Deacons anointed the males, deaconesses the females.
The law includes with clerics, monks, deaconesses, nuns, ascetics; and the word " clerics " covered persons in minor orders, down to doorkeepers.
The church officers (generally unpaid) comprise bishops (or ministers), elders, teachers, deacons (or visiting brethren) and deaconesses - chiefly aged women who are permitted at times to take leading parts in church services.
The city has several public parks, a public library and various charitable institutions, among which are a children's home, a home for aged men, a home fort aged women and a deaconesses' home.
Deaconesses in the East received the imposition of the bishop's hands, but could not ascend to the priesthood.