But that was not all deacons did. 

 In I Corinthians, Paul mentions a woman named Chloe---who headed a House Church.  She was a woman of prominence in the community and she and her household were probably the nucleus of a congregation that met in her house.  Phoebe , is called a deacon [diakonos] and a benefactor [prostatis] of many and of myself as well" [Rom. 16:1-2].  Whatever Phoebe did---it was not gender-specific and it was not restricted solely to women.  Phoebe had agreed to underwrite the mission to Spain, a project of vital significance to Paul and to the letter he is writing [Letter to the Romans].  Paul was requesting for Phoebe was not simply the hospitality due a patron, but cooperation with he in the patronage this mission would require.