Dr. Dorothy Hincksman Farrar (18 April 1899 – 16 May 1987) was a British Methodist

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is a ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a liturgical role. The word comes from the Greek ...

and preacher. She taught at the Wesley Deaconess Order in Ilkley and she was the second female Vice President of the annual Methodist Conference.

Life

Farrar was born in Halifax. Her mother was Louisa Frances (born Hincksman) and her father was Joseph Farrar and he made textile machines. She was named after Dorothy Hincksman who had been a nineteenth century missionary. She was educated at the private Methodist Oakfield School in Arnside. This was a boarding-school. She went on to Bedford College which following her graduation she later studied further and gained a doctorate in 1931 in psychology. Her mentor was Revd Dr Russell Maltby who was a keen supporter of women and Warden of the Wesley Deaconess Order. He encouraged her to preach in Halifax where she had a mixed reception. Some were very supportive, but others would leave the service as she began to speak without listening any further. Farrar became a deaconess in 1936 and she started teaching at the Wesley Deaconess College where she had trained in Ilkley. Her mentor Rev Maltby was still the warden until 1940. In 1952 she was the second woman ever elected to be vice-president of the annual Methodist Conference. Farrar retired in 1962. In 1978 it was decided to stop recruiting any further Wesley deaconesses and this was a disappointment to her. However, in 1986 the

Methodist Diaconal Order In the Methodist Church of Great Britain, deacons (a term used for both men and women) are members of an order called the Methodist Diaconal Order (MDO). The MDO is both a religious order and an order of ministry. One distinctive feature of the Met ...

which accepted both men and women was seen by her as a good replacement.

Death and legacy

Farrar died in a nursing home in

Holmfield Holmfield is an area of Halifax in West Yorkshire, England, north of the town centre. Early maps show no village in the area. Holmfield was developed in the 19th century after a mill, known as Holme Field Mill, was built on Strines Beck in the ...

in Halifax in 1987. In 2005 at the Edinburgh conference a lecture was given titled "''A warmed heart and a disciplined mind perfectly joined": Sister Dorothy Hincksman Farrar (1899– 1987)''" by Dr John A. Hargreaves.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrar, Dorothy 1899 births 1987 deaths People from Halifax, West Yorkshire English Methodist ministers Methodist deaconesses 20th-century English Methodist ministers