Árdís - 01.01.1958, Page 34

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ÁRDÍS
weekday and vacation church schools; trains teachers and leaders,
guides and counsels the youth groups. She shares in the visitation
program of the parish. She may assist adult organizations, and care
for the welfare needs. She is privileged to work intimately with
all the people of her parish.
The Social Work Deaconess helps people through the service
provided by church welfare agencies. She may serve as a group
worker or administrator in a neighborhood house or community
centre; or as a case worker or supervisor in family or children’s
agencies; or in church institutions such as hospitals, homes for the
aged and for children.
The Nursing Deaconess has varied opportunities and responsi-
bilities dependent upon her specialized field. In hospitals she may
serve in supervisory, administrative, teaching, and bed-side nursing
categories. In homes for children or aged, she is responsible for
the health program and for the nursing and supervision of the ill;
often she is responsible for the entire management of the institu-
tion. She may be a specialist in one of the areas of public health
nursing in which our church co-operates or the nurse in a college
dormitory.
The Institutional Worker may be the administrator or super-
visor of a home for children, the aged, or the handicapped. She
may be the “mother” with complete responsibility for her children
and the operation of the home. She may be the household manager,
dietitian, nurse, group worker, or case worker.
Other vocational opportunities for young women in the Dia-
conate of the United Lutheran Church are as Directors of Religious
Education; Directors of Music; Church Secretaries; Teachers; and
as Synodical Workers. These are only a few of the opportunities
for service within our church and needless to say each deaconess
is trained for her specialized field.
There is a serious shortage of deaconesses facing the church.
Our two Motherhouses cannot even meet a small fraction of the
calls from congregations, social agencies, institutions, boards and
synods. The church is needing 4,000 women within the next five
years just to meet the present need and turnover in church work.
Our church has a new program known as AIDS — Associates
in Deaconess Service. The church calls for women, over 20 years
of age, in good health, free to adjust their mode of living so that