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The Deaconess Spirit JUSTICE T he D eaconess The S FAITHFULNESS pirit Deaconess HOPE Spirit 125 Years in Mission SERVICE IDENTITY The Deaconess Spirit 125 Years in Mission Copyright © 2014 Deaconess Foundation Photo Credits Contents All rights reserved Mike Bizelli: ix, 44, 82, 85, 101 Deaconess Foundation Deaconess Archives: ii, iv-viii, 4-5, 12-13, 22-25, 31, 36, 211 N. Broadway 38-39, 41, 52-53, 58-71, 75-76, 94-95, 97-98 v Introduction: 30 Deaconess In Transition St. Louis, MO 63102 Eden Seminary: 43, 74 The Deaconess Spirit www.deaconess.org Identity Southside Early Childhood Center: x, 16, 35, 81, 86, 90, 92 Justice Published in cooperation with Wiley Price: 7, 40, 50-51, 56 40 Heritage—Planted in the Church 4 Heritage—Responding to Need with Justice 42 Spirit—Serving with the United Church of Christ Reedy Press Christian Gooden, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 27 PO Box 5131 6 Spirit—Pursuing Justice in Foster Care 44 Vision—Collaborating to Expand Impact St. Louis, MO 63139 Mark Regester: 2-3, 27, 28, 50-51, 55 8 Vision—Advocating for Equity www.reedypress.com Spoonful of Sugar Photography: 8 46 Deaconess Impact Partnership Library of Congress Control Number: 2014935540 Hope Text Credits 12 Heritage—Helping Hands Faithfulness ISBN: 978-1-935806-00-4 Amanda Cook: 5, 13, 14, 17, 25, 41, 45, 53-54 14 Spirit—Partnering with Parents 52 Heritage—Creating Sacred Space Jane Donahue: 9, 26, 29, 46-49, 72 16 Vision—Lifting the Voices of Children 54 Spirit—Building a Greater World No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic Elizabeth George: 6, 46-49 56 Vision—Caring for Future Generations or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or Jerry W. Paul: 30-37 18 Deaconess Parish any information storage and retrieval system, without Starsky Wilson: v-x, 18-21, 42, 57, 99-102 58 Deaconess Timeline permission in writing from the publisher. Nurse Ministries Book Editor: Jane Donahue Permissions may be sought directly from Reedy Press Much of the Deaconess timeline was originally presented Service 78 Appendixes at the mailing address at left or via our website at www. in The Deaconess Heritage, by Ruth W. Rasche, 1989. 24 Heritage—Commitment to Ministry reedypress.com. 26 Spirit—Servant Leaders in Mission 99 Afterword: Thank you to Pam Heeb, Deaconess Foundation, for 28 Vision—Emerging Servant Leaders Printed in the United States of America production and archives assistance. The Deaconess Vision 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 Introduction: The Deaconess Spirit “All that spirits desire, spirits attain.” navigating challenges of industry, polity, —Kahlil Gibran and community, to live afresh and create anew. What we’ve deemed in these pages, “The Spirit Era” of the Deaconess mission A Spiritual Pursuit attests to the power of God to advance caring, healing, and teaching through t the centennial of the Deaconess mission in St. Louis in 1989, more than a series of institutions or programs. Indeed the Spirit Athe hospital commissioned The Deaconess Heritage by Ruth chases its desire in community, guided by values and through W. Rasche, the late historian and wife of the late Reverend Carl successive generations. C. Rasche, then president-emeritus of Deaconess Hospital. In the foreword to that volume, the Reverend Richard Ellerbrake, president Movement of the Spirit of the hospital, characterized Deaconess as attuned to the call to In the Christian tradition, at Pentecost the Spirit falls upon the service, pursuing the health of the community with resolve and entire community gathered, not a single individual or select few, to humility . “in all, be open to the Spirit and go and do as the Spirit birth the c hurch. As recounted in History leads.” and Program of the United Church of The twenty-five years since that Christ, the Reverend Adolph Baltzer, the storied anniversary have been filled with first president of the Evangelical Synod opportunities to follow the Spirit into of the West, recognized “the ephemeral new directions with new possibilities. nature of organizations and institutions, The persistent presence of the Holy even denominations, but emphasized the Spirit to which Ellerbrake referred has enduring and fruitful nature of ‘work done been proven time and again, effectively in the name of the Lord and in his Spirit.’” iv INTRODUCTION THE DEACONESS SPIRIT v This early leader of the ecclesial tradition that nurtured the Evangel- years, discernment of the principles that would ical Deaconess Society of St. Louis and the sisterhood it consecrated, guide this mission produced themes of justice, warned of allegiance to specific means or methods over mission. He service, hope, identity, and faithfulness. As invited the community to come together under the authority of the stated values of Deaconess Foundation, they Spirit in fellowship and service. In the last twenty-five years the Dea- provide the framework for how we do our work coness community has expanded to include parish nurses, Sisters and