The Faces of the Roman Church: Romans 16:1-16

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae.

She carried the letter.

Phoebe stood at the harbor in Cenchreae, the eastern port of Corinth. The scroll was secured in her traveling bag—the most important document she would ever carry. Paul had entrusted it to her, this letter to the Romans.

She was a deacon—diakonos, the same word Paul used for himself. She served the church. And she was a benefactor—prostatis—a patron who used her wealth to support the community. Now she would deliver the letter and, likely, read it aloud to the scattered house churches of Rome.