text: "Deaconess"
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  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaconess
  
  “Early Christian period:
  The oldest reference to women as deacons occurs in Paul’s letters (c. AD 55–58). Their ministry is mentioned by early Christian writers such as Clement of Alexandria.[3] and Origen.[4] Secular evidence from the early 2nd century confirms this. In a letter Pliny the Younger attests to the role of the women deacons. Pliny refers to "two maid-servants" as deacons whom he tortures to find out more about the Christians. This establishes the existence of the office of the deaconesses in parts of the eastern Roman Empire from the earliest times. Fourth-century Fathers of the Church, such as Epiphanius of Salamis,[5] Basil of Caesarea,[6] John Chrysostom[7] and Gregory of Nyssa[8] accept the ministry of women ordained deacons as a fact.”