tell the story of this era in the coming of Charity of the Incarnate Word, professionals from an expanded pages. health system, college of nursing alumni, young nursing scholars, Finally, as the intractable issues of sick- collaborating funders, and nonprofit organizations that serve chil- ness, poverty and marginalization manifest dren in poverty. This relatively short span has included three chief themselves throughout the ages, the Spirit pur- executives (compared to four in the previous century) and hundreds sues them through the ministry of successive of Deaconess sisters exemplifying the mission. generations. The preamble to the constitution While the Spirit moves in new ways, it is always guided by core of the United Church of Christ “affirms the values consistent with its origins. The essence of our genesis is responsibility of the Church in each generation the gathering of a marginalized population who lacked access to care to make this faith its own in reality of worship, because they were voiceless in an urban environment. But they reached in honesty of thought and expression, and in into the resources of their cultural and religious heritage to respond purity of heart before God.” The reality of this to a communal crisis. Ruth Rasche described this situation of St. responsibility was illustrated for Deaconess in Louis’s German immigrants of the 1880s at City Hospital who “were 2010 when Sister Marie G. Lee, the last Evan- said to have felt unwelcome there because of their language barrier,” gelical Deaconess sister in the United States, even amidst the hospital’s deplorable conditions. Though popula- and Ruth W. Rasche, transitioned into eternity. tions and demographics have changed, when foundation trustees They were followed in 2011 by the Reverend voted in 1999 to use the St. Louis Metropolitan Children’s Agenda as Carl C. Rasche. As the Spirit would have it, criteria for grant review, they were acting as a faith community to the next generation of discerning leaders had focus on a marginalized population who lacked appropriate care be- already begun acting to preserve the mission. cause they were voiceless in civic decision-making. Throughout the Surely, the most critical transition of this era vii vi INTRODUCTION THE DEACONESS SPIRIT was the intentional and courageous action of selling the Deaconess Incarnate Word Health System on June 30, 1997. With “honesty of thought” and “purity of heart before God” Reverend Jerry Paul, Pres- ident of Deaconess Incarnate Word Health System and subsequently Deaconess Foundation, led a community of trustees through a delib- erative process of discerning the times and the Spirit’s movement. The Reverend Dr. John Bracke, retired Eden Theological Seminary professor and former Deaconess trustee, characterized the accom- plishment as “an absolute marvel of transformational leadership.” The Spirit of Deaconess As the Spirit moved through the Deaconess heritage it began to develop particular marks of its own. Led by God’s Spirit, the Deacon- ess spirit is influenced by what church historians called the “irenic spirit,” which distinguished the German Evangelical tradition. Likely the first official articulation of a “Deaconess Spirit” occurred as the health system was expanding in the mid-1990s. A special event was held in 1995 focusing on the compassion of the Deaconess Sisters. The event introduced the Spirit of Deaconess Awards which saluted those in the community who “reflect the Deaconess tradition of responding to community needs in caring ways.” At its core, this has been the reality of the last twenty-five years: attempts of succeeding viii INTRODUCTION THE DEACONESS SPIRIT ix generations to respond to community needs in caring ways while in spirit and inform our vision for the future. This work—like all chasing the Spirit. The pages ahead are not meant to provide an our work—is collaborative and through it the community speaks. exhaustive history of these years. Rather, they offer a glimpse of the The project includes the voices of present and past Deaconess staff, Spirit’s movement. Organized by our five core values, they shed light consulting partners and most importantly the children and youth we on ways these values were expressed in our heritage, are present serve. Please hear their voices. “Hear what the Spirit is saying.” x INTRODUCTION The Deaconess Spirit 125 Years in Mission Deaconess Value: Justice We believe a just society is essential for the full achievement of individual and community health. 2 SERVICE THE DEACONESS SPIRIT 3 Heritage—Responding to Need with Justice he 19th century in St. Louis was a time of explosive growth the Evangelischer Diakonissen-Verein von St. Louis, MO (Evangelical Tand marvelous change. Industry was booming along with an Deaconess Society of St. Louis, MO). immigrant population—primarily from Ireland and Germany—that The new organization was groundbreaking in its vision for justice doubled, tripled, then quadrupled the size of the city and made it and equality.
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