Are there public roles for women in the early church? Perhaps the New Testament approaches such roles with Phoebe and the prophetesses. Why “perhaps”? Because these cases are not clear as to their degree of public prominence.
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well (Romans 16:1-2).
That word “servant” is deaconos from which English gets it word deacon. However, it is also the ordinary word for anyone who serves (John 2:5, 9; 12:26) and as a verb, any serving (Luke 4:39; 10:40; 17:8; 1 Peter 4:10-11). The verb is used of other women who served Jesus, including Martha (John 12:2).
There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering (diakoneo) to Him (Matthew 27:55 cf. Mark 15:40-41).
So, which is Phoebe? Is she more like Martha or more like the seven men of Acts 6 who went through a public selection and appointment process? Phoebe is traveling to Rome, perhaps on an assignment from her congregation. But nothing more is known of her mission or how “official” or “public” her status. If she holds a “deaconess” office, then she is the only one mentioned in Scripture and perhaps the only one mentioned in Christian writings in the first centuries of the church’s history.