WESLEY DEACONESS ORDER (Methodist Church) - a vintage Sister's Order badge (a rare badge)

Postage is extra.

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For sale is a rare and vintage identity badge of the Wesley Deaconess Order (1890-1987), that would have been worn by a member of the Order (more information about the Order further below).

I've a related badge for sale here:
https://www.adverts.ie/other-antiques-collectables/young-leaguers-union-ylu-membership-badge-1920-s-1930-s/15172300

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DESCRIPTION:
Size: about 21/32" x 1/4" (42mm x 6.5mm).
Material(s): brass metal with 1 vitreous enamel.
Finish: gilt.
Fitting: pin.
Imprint: none.
Approximate age: c.1930s to 1970s.

CONDITION:
Very good condition. No damage. Pin in working order. Some wear to the gilt plating commensurate with age and use.
Please see photograph(s), these form part of the description.

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More about the Wesley Deaconess Order:

The Wesley Deaconess Order (WDO) was a religious order within the Methodist Church whose members worked full-time and made a significant contribution to British Methodism across a wide range of activities such as pastoral, evangelistic, children homes nurses, teachers, social charity worker and as missionary workers both nationally and abroad. Members of the Order were known as ‘Sisters’, they wore uniforms and were paid by the church for the work they did. The work of the Wesley Deaconesses generally provided a bridging link between the Methodist Church and the general community.

The WDO was founded in 1890 by the Wesleyan Minister, Thomas Bowman Stephenson (1839-1912), who had also established the National Children’s Home & Orphanage in 1869 and which later became the National Children's Home (NCH), renamed as Action for Children in 2008. Deaconesses (Sisters) were recruited by Stephenson, initially to work in his Children's Home but over the years the work of the WDO gradually digressed away from their involvement with the children’s homes and by 1937 they had become an independent religious order with fully ordained members within the Methodist Church. Ordination into the WDO was a lifelong commitment but prior to the removal of the marriage-bar in 1965, a Deaconesses would have been obliged to resign when she got married.

Today, the work of the WDO is carried on by the Methodist Diaconal Order. When the Methodist Church accepted women for presbyteral ordination from 1974, the WDO underwent major changes that included the admittance of both men and women into the Order. Thereafter, all male and female members of the Methodist Diaconal Order are referred to as Deacons. The Ministry of Deacon in the Methodist Church is considered as equal to that of the regular or Presbyteral Ministry, but the roles of each ministry may differ.

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• 1890 Wesley Deaconess Order established.
• 1894 Deaconesses begin their work overseas, first in South Africa.
• 1900 Thomas Bowman Stephenson resigned from NCH in order to return to ministry and also became superintendent of the Ilkley circuit.
• 1902 Stephenson purchased a building in Ilkley (Yorkshire) that would be home to the Wesley Deaconess Institute college. Those members of the public who pledged a Guinea a year towards the running of the college were known as Associates members of the Order, later known as Friends of the Order.
• 1902 to 1936 Deaconesses were “consecrated”
• 1907 The Deaconess Institute (Ilkley, Yorkshire)became part of the United Methodist Church.
• 1937 onwards Deaconesses were “ordained”.
• 1965 Marriage ban was lifted, Deaconesses no longer required to resign on getting married.
• 1968 The Institute in Ilkley closed and the training of deaconesses moved to Handsworth College in Birmingham, where it was united with the training of presbyters.
• 1970 Handsworth itself closed and the deaconesses transferred their training to the ecumenical Queens College in Birmingham.
• 1987 The Wesley Deaconess Order renamed the Methodist Diaconal Order (MDO).
• 1988 Membership of the MDO was opened to men as well. Both men and women members were officially titled “Deacons”, the word Deaconess no longer used.

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References:

https://www.methodist.org.uk/about/the-diaconal-order/the-history-of-the-methodist-diaconal-order/ (The Methodist Church website - about the Wesley Deaconess Order).

https://www.primitivemethodistwomen.org/the-wesley-deaconess-order/

https://rylandscollections.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/wdo-archive-catalogue.pdf (Archives of the WDO with notes on the Order’s history).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Diaconal_Order (Methodist Diaconal Order).

https://media.methodist.org.uk/media/documents/missionary-history-graham-wesley-deaconess-ceylon-2004.pdf

https://rylandscollections.com/2013/03/14/sisters-in-christ-a-significant-new-resource-for-gender-studies-at-the-university-of-manchester/

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POSTAGE:
* Postal costs are extra, additional to the Asking Price
* I always get a proof-of-posting certificate.
* I combine postal costs for multiple items when these are paid for and posted the same time.

RETURNS:
* Return accepted if the item(s) is returned in same condition it left me, then the full Agreed Asking Price will be refunded. Postal costs are not refundable.
* Buyer pays the return postal costs - unless agreed otherwise.

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