The purposes of the National Association of Deaconesses, Home Missioners, and Home Missionaries (NADHM) are to:
Provide an independent voice for United Methodist Deaconesses, Home Missioners and Home Missionaries both within The United Methodist Church structure and in the larger society; provide various programs, support, resources and activities that enable the development of a sense of community among its members; and further the ability of commissioned/consecrated workers to carry out their ministries of service and social justice. All of these purposes are seen as celebrating the love of Jesus Christ and the arrival of the Kingdom of God in the midst of a troubled world. (NADHM Bylaws, Article 3)
The National Association of Deaconesses and Home Missioners celebrates God’s intentional and beautifully diverse human family and welcomes into membership, full participation, and leadership persons of all ages, races, ethnicities, family structure, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, economic background, political affiliation, physical and/ormental ability, faith history, and life experience. As a community, we commitourselves to relationships, professional and ministry standards, and public witness that model for our church and world the equality, justice, andunconditional love that Jesus modeled throughout the gospels.
NADHM is authorized by ¶1917.2 of the 2016 United Methodist Book of Discipline:“There may be a national association of deaconesses, home missioners, and home missionaries in relationship with United Methodist Women.”
Founding
Founded in 1988 by Home Missionaries and Deaconesses, the National Association of Deaconesses, Home Missioners, and Home Missionaries was founded to advocate for our community.
What We’ve Done
Advocacy by NADHM kept the Deaconess movement alive in the United Methodist Church,- Motivated the creation of the Home Missioners, and most recently,- Provided the impetus for the designation of the Deaconess & Home Missioner movement to be recognized as a lay order in the United Methodist Church.