What is "deaconess"

Deaconess \Dea"con*ess\, n. (Eccl.) A female deacon; as:

1. (Primitive Ch.) One of an order of women whose duties resembled those of deacons.

2. (Ch. of Eng. and Prot. Epis. Ch.) A woman set apart for church work by a bishop.

3. A woman chosen as a helper in church work, as among the Congregationalists.

n. 1 A female deacon. 2 A female servant in the early Christian church.

n. a woman deacon

The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women. The term is also applied to some women deacons 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.

A modern resurgence of the office began among Protestants in Germany in the 1840s and spread through Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Britain and the United States. Lutherans were especially active. The modern movement reached a peak about 1910, then slowly declined as secularization undercut religiosity in Europe and the professionalization of nursing and social work offered better career opportunities for young women. A small movement still exists and its legacy is seen in numerous hospitals.

Non-clerical deaconesses should not be confused with women ordained deacons such as in the Anglican churches and the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.