<P> Certain laypeople may receive specific commission or authorisation from a bishop (often on recommendation of a parish or its clergy) to perform certain aspects of ministry . The rationale for licensing is that the ministry is considered too specialised or otherwise extraordinary to be carried out in the absence of individual evaluation and recommendation . There is variation across jurisdictions, but there are four common areas . </P> <P> Although derived from the same name as deacons, deaconesses have often been considered lay ministers in the church (probably at least from the time of the First Council of Nicaea, which agreed with this view). Deaconesses disappeared completely from the Western Church by the eleventh century . In 1836, Theodor and Friederike Fliedner founded the first deaconess house in Kaiserswerth on the Rhine . In 1862, the Bishop of London, Archibald Campbell Tait, restored the' ancient order of deaconesses' with Elizabeth Ferard by the laying on of hands . Women were ordained deaconesses by the Bishop of Alabama (in 1885) and the Bishop of New York (1887), and gradually, more dioceses began to make deaconesses, but there was no clear consensus: some intended that deaconesses be in holy orders, and others did not . In churches that now ordain women, the order of deaconess has largely died out . </P> <P> Licensed Lay Readers, whose prominence varies widely among dioceses and national churches, are licensed by their bishop . They are authorised to lead worship services, apart from the celebration of the Eucharist . Their responsibilities and privileges can include: </P> <Ul> <Li> Conducting Mattins, Evensong, and Compline </Li> <Li> Reciting the Litany </Li> <Li> Publishing banns of marriage </Li> <Li> Preaching, teaching, and assisting in pastoral care </Li> <Li> Conducting funerals </Li> <Li> Distributing (but not celebrating) Holy Communion </Li> </Ul>

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