Deaconess?

[cassman]

Romans 16:

1: I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cen’chre-ae,
2: that you may receive her in the Lord as befits the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a helper of many and of myself as well.

Were there female deacons?

 

[akemner]

At one time, there were female deacons. The office of Deacon was one of service, so that the Apostles would not have to wait tables, as it were. Also, they supervised and guided the Priest during the baptisms of adult women (remember, this was done in the nude in a separate room or building, and to avoid obvious, uh, issues that may arise, a female deacon assisted). There is no evidence that women served liturgically, though could receive Communion with the clergy. They were either widows or virgins post-menapausal. There are a lot of studies on this by the Orthodox (who pretty much look to the first milleneum as the model right Christianity, so the studies have a strong historical analysis).

In Christ,
Adam

 

[Salmon]

cassman:

Were there female deacons?

The Catholic Encyclopedia at NewAdvent.org has an extensive entry on that subject at:

Deaconesses

In regard to Phoebe:
“We cannot be sure that any formal recognition of deaconesses as an institution of consecrated women aiding the clergy is to be found in the New Testament. There is indeed the mention of Phebe (Romans 16:1), who is called diakonos, but this may simply mean, as the Vulgate renders it, that she was “in the ministry * of the Church”, without implying any official status.”

Much more follows that observation.

Peace in Christ…Salmon*

 

[thomist]

St. Paul’s usage of that term must be considered in the light of the language he thought, spoke and wrote in. The Greek words ‘diakonos / diakona’ are best translated into American English as ‘servant’, Thus, St. Paul said, “I commend you to our sister - Phoebe, servant of the Chosen People at Cenchrea”.

There is no historical evidence the Church ever ordained women. In fact, St. Paul also said that all of us are called to be “diakonoi” ('servants"), but from the context of the rest of his letters he obviously was not referring to what we know as ordained service.

 

[tractarian]

thomist’s note on the Greek is an excellent point. Actual ordination of diakonoi as an official position is mentioned in Acts ch. 6. In Paul’s epistle greetings and farewells, there usually isn’t enough extra-Biblical evidence to know for sure when he used the word in a general or liturgical sense for men or women.
I have also cited the Catholic Encyclopedia in other discussions on this very question, and it gets dismissed as an archaic & sexist work:nope: (their loss). But if the same uncertainty in the Pauline letters applies to both genders, then it becomes a simple matter of being honest with the original text.