The revival of religious orders in the mid-nineteenth century opened up a field of Christian ministry for women distinct from previous types of church work, which had been voluntary, part-time, and necessarily limited by contemporary identification of women with the domestic sphere. The Deaconess Movement posed a threat to the accepted gender order of Victorian society, creating new spheres of activity and roles of authority for women outside the home. This volume, bringing together documents on the Movement from a variety of unpublished archives, offers an introduction to a neglected aspect...