volume II — by Wilhelm Löhe

  •  Walther on Mercy — by C.F.W. Walther

  •  Mercy and the Lutheran Congregation — by Theodore Julius Brohm; translated by Matthew C. Harrison

  • Answering the Why Question: Martin Luther on Human Suffering and God’s Mercy — by John T. Pless

  •  On Almsgiving — by Martin Chemnitz

  •  Clergy Mental Health and the Doctrine of Justification — by Robert D. Preus

  •  What Does It Mean To Be A Lutheran in Social Ministry — by Matthew C. Harrison

  •  Theological Reflections on Confessional Lutheran Involvement in Neighborhood Renewal: An Exercise in Two-Kingdom Theology — by Matthew C. Harrison

  •  Mercy in the Old Testament — by Reed Lessing

Download essays

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