1.21 Church

Linda from Wilmington asks:

Would you please provide me with some biblical references as to why one of your deacons is a female? Where in Bible does it say this is an acceptable practice? Thank you.

Pastor Gene Responds:

Linda, thanks for the question. It's certainly a worthwhile one, as we want to be sure that our beliefs and practices are in line with Scripture. Especially in a day and age where gender and gender roles are such a hot topic, we want to be sure that we are faithful to the Lord in our approach to such things. So with that said, here's why we're confident that Scripture not only allows, but would also promote the practice of having women in diaconal ministry.

First is the fact that there seem to have been female deacons in the New Testament, in Romans 16.1, Phoebe is identified as a diakonon of the church in Cenchrae. Further, in 1 Timothy 3.11, Paul gives specific qualifications for women who serve as deacons. These two factors indicate to us that female deacons are certainly in line with Scripture (this was also the practice of the church until about the fourth century).

Now, in fairness, some would argue for different understandings of these verses. For instance, some would say that Phoebe is not a deacon in terms of an officer of the church, but a servant. And while that is a possible translation, we believe that early church practice and the verse in 1 Timothy indicate that it's best to understand her as a deacon (several, though not all, New Testament scholars would agree with this).

Others have argued that 1 Timothy 3.11 does not refer to women who are deacons but rather to the wives of deacons. Again, this is a possible translation (the Greek word gunaikos could mean either woman or wife). However, if you look a few verses higher, at the qualifications for overseers, you'll notice that there is no requirement for an overseer's wife. As the overseer is the highest office within the congregation, it seems out of place for there to be a requirement for the wives of deacons, but not for overseers. It simply makes more sense to understand this as a qualification for women deacons.

One final issue that sometimes arises in this conversation is the requirement that a deacon be the husband of one wife (1 Timothy 3.12). How could a woman meet this qualification? Our response would be that this qualification (and the identical one for overseers in 1 Timothy 3.2) is not about marriage or gender, but about character. For example, if it were a requirement about marriage, then single men would be disqualified from office. Neither the Apostle Paul nor the Lord Jesus would be able to serve in this capacity. That's a big problem!

Instead, we should understand these qualifications as a reference to the person's character. This should be a person who is faithful and exemplary in marriage (or singleness should he or she be single). This makes sense in light of the fact that every other qualification has to do with character.

In 1 Timothy 2.12, Paul explains that he does not permit a woman to teach or have authority over men. As the office of overseer is one of authority and teaching (1 Timothy 3.2, 5), we believe that this precludes women from serving in this office. Deacons, however, are not positions of authority or teaching, but of service. Because of this, we believe that Scripture leaves it open for women to serve in this capacity. Some foks get upset with us for not having female pastors, others get upset with us for having female deacons. We feel like that puts us in a pretty good place.

In fact, though, just about every church has female deacons, they're just often called something else (Children's Director perhaps). We simply recognize that they're serving in a diaconal role, and call them that, using biblical language to describe what they do, rather than inventing our own language.

Anyway Linda, I hope this answers your question. It may be that you would disagree with our interpretation of these Scriptures, but hopefully you'll see that our position has arisen from careful interaction with the Bible, and not from ignoring it or refusing to obey it.

God bless.