The purpose of this article is to understand the new professional role that male diaconate represented within the Church of Sweden and Swedish society. The primary focus of the study is on the f irst 50 years of the deacon training school, from 1898 to 1948. The article is based on previously unprocessed archival material, periodicals, and prior research. Through the lens of masculinity studies, the analysis explores how the seemingly complex male role within the male caregiving diaconate can be understood from a historical and gender theoretical perspective. The article demonstrates that male diaconate should be understood in the context of the transition from a Lutheran unitary culture and agrarian society to a modern industrial society. At the same time, there was a clear continuity between the organization of the diaconal institution as a home and the Lutheran household concept, which signified a Lutheran masculinity for a new era.