The New Testament teaches us that two offices should exist within every local Church: the office of elder and the office of deacon. Elders are those biblically qualified men who serve Christ and the members of a local covenant community by leading the church. Elders exert spiritual authority over a congregation through teaching, protecting, guiding and shepherding the people of God (1 Thessalonians 5:12). Deacons have a distinct role from the Elders. Deacons are biblically qualified men and women who serve Christ, the elders and the members of a local church by meeting the practical needs of believers for the purpose of promoting unity within the congregation.
The leadership of this local church is entrusted to the Council of Elders. The elders are men from within the membership of the church who have met the biblical qualifications, exhibited a God-given desire to perform the duties of an elder, and received affirmation by the members to do so. These men are responsible for governing the church, shepherding the flock, and having oversight of the spiritual affairs of the body (1 Timothy 5:17). The elders are equal in authority but may be specialized in function.
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Teaching Pastor: |
Shane Martin has been a Teaching Pastor at Green Run Baptist Church since 1998. He is a graduate of Liberty University. He and his wife Cara have two children, Luke and Owen. |
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Teaching Pastor: |
Rick Crews has been a Teaching Pastor at GRBC since May of 2011. He is a Graduate of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been married to his wife Alyson since 1999. Alyson and Rick have four children; Rebekah, Joshua, Caleb, and Rachel. |
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Elder: |
David Applegate is currently serving as the Treasurer of the Council of Elders. He and his wife Susan have been members of Green Run Baptist Church since 1983. |
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Elder: |
Ken Butler is currently serving as the Vice-Chairman of the Council of Elders. He and his wife Nancy have been members of Green Run Baptist Church since 2000. |
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Elder: |
Walt Lawrence was born in Norfolk, VA. Walt graduated from Princess Anne HS in 1962 and immediately enlisted in the United State Air Force and served over 7 years. After leaving the USAF in 1969, he spent over 28 years in law enforcement. He retired from the Virginia Beach Police Department in 1999. He and his wife, Carol, have one daughter, Jennifer Allesandro. They have been members since 2007. |
The qualifications for deacons are found in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. Male deacons are to be: men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. These men must first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. Paul goes on to add that these male deacons must be the husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their households (1 Timothy 3:8-10, 12).
Female deacons are to be: dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things (1 Timothy 3:11).
We realize that many Baptist churches have assumed that only men should fill the office of deacon. We believe that this decision is not grounded in sound Biblical exegesis, but instead results from a misunderstanding of the role of deacon.
As we study the New Testament qualifications for deacon, we find several reasons why we believe women should serve in the office of deacon:
1. In 1 Timothy 3:11, the use of likewise argues powerfully for seeing women deacons as a third group of those who fill the offices of the church in addition to elders and male deacons.
2. In 1 Timothy 3:11, there is no possessive pronoun or definite article connecting these women to male deacons. These women are not called their wives or the wives of male deacons.
3. In 1 Timothy 3:11, Paul uses a common word for women that does not necessarily mean these are the wives of male deacons (even though many Bible translations make that assumption). Paul does not use the term deaconess because no such word existed in the Greek language until after he wrote to Timothy. Therefore, Paul simply refers to these individuals as women deacons.
4. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul listed no qualifications for elders’ wives, so why would he do so for only for deacons' wives?
5. The qualifications for female deacons parallel those given for male deacons indicating that Paul has another group of deacons in mind here and that he is not just listing general Christian qualities that he desires wives of deacons to possess.
When deacons are clearly distinguished from elders, deacons never function as a governing board within the church; nor are they required to exert spiritual authority through teaching. Therefore, nothing that Paul forbids women to do in 1 Timothy 2:12 is involved in serving as a deacon.