“Why are learned Eastern hierarchs not on the commission? Why are Orthodox deaconesses not on the commission?”
Likely because this is your discipline, your praxis, your tradition and your call. You know, it’s not much of an issue with us and whether you folks reintroduce the order or not really is up to you. Our feelings won’t be hurt either way.
I understand. Including Orthodox wouldn’t so much be for you, it would be for us.
Anyone who values tradition would naturally look to the East to show the way on how deaconesses could work. If we really wanted to do this right we should be sitting down and talking to people who have an unbroken tradition of it and who still live it.
I suspect though, that that won’t happen because the people involved know that the Eastern example won’t provide them what they really want: ordination to the priesthood and the episcopacy.