as in clergyman
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Recent Examples of deaconess
Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
—
Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Born in a homestead just north of the D.C. border in 1930 and 1933, the brothers were raised in historic St. Phillips Baptist Church, where their father was an associate minister and their mother a deaconess.
—Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
The Pauline epistles contain numerous references to women who were instrumental in the leadership of the early church: Phoebe, a deaconess; Chloe; Apphia; Euodia; Nympha; Junia.
—Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
More recently, a Nov. 15, 2021 issue of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel noted that in 2017, Israeli archaeologists uncovered stones and mosaics memorializing Theodosia the deaconess and Gregoria the deaconess in the ruins of a 1,600-year-old basilica in Ashdod.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 30 Mar. 2022
In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.
—Robyn Mowatt, ELLE, 22 June 2023
Welcome to the Rehearsal Club, an artist residency and the one-year-old reincarnation of a nonprofit organization founded in 1913 by Jane Harriss Hall, an Episcopal deaconess, and Jean Greer, the daughter of New York’s Episcopal bishop.
—Joanne Kaufman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2023
The virus also claimed the life of Shirley Miller, 70, a deaconess who assisted with baptisms and communion.
—Ray Sanchez, CNN, 18 Apr. 2020
Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Born in a homestead just north of the D.C. border in 1930 and 1933, the brothers were raised in historic St. Phillips Baptist Church, where their father was an associate minister and their mother a deaconess.
—Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
The Pauline epistles contain numerous references to women who were instrumental in the leadership of the early church: Phoebe, a deaconess; Chloe; Apphia; Euodia; Nympha; Junia.
—Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
More recently, a Nov. 15, 2021 issue of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel noted that in 2017, Israeli archaeologists uncovered stones and mosaics memorializing Theodosia the deaconess and Gregoria the deaconess in the ruins of a 1,600-year-old basilica in Ashdod.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 30 Mar. 2022
In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.
—Robyn Mowatt, ELLE, 22 June 2023
Welcome to the Rehearsal Club, an artist residency and the one-year-old reincarnation of a nonprofit organization founded in 1913 by Jane Harriss Hall, an Episcopal deaconess, and Jean Greer, the daughter of New York’s Episcopal bishop.
—Joanne Kaufman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2023
The virus also claimed the life of Shirley Miller, 70, a deaconess who assisted with baptisms and communion.
—Ray Sanchez, CNN, 18 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deaconess
Noun
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The technique seen in the clergyman also hasn’t been reported in scientific literature before, Nerlich added.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN Money,
2 May 2025
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The clergymen’s colors signaled their rank, and a seating chart could reveal which dignitary or humble believer sat where.—
Alan Yuhas,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Some went as payment to the priests and priestesses.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
16 May 2025
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The grove also houses two ancient palaces and nine riverside worship points, each maintained by priests or priestesses who inherit their roles through their family lineage.—
Ogar Monday,
Christian Science Monitor,
8 May 2025
Noun
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Married men can be ordained as deacons while women cannot, although historians say women served as deacons in the early Christian church.—
Nicole Winfield,
Chicago Tribune,
15 May 2025
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Leo has said little about other major social and cultural issues that have animated the emergent Catholic right, especially inclusion for LGBTQ+ Catholics and women’s ordination as deacons.—
Liam Adams,
USA Today,
12 May 2025
Noun
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Image As a cardinal and head of the Vatican office that selects and manages bishops around the world, Pope Leo was already thinking about artificial intelligence.—
Motoko Rich,
New York Times,
15 May 2025
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Before being called to the Vatican, the future Leo XIV was bishop of Chiclayo, which performed even better than most other regions of Peru.—
Alejandro Antonio Chafuen,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2025
Noun
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This would be the case also for an apostate, heretic, schismatic bishop, presbyter, or deacon.—
Fr. Goran Jovicic,
National Review,
13 June 2021
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The Rev. Allen D. Timm, executive presbyter of the Presbytery Church in Detroit, said the church is waiting to hear from the general assembly as to when volunteers will be dispatched to Houston.—
Allie Gross,
Detroit Free Press,
29 Aug. 2017
Noun
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The audience was private, but the Vatican released Leo’s prepared text and that of the dean of the diplomatic corps.—
Nicole Winfield,
Chicago Tribune,
16 May 2025
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In a 2009 case, the Supreme Court said FERPA is only about the records that are permanently stored in the principal’s office or the dean’s office and a file that corresponds to a student’s name.—
Holly Yan,
CNN Money,
10 May 2025
Noun
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In an area that used to produce influential Catholic churchmen the way the Dodgers churned out Rookies of the Year, Gomez has amounted to the living equivalent of a hair shirt: a mode of piety that serves no one but the wearer.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2025
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Martini was a key figure in a group of churchmen who met annually in St. Gallen, Switzerland, to ponder how best to blunt John Paul and Ratzinger’s reactionary thrust.—
Paul Elie,
The New Yorker,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
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In the previous episode, Mandy confessed to her priest and had guilty nightmares about her tricky predicament.—
Christopher Rudolph,
People.com,
16 May 2025
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The case involved James Ray, then a priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago.—
Peter Smith,
Los Angeles Times,
11 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deaconess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deaconess. Accessed 28 May. 2025.
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