Is there biblical evidence of the female deacon?

In addition to recording the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the texts of the New Testament include information on the early formation and organization of the Church. Here, we see the beginnings of what we now recognize as the three-fold pattern of ordained ministry—bishop, presbyter, and deacon, albeit in their embryonic stages. The Church would later develop these ministries to continue its mission. For the diaconate, the classic text for the establishment of the (male) diaconate is found in Acts 6: 1–6. It is here that Stephen is selected as the first deacon. The female deacon is first mentioned in Romans 16:1 where Paul refers to Phoebe as a “deacon of the church” (diakonon ths ekklhsias.) Although some have suggested that “deacon” in this context merely means a “helper” or “servant,” the Church has recognized Phoebe as the prototype of the female deacon just as Stephen is recognized as such for the male deacon.

Each is mentioned in their respective ordination prayers in the Byzantine Rite.
For instance, in the second prayer of ordination of the female deacon in the Byzantine Rite, Phoebe is the biblical model referenced: Master and Lord, You do not reject women who offer themselves, and by divine counsel, to minister as is fitting to your holy houses, but you accept them in the order of ministers. Give the grace of your Holy Spirit to this servant of Yours also, who wishes to offer herself to you, and to accomplish the grace of the diaconate, as You gave the grace of Your diaconate to Phoebe, whom you called to the work of the ministry Barberini Codex gr. 336 Translated by Archimandrite Ephrem. Later in the biblical text, Paul (or his school) outlines some of the moral or ethical qualifications for those who hold church office. In 1Timothy 3:1–13, he describes these for the offices of bishop (episcopos) and deacon. Although the inclusion of the female deacon in this passage is not definitive—the corresponding text to the qualifications of the male deacon (1 Tim. 3:11) merely says “women” (gunaikas) and some suggest that this refers to the wives of deacons—a case can be made that the text is referring to women deacons.

1. First, the parallelism of the text (comparing the characteristics of the bishop and deacons) suggests strongly that it is describing the moral characteristics of women deacons. In both cases, the text first refers to the qualifications of the office holder and then continues to refer to the arrangements of their respective households. Although the text assumes the bishop is male and married with a family, it does not mention any moral prescriptions for his wife. However, in the case of the deacons, the moral qualifications of the “women” are mentioned prior to noting the domestic arrangements and responsibilities of the deacons. This would imply strongly that the “women” (in this case) refers to the women deacons and not the wives of the deacons.

2. Second, later church manuals (e.g. Didascalia Apostolorum, Apostolic Constitutions) describe the moral character of the male and female diaconate similarly. In these texts, the existence of the female diaconate is more explicit.

3. Third, we know that a number of early church fathers recognized women as co-ministers (sundiakonous) with men (e.g. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Theodoret, and John Chrysostom). In this case, in his commentary on 1Timothy, Chrysostom argues that Paul is not referring to women in general in this passage, but those women who have the “dignity” or “authority” (axiwma) of the diaconate. (Homily 11 on 1 Timothy, PG 62, 553 CD) The New Testament only shows the ordained offices of the church in their nascent form. However, from the totality of the biblical record, we can see that women were recognized as co-ministers with men from earliest times and, in some cases, were set apart for diaconal ministry.