Should Women be Ordained as Elders and Deacons?
“Generally speaking, when the universal church has had such unified agreement about a certain area of biblical teaching, it is unwise to deviate from it.”
A church member asked me this past week about what the Bible teaches about women in leadership in the church.
There are two ways to answer that question. On a general level, the Bible commends godly leadership, whether from a man or a woman. For example, Deborah shows courage, faith, and leadership prowess in her role as a judge in the book of Judges. The godly woman of Proverbs 31 is praised for her virtue, skill, and initiative in the home and the marketplace. Lydia, Priscilla, and Phoebe were prominent figures in the early church. In our church, we have amazingly gifted and godly women who serve crucial leadership roles in our church, including our head of school, music director, and children’s ministry director.
That said, the Bible reserves certain leadership roles for men, and this is what the original question was getting at. So why does the Bible say only men can hold the ordained offices of elder and deacon? Below is a brief summary of the biblical rationale for this. (For more in-depth rationale, see our church’s position papers on ordained and commissioned officeholders and offices and office-holders.)
Sometimes truths like these can be seen as just a bitter pill we need to swallow simply because the Bible says so. That is not our view. God’s truth is always good and beautiful, it is worth celebrating. We hope for our church to not only be faithful to challenging passages in the Scriptures, but also love them, and trust deeply they are for our health.
So here are five reasons why we only have men serving in ordained offices in the church:
Biblical qualifications for officers assume they are men
Qualifications for the offices of elder and deacon are outlined in 1 Timothy 3, and in both instances Paul says they are to be a "husband of one wife." Paul also distinguishes the women who worked alongside the deacons from the deacons themselves ("their wives" in 1 Tim. 3:11 is more literally "the women"). And most notably, Paul just a few verses earlier prohibits women from carrying out (toward men) the basic functions of an elder: teaching and exercising authority. Why then, would a woman hold an office whose functions the Bible restricts her from fulfilling?
Now here the most common objection is, “Well that was back then. Society has changed.”
In fact, the Bible is consistent on this matter across time and culture. The office of elder did not originate in the New Testament. The Israelites were governed by elders (Deut. 1:9-18) throughout the ages of the old covenant. All the elders of the Old Testament were men, heads of households. And over a thousand years later, every elder ordained in the New Testament was a man. Also, when the office of deacon was established in Acts 6, the instructions were to select seven reputable “men” (v. 3). Thus, it is consistent that the qualifications assume they are men. This consistency indicates a normative rule for the church through all ages. And to further cement this consistency, the Bible teaches us that this pattern is rooted in creation (see point 3).
2. Men are called to guard the doctrine of the Church
One of the basic functions of an elder is to guard the doctrine of the church (Tit. 1:9). The guarding of the doctrine of the church has been entrusted to men at multiple places in the Scripture. For example, Paul says, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man" (1 Tim. 2:12). As unpopular as it is in our culture, the Apostle Paul twice instructs women to be "silent" while the doctrine of the church is being determined (1 Cor. 14:34; 1 Tim. 2:11). He even says that they should yield to the doctrinal convictions of their husbands when things are unclear or controversial (1 Cor. 14:35). Again, as difficult as this is to our culture, it appears that Paul believed women were more susceptible to being deceived: "and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor" (1 Tim. 2:14). (Men have their own weaknesses—they are more susceptible to rebellion and abdicating their responsibility. Adam clearly knew the command from God and just flat out disobeyed it.) Again, this kind of repetition in the Bible is an indication this wasn't just about a situation in a specific church but is a guide for all churches.
It might be asked, “If women are supposed to be ‘silent’ in church, then why do women speak in our church, including leading the congregation in prayer?” Clearly Paul did not intend a strict silence. Even though he says, “it is shameful for a woman to speak in church,” (1 Cor. 14:35), just three chapters earlier he said that women both prayed and prophesied in church gatherings (1 Cor. 11:5). The silence is with respect to evaluating the doctrine of the church (1 Cor. 14:29). The elders of the church are responsible to ensure the teaching is sound.
The same is true in 1 Timothy 2:11 where it says, “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.” Earlier in that chapter the whole church is called to be “quiet” as well. We are to pray for political leaders so “we may lead a peaceful and quiet life” (1 Tim. 2:2). The church leading a quiet life means being peaceable and law-abiding citizens—it doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to talk. Again, it is in establishing the sound doctrine of the church that women must trust the men of the home and church to lead.
This suggests one other reason why officers should be men: there is a combative element to the work of officers, confronting false teaching and immorality (see the link on “masculine priesthood” suggested at the end of this article). Just as a husband should not have his wife confront an intruder in their home, there are certain levels of confrontation of sin in the church that should be the responsibility of men.
3. This is the pattern of Creation
Paul roots his understanding of men guarding the doctrine of the church in the Creation story (1 Tim. 2:13-15). This is not a cultural issue in the first century. This is how God made humanity, and it therefore applies to all times and places. Adam was entrusted with the commandment before Eve was created (Gen. 2:15-16), and it was his responsibility to make sure that she knew the commandment and that his family obeyed it. This is why the Bible consistently places responsibility for the Fall on him, not her (Rom. 5:19). When men abdicate their responsibility to lead and guard God's people, the people suffer.
4. Jesus set a pattern for his Church
For me personally, the strongest biblical reason for only having male officers is the example of Jesus himself. We know that Jesus was very countercultural with regard to gender (rabbis did not have female disciples like he did; see Luke 10:38-42). And yet, despite Jesus' refusal to conform to the culture around him, when it came time to appoint his twelve disciples who would be the elders (1 Pet. 5:1) to govern his church, all twelve of them were men. If this is Jesus' example, whatever the culture may tell us, we must follow him.
There is only one possible exception in the Bible. Romans 16:1 says Phoebe was "a servant of the church at Cenchreae." The word "servant" is the Greek word diakonos ("deacon"). Deacon simply means "servant" and is a word used in the NT both for the official ordained office (1 Tim. 3:8ff.) and for all Christians who are called to be servants (John 12:26). It is not clear which use Paul is applying to Phoebe. There is no suggestion like this anywhere in the Bible that there were female elders, but I respect people who think that Phoebe may have been a deacon.
5. The Church has agreed about this throughout history
With the possible exception of Phoebe noted,* the practice of the vast majority of all branches of the global church for 2000 years has been that ordained pastors, elders, and deacons are only men. Generally speaking, when the universal church has had such unified agreement about a certain area of biblical teaching, it is unwise to deviate from it. We should use the witness of church history to inform our practice. For example, in church member lists from the early centuries, the order of "deaconess" does not appear for at least 200 years. And when it finally does, deaconesses are not listed alongside deacons, but in other sections of the church lists, which casts doubt on the prospect that Phoebe would have held an ordained role. (And of course, that doesn’t mean her contributions to the church were not significant—she is mentioned in Paul’s letters, after all!)
I think the best explanation for male ordination is C. S. Lewis' essay "Priestesses in the Church?" in the book God in the Dock. I encourage you to read it. Alistair Roberts also has two articles which I find very helpful, especially in our cultural context: one on a masculine priesthood and another on biblical gender essentialism.
I would also add that, in my personal experience, it is a tremendous blessing to the women in the church when the men take their faith seriously and take responsibility to lead in the home and in the church. Godly women thrive under this kind of loving, protective leadership. I like to think of the church as a garden. Though the officers of the church kill the snakes and hack away the thorny weeds, this is not the most important work in the garden. It's essential, dirty work. But the most important thing in a garden is the fruit, which is the work of all God’s people, men and women, using their gifts together to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
