deaconess

The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a non-ordained ministry for women in some Christian churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women. The term is also applied to some women in the early church. The word comes from a Greek word, diakonos , for "deacon", which means a servant or helper and occurs frequently in the Christian New Testament of the Bible. Deaconesses trace their roots from the time of Jesus Christ through to the 13th century. They existed from the early through the middle Byzantine periods in Constantinople and Jerusalem; the office may also have existed in Western European churches. There is evidence to support the idea that the diaconate including women in the Byzantine Church of the early and middle Byzantine periods was recognized as one of the major orders of clergy.