Not because she was a deacon but because she carried Paul’s letter to the Roman church. Can you imagine how many sermons have been preached from the Roman letter in the past 2,000 years? Lyman Beecher, like Phoebe, may never have been considered famous, but he was and will be eternally important. Bill Bruster is a retired pastor of multiple Southern Baptist churches, the last of which was First Baptist Church of Abilene, Texas. He lives in Dallas, where he is a member of Wilshire Baptist Church.