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Delve into the debate over deaconesses, examining biblical passages like Romans 16:1-2 and 1 Tim. 3:11. Discuss whether Phoebe was a deaconess, the role of women in ministry, and the evolution of this position over history. Resources for further study are also provided.
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Mainly Two Passages • Romans 16:1-2 (ESV)—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. • 1 Tim. 3:11 (RSV)—The women likewise must be serious, no slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things.
Phoebe: servant or deaconess? • The Greek word diakonos has the same form in masculine and feminine. • All Christians are to be servants. • The reason that some think Phoebe was a deacon/deaconess is that she is called “a servant of the church at Cenchreae.” • “Servant” is found in KJV, ASV, NASV, ESV, NIV text, HCSB, NKJV • “Deaconess” is found in RSV, NIV footnote, New Jerusalem Bible • “Deacon” is found in NRSV, NLT, God’s Word • “Leader” in CEV • “Minister” in NAB, NRSV footnote
Deacons’ wives or Women Deacons? • 1 Tim. 3:11 gives qualifications, but for whom? Deacons’ wives or women deacons? • “Their wives” is found in KJV, NKJV, ESV text, NIV text, LB, NLB text, God’s Word, NRSV footnote (‘there’ is not in the Greek text) • “Women” is found in ASV, NASV, RSV, ESV footnote, NRSV text, HCSB, NJB • “Deaconesses” is found in NIV footnote • “Women Deacons” is found in NRSV footnote, NLB footnote
Deacons’ wives or Women Deacons? • Evidence favoring “wives”: • The word “deacon” is not used in the verse. • The Greek word gune can mean “wife” as well as “woman.” • Evidence favoring “women deacons”: • No qualifications are given for elders’ wives. • The verse starts with “Likewise” just like verse 8 which introduces deacons.
Second Century Deaconesses • Letter from Pliny, governor of Bithynia, to Trajan, the Roman emperor (AD 111-113): • “Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition.”
The Restoration Movement • Those favoring deaconesses include most restoration leaders in the early 1800’s. • Those opposing deaconesses include J. W. McGarvey and the people who followed him.
Ministry Leaders • There is a new fad, to appoint “ministry leaders” either in place of or in addition to deacons. • This way they do not have to meet the scriptural qualifications. • Women can be appointed as such, especially for leading women’s ministries or heading up the décor committee. • However, the title sounds a lot like deacons (ministers, servants) except it adds “leaders.”
Women as Servants • All Christians, women included, are to be servants. • There are some jobs men can and should not do. • Women currently serve in women’s ministries and often as church secretaries. • Like the seven in Acts 6, they are appointed to these tasks to make sure that someone is responsible to do the job. • If deacons are seen as junior elders, it would not be proper to appoint women as deacons.
Resource for More Study • Steve Sandifer’s Deacons: Male and Female
