Deacons: Part 4 Deaconesses
In Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, he mentions a deaconess called Phoebe. She is described as a deaconess of the church in Cenchreae. This was a port near Corinth.
Romans 16 v 1-2
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
Paul encourages the church in Rome to accept and support her as she has been a ‘prostatis’. This Greek word can mean a patroness or a female guardian. Possibly a woman set over others. It seems to relate to looking after or caring for others.
There are arguments that suggest she was a deacon, in the sense that it means just a servant. But I’m not sure that interpretation fits well with the idea she was ‘set over others’ or a guardian.
Timothy and Deaconesses
The first epistle to Timothy sets out Paul’s view on what are the requirements to be deacon. Halfway through the text he mentions that women should likewise ‘be serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things’.
There is an argument to say that this relates to the wife of the deacon, but this doesn’t line up to the early Church. The Church seemed to have a particular role called a ‘deaconesses’.
Olympias the Deaconess
She was a widow who served the Church. She became a good friend of John Chrysostom, an early Church Father. She managed the building of a hospital and an orphanage. And provide accommodation for exiled monks from the Nitrian Desert.
Didascalia
We see other deaconesses mentioned in the early Church writings too. But specific teaching is found in the Didascalia. This was the administration document of the early Church, probably written around 3rd Century AD.
According to this, deaconess were for the ministry of women. The argument used is that as Jesus was ministered to by women, so women should have specific ministry role within the Church. And this role is to primarily ‘minister to women, just as men are to minister to men’.
It seems the early Church deaconesses were involved with:
assisting women in their preparation for baptisms,
carrying pastoral responsibilities for the women in the church community,
evangelise to other women and
visit house bound women to pray and support them
They didn’t get involved in serving the Eucharist. The main reason appears to be that there were no women at the Last Supper. The Church tradition is built on this.
A bizarre comment in Chapter 9 of the Didascalia identifies the role of the priest with that of God the Father, the deacons as with God the Son and the deaconesses with God the Holy Spirit. It goes on to say that the preachers are identified with the Apostles and the widows and orphans are like that of the Altar.
I found the symbolism of comparing the Trinity to priests, deacons and deaconesses is fascinating. And something I may revisit in my Agloria Substack.
Modern Deaconesses
Across the world, deacons take on various roles within churches. Some do practical work around the church, others take on administration work and others perform teaching and pastoral roles.
In comparison, deaconesses do not appear to be a common role. Unlike in the early church.
Though I would say, that even though deaconesses may not be an official role in most modern churches, there are women who carry out the function of caring for other women in the church.
Women and Leadership
This opens up a discussion of women in leadership.
The role of priestess was not traditionally available in the Church, unlike in the pagan temples.
Some modern people believe that this was the Church being exclusive and discriminatory. Though I believe this is based upon a misunderstanding of where the power is held in the Church.
Christ is the Head of the Church and holds all authority. The priests are servants to the Church community. The power they hold is through service and expressed in a particular way.
All Christians, both male and female, are called to serve in various ways. If we were all priests, who would be the parishioners. If we are all the eye, who would hear in the Body of Christ.
The priest is not a monarch or a CEO, he leads through serving. Equally, this sums up the role of everyone in the Church.
I would say, ‘To be in ministry is to serve, and to serve is to be in ministry.’ Priests are an important ministry in the church, but just as important is the daily ministry we all carry out as Christians, by sharing the Gospel, helping those around us and worshipping Christ.
I find it interesting that the role of the deaconess is not as publicly known as it should be. Or the valuable work they do within the Global Church. I wonder if there is a reason why the role of women’s ministry, whether official or unofficial, is not more well known. Is it because it doesn’t fit well with the overriding cultural agendas in the West?
To my understanding the role of Deaconess was taken up by women religious. Deaconesses in the early Church were basically the nuns of the modern Church, except for one key responsibility—assisting in the baptism of other women. When catechumens were baptized naked (which I think was common for a time), it was inappropriate for priests (men) to perform the immersion of women being baptized. The Deaconess's main role was to assist in baptisms; particularly during the immersion of the baptized woman. My memory of these things is a little shoddy so what I've shared here is about as much as I can offer on the subject.
I think that our modern obsession with "equality" has effectively removed womens' ministries. In traditional societies sex-based segregation was and is still common. So men would not enter a house with only women in, for example. It's a regrettable aspect of feminism that they decided the only way to equality was for women to be the same as men. Wring in my opinion but it is seeping into the church too -altar girls etc.