Does Romans 16:1 Say Phoebe was a Deacon?

In Romans 16 .1 the Apostle Paul says, Now I commend to you our sister

Phoebe, who is a servant of the church at Syncriae, that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you.

For she herself has also been a benefactor of many and of myself as well. Now many have taken this verse to say that Phoebe is described here as a deacon.

After all the word for servant can also be translated deacon. In fact some translations do just that.

Both the NIV and the NLT say, I commend to you our sister Phoebe a deacon of the church at Syncriae.

But that same word is also used in Romans 15 .8 for Christ who has become a servant on behalf of the truth of God.

It's the same Greek word for deacon. The word is also used in Romans 13 .4 to describe the government,

God's servant for your good. So Paul is not saying Phoebe holds the office of deacon.

She's a servant, but his naming of her is still a very high commendation. She was a godly woman who served the church.

You don't need to hold an office in order to do that. The qualifications for deacons are given in 1st

Timothy 3 8 -13. A deacon is to be a qualified man whose wife also must show herself to be a godly woman.

But all men and women in the church are called to the work of ministry, and you don't have to be a pastor or a deacon in order to be a servant.