Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 11/13/2006

Question
What does the Bible say about women serving as deacons in any denomination?
What would a Southern Baptist Church say about a woman serving as a deacon?

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.

Let's divide up your question.  First, what does the Bible say about deacons?  Deacon is an ecclesiastic role charged with the temporal affairs of the church.
Deacons were first commissioned in the book of Acts chapter 6:1-6.  The Apostles were being weighed down with duties of taking care of widows, orphans and the sick.   God had called them to share the gospel of Jesus not wait on tables.  So they picked 7 men of good standing, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.  This way the Apostles could go back to spending time in prayer, worship, and evangelism.   Those first deacons not only did the “dirty” work of the church but they were willing to preach and give their lives up for Christ. (Stephen the first martyr was a deacon).   After they were chosen, the apostles ordained them for service.

Paul laid out the requirements for being a deacon in 1 Timothy 3:8-13.  
8 Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money; 9 they must hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And let them first be tested; then, if they prove themselves blameless, let them serve as deacons. 11 their wives likewise must be serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husband of one wife,f and let them manage their children and their households well; 13 for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Now if these were the only passages on deacons, it would appear that women could not serve.

The Word Deacon is a Masculine Greek word that was put into English without translating it.  The word in Greek means “Servant” and is translated that way in Matt. 23:11 and John 12:26.  It is also translated as “minister” in Mark 10:43, ! Cor. 3:5, and 1 Thess. 3:2.  Every instance of the word in Scripture denotes a masculine role.   So it would appear that women could not serve as deacons.  However, Paul throws the church a curve in Romans 16:1-2
  “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a “Deacon” of the church at Cechrae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.”

So according to Paul, there was a woman in church leadership named Phoebe.  Some translations call her a deaconess.  However, that is not a correct translation, instead the translator is putting his own bias into the word.  The word here is the Masculine word Deacon, not Deaconess.  So even though Paul originally pointed to men being deacons, it was obvious that wasn’t true in every church body.  

TODAY:  the problem today is that Deacons have abandoned their callings.  That is right, they have abandoned the call of God.  God intended for deacons to be servants of the church NOT A BOARD TO DETERMINE CHURCH AFFAIRS.  While most Baptists claim to love the word of God and structure the church according to it, they have created a BOARD OF DIRECTORS and have abandoned the role of servant.   Most Baptist churches have deacons who tell the Pastor what to do, control finances, and control the direction of the church.

God, NEVER EVER, intended for deacons to have the role that they do today.   God intended for their to be a five fold ministry in the church (see Ephesians 4).


2.  Women in Church Leadership:  First of all, Baptists uphold the Bible as the standard for everything.  But, the way in which we interpret it varies greatly.  
For example, for a great majority of fundamental Baptists, they believe that no woman should teach any man or boy over the age of 12.  That would really narrow down what they could do in the church.  This is true both for the past and the present.
For conservative Baptist Churches, like the Southern Baptist Convention, women were traditionally not allowed to teach men or to serve an any office in the church.  In the last 50 years, this has changed.  Now in most SBC churches, women can teach and hold any office but deacon.  Some even allow women to serve as deacons.  SBC churches in the past did not allow any women to be ordained into ministry of any kind.  Most SBC churches will ordain women into any ministry position but Pastor.  Even some of them will ordain women as pastors although they are few and far between.  SBC seminaries only allowed men to study and earn degrees for many years, that changed in the 1950's.

American Baptist Churches have been the most liberal in their treatment of women.  At the beginning of the  20th century, they held the same views as other Baptists.  But they were the first to allow women to serve in any office of the church including deacon.  ABC churches also ordain women into any Ministry position.  In fact, there are a lot of women pastors in our region in PA.  

African American Baptist churches traditionally do not allow women to serve in office of deacon or to be ordained.  

The thing to remember is that EVERY Baptist church is autonomous.  That means each church has the right to have its own rules.  No convention can dictate to any Baptist church what it can or can not do.  So in some churches you would find women pastors and in others you would find women serving in no way.

As far as how the church views women in society, most of the churches have the same view.  Baptists as a whole believe that a man is the SPIRITUAL head of his household.  What does this mean?  It means that a man must first love his wife as much as Christ loved the church.  That means he loves her so much that he is willing to die for her.  If a man loves his wife that much, then he has the right to lead his house according to what he feels is God's will.  The two must go together.  The media or women's rights groups only focus on the men leading part and forget the first part of loving his wife.