Besides Christ being the head of the church, apostles and prophets serving as the earthen vessels through whom Jesus by the Holy Spirit directs the affairs of the church, and a plurality of elders within each congregation, God has also authorized some men to serves as deacons. Paul itemizes the qualifications that men must have to be appointed as elders (I Timothy 3:1-7) and also enumerates those qualities a man must have to serve as a deacon in the church (I Timothy 3:8-13). It is made apparent by the scriptures then that deacons are to be included within the organization of the church.

No! Only men who measure up to the standards found in I Timothy 3:8-13 may be appointed to this position.

No! There is a significant difference. Paul states that elders "…must be apt to teach…" (I Timothy 3:2), a qualification that is not mentioned in I Timothy 3:8-13 for those traits required of deacons. Some contend, that the difference in the wording of I Timothy 3:4 and I Timothy 3:8-13 indicates that an elder must have more than one child, but deacons may have only one (I Timothy 3:12). There is no statement specifically mentioning that a deacon can have only one child; in fact, it would be logical that a deacon, over a period of time, could be appointed as an elder as other qualifications are met.

They, as the elders, are to serve in the local congregation of which they are members (Philippians 1:1).

No! There are no scriptures that specify their office as one that has any authority.

The scriptures don’t specifically say what role deacons have within the church. In fact, there are only two scriptures within the New Testament that have anything to say about them. The church at Philippi had both elders and deacons (Philippians 1:1) and their qualifications for the office are listed (I Timothy 3:8-13). It is noteworthy that neither of these scriptures mentions anything about their specific responsibilities. It is evident that their purpose is to serve, in some manner, as special assistants to the elders.

Yes! If and only if they have men who are qualified to serve as elders and have no men qualified to serve in the capacity of deacon. Does it seem to be logical that good, highly qualified overseers (elders) should not be appointed merely on the grounds that apt assistants for them can’t be found?

No! Why would assistants be appointed if there were no bishops for them to assist?  Again, both I Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 4:11 say "…God gave some to be teachers…" From these scriptures it is made evident that God wanted teachers to be part of the organization of the church as well.

According to Matthew 28:18-20 and Ephesians 4:11-12 the church is to assume the responsibility of teaching the word of God unto both its members (believers) and to the world (unbelievers). In addition, the elders are to see that this is done (Acts 20:28 and I Peter 5:1-4). Therefore teachers, as the deacons, are to serve as the bishop’s helpers or assistants.

Yes they may. The scriptures proclaim that women may, in fact must, be teachers of God’s word (Acts 2; Acts 18:24-26; Acts 21:8-9; II Timothy 2:1-2; and Titus 2:3-5).

However, God for his own reasons, saw fit to place two restrictions on the teaching of women. She is not permitted to speak in the church (I Corinthians 14:34-35). This mean, she is not to speak in an all members called assembly of the church (I Corinthians 11:17-34). God also stated, through Paul, "I permit not a woman to teach over a man…" (I Timothy 2:11-12). When and under what circumstances would a woman be guilty of teaching over a man? Some say this passage forbids her teaching men at all. Could this be true? No, because in Acts 18:24-26 the example is given of a man and his wife teaching the truth to a man. Some say that women aren’t permitted to teach men unless they have been authorized to do so by the bishops. True, the passage that says she is not to teach over a man also has something to say about her not usurping authority over the man. However, this notion assumes that elders can make the decision to place a woman over man, which would have the elders negating the truth recorded in I Timothy 2:11-12. Through this scripture God speaks of two things that he will not allow (suffer) women to do "…I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."

What does having authority over a man actually mean? To have authority over, is to rule over. So, because of what is said in the scriptures (I Timothy 2:11-12 and I Corinthians 11:1-3) it is understood why God created an order of authority between man and woman. In other scriptures (Ephesians 5:22-23; I Timothy 3:1-7; and Titus 1:5-9) God wants wives to be in subjection to their husbands. These scriptures would also give strong evidence why women could not serve the church in the capacity of elders.

What does teaching over men actually mean? Acts 18:24-26 teaches that a woman may (even in a group) help with the teaching, even if men are present. The significant point that needs to be recognized in this situation is that neither she, nor anyone else is officially designated as the teacher. The cited verse states "…they taught him the way of God." It must follow that I Timothy 2:12 teaches God will not suffer a woman to serve as the designated teacher of a group that includes men. We have many examples of a man serving as the designated teacher of a group composed of both men and women, but no scriptural example of this being done by a woman.

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