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| St. John the Baptist and St. Olympia the Deaconess, depicted in a 19th-century Russian Orthodox icon (Newscom/Fine Art Images/Heritage Images) |
The Scriptural Case for Women Deacons by Michah D. Kiel
"Translations that obfuscate Phoebe’s role while inflating those of men do a disservice by importing later church distinctions between men and women back into the New Testament period.
"The justification for women deacons, however, can be based on more than necessity. Paul’s ministry provides our earliest window into the practice of the fledgling church, one in which men and women seem to have shared equally in the role of deacon. We can claim Deacon Phoebe and her ministry as norm-making precedent. She would not have it any other way."
"Women Deacons in History" by Gary Macy, National Catholic Reporter
https://www.ncronline.org/news/theology/women-deacons-history
"...there is ample evidence for women deacons in Christian history. Starting with Phoebe, the only deacon named as such in Scripture, numerous references to women deacons appear in epigraphs, letters, chronicles and, most importantly, ordination rites for women deacons in the Western and Eastern churches.
Ordination originally meant the selection of a member of a particular Christian community and installation of that member into a particular function within that community. Ordination did not give a person an irrevocable power that she or he could exercise anywhere...."
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