as in clergyman
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Recent Examples of deaconess
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
Today, the deaconesses can again access their own cemetery and visit the graves of their sisters.
—Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2019
But the pope asked some skeptical questions at the assembly about whether the responsibilities of deaconesses in the early church were more circumscribed than those of male deacons.
—Elisabetta Povoledo and Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, 12 May 2016
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
Today, the deaconesses can again access their own cemetery and visit the graves of their sisters.
—Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2019
But the pope asked some skeptical questions at the assembly about whether the responsibilities of deaconesses in the early church were more circumscribed than those of male deacons.
—Elisabetta Povoledo and Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, 12 May 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deaconess
Noun
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Most songs concern a protagonist who pursued a career as a clergyman despite a lack of faith.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
24 Jan. 2025
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In 2005, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the leading Shiite clergyman, was forced to mediate between rival Shiite groups amid a deadly Sunni insurgency.—
Ranj Alaaldin,
Foreign Affairs,
13 Sep. 2018
Noun
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Someone who would later make his living from teaching the Course and selling his own tapes, lectures, and videos would have obvious mercenary reasons to construct the story of Helen as a true, reluctant priestess, the project as foreordained, and Jesus as the book’s authentic Voice.—
Sheila Heti,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Sep. 2024
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The origin story centers on Kraven's upbringing under a ruthless crime lord dad (Russell Crowe) and journey to become the world's greatest hunter, with Ariana DeBose as voodoo priestess Calypso and Alessandro Nivola as villainous Rhino.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA TODAY,
12 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Days before the election, church deacons voted to oust their pastor for finally supporting the admission of a Black worshiper.—
Bill Marsh,
New York Times,
31 Dec. 2024
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For instance, the Catholic Church doesn't permit a woman to be a priest or a deacon.—
Marianne Schnall,
Forbes,
30 Dec. 2024
Noun
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From political infighting among an international coterie of bishops, to nosy clerical gossiping, to Isabella Rossellini as a nun with ulterior motives, to car bombs, the movie — based on an airport novel of the same name by Robert Harris — is arguably overwrought and overstuffed, if endlessly fun.—
Alex Abad-Santos,
Vox,
12 Jan. 2025
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There were rabbis, imams, bishops and deacons from across the city, reflecting the diversity of the victims and New Orleans.—
Carlie Kollath Wells,
Axios,
6 Jan. 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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Chuck Goudie, Chicago media's dean of investigations, is no longer on the air at ABC7.—
Justin Kaufmann,
Axios,
17 Jan. 2025
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Kimberly Dodd, dean of Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, is an expert in outbreak response for emerging infectious diseases.—
Kimberly Dodd,
The Conversation,
16 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Pentecostalism was about two decades old at the time, and its early practices of interracial worship, speaking in tongues, and divine healing were subjects of lively conversation among the relatively staid and respectable churchmen of mainline Protestantism.—
Andrew Cockburn,
Harper's Magazine,
19 Aug. 2024
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If the dominant Spaniards of The Betrothed are unjust, self-interested, and pompous, few of the Italians — including churchmen — are any better.—
David Harsanyi,
National Review,
25 Jan. 2024
Noun
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Despite the fall, Francis held five meetings on Thursday according to the Vatican, including with Alvaro Lario, the President of the International Fund of Agricultural Development, and priests from an Argentine college based in Rome.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN,
16 Jan. 2025
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Visitation for a retired priest of the Chicago Archdiocese who died last week will take place at Kurtz Memorial Chapel on Friday, according to the archdiocese.—
Olivia Stevens,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near deaconess
Cite this Entry
“Deaconess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deaconess. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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