A woman set apart for church work by a bishop.

A woman chosen as a helper in church work, as among the Congregationalists.

a woman deacon

a lay woman, married or single, who serves the Church in a variety of ways

a lay woman who is a professionally trained person who has been led by the Holy Spirit to devote her life to Christlike service under the authority of the Church

a Lutheran woman, formed in community, educated in Lutheran theology, consecrated to serve people in church and society

a person who is committed to Christ and commissioned by the bishop of the regional Conference

a woman serving Christ and His church, who is free from all other duties, desires to devote her time and effort to the service of the Lord in ministering to suffering humanity

a woman chosen to assist in the church ministry; specifically : one in a Protestant order.(Merriman-Webster Dict.).A deaconess school, such as Ewart, offered training and opportunities for women who wished to make Church work their vocation. In the early days, deaconesses worked as social workers and evangelists in slum areas "often appointed to tasks for which it did not seem economically feasible to use men." (Grant, 58) See Alison Kemper's essay "Deaconess as Urban Missionary and Ideal Woman" in Canadian Protestant and Catholic Missions

Deaconess (and also deacon) comes from a Greek word diakonos (διακονος). This Greek word means a servant or helper and occurs frequently in the Christian New Testament of the Bible and is sometimes applied to Christ himself.