Women Serving the Church as Deacons: Conclusion.

The next few posts I will be breaking up my one huge post that considered if women ought to serve the church as ordained Deacons into seven smaller posts.

----------------

In conclusion, the following points are helpful to keep in mind:

1. An Elder and a Deacon have different roles and responsibilities in the church.
2. The office and title of Deacon does not imply the gender of the office-holder; therefore, the use of any term other than Deacon to title an ordained officer of the church who serves the church in the areas of "the ministry of mercy, the finances and property of the congregation, and such other tasks as are assigned to them by the session" is unbiblical and ought not to be used in any biblically organized church.
3. Because of the differences between the two church offices of Elder and Deacon, women may serve the church as ordained Deacons, but cannot serve as Elders.
4. Ordination is an act of the church recognizing that God has set apart a person for particular work in the church.
5. The qualifications for ordaining a person to a particular office are defined and limited by what the Scriptures teach about a particular office.
6. More work needs to be done to develop a biblical view of different types of authority within the church besides the teaching authority that comes with the office of Elder.
7. Different types of authority in the church must be taught and preached to church members at appropriate times so that church members can vote with biblical discernment in Elder and Deacon elections.
8. Teaching on different types of authority in the church may also have a positive effect on how the church understands congregational prayer, singing presenters, etc. as part of the worship service.
9. Although the work of Small Committee demonstrated that it is possible to believe that the seven men of Acts 6:1 - 7 were the first Deacons and maintain that Phoebe was a Deacon because of the nature of the church transitioning from the Apostolic period to the post-Apostolic period, the most consistent position of the office of Deacon recognizes the men of Acts 6:1 - 7 as holding a special office which led into the Deaconate. The office of the seven corresponds to the relationship between the office of Apostle and the office of Elder.
10. The texts cited in RP Testimony 25.8 must include a reference to both Phil. 1:1 and Rom. 16:1 - 2 to help future RP members and teachers understand the distinction between the office of Elder and Deacon is a biblical teaching and not a pragmatic compromise to the culture.

Women Serving the Church as Deacons: Brief Response to Christian Adjemian.

The next few posts I will be breaking up my one huge post that considered if women ought to serve the church as ordained Deacons into seven smaller posts.

----------------

The pastor of First Reformed Presbyterian Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Christian Adjemian wrote a paper titled "On Women Deacons" last revised December 2008. Dr. Adjemian's paper appears to argue for the unique office of Deaconess, which Rev. Backensto's paper demonstrates is an unwarranted position. I have also demonstrated, that the office of Deacon has a categorically different type of authority than the office of Elder; therefore, Rev. Adjemian's comments about deacons not having authority in the church misses the point of having two church offices. The Deacon has authority in the church, but it a different type of authority than an Elder.

Many of his other comments, especially about structure, are very helpful. His sixth section answers many typical objections about the role of women in the church very well, with the exception of Deacons and church authority.