Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
deacon (noun) a subordinate officer in a Christian church as
a) a Roman Catholic, Anglican, or Eastern Orthodox cleric ranking next below a priest
b) one of the laymen elected by a church with congregational polity to serve in worship, in pastoral care, and on administrative committees
c) a Mormon in the lowest grade of the Aaronic priesthood
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
deacon (noun)a person specially trained and authorized to conduct religious services in a Christian church
SYNONIMS:
cleric, clerical, clerk, deacon, divine, dominie, ecclesiastic, minister, preacher, priest, reverendRELATED WORDS:
churchman, clergyman, father, Holy Joe [], padre; clergywoman, deaconess, priestess; abbot, archbishop, archpriest, bishop, dean, diocesan, monsignor, pope, prelate, presbyter; abbé, curate, curé, parson, pastor, rector, shepherd, vicar; chaplain, confessor, sky pilot; evangelist, missionary, missioner, missionizer, revivalist; friar, mendicant, monastic, monk, oblate, religious; high priest, high priestessNEAR ANTONYMS:
lay reader, lector