I am particularly interested in your insight to the current issue of “women’s role in the church.” There are some congregations which are eliminating the ‘office’ of deacon in what I perceive to be an effort to allow women to serve in unique positions and avoiding calling them ‘deconess’s’ by calling them ‘special servants’ (both men and women). There is also the issue of women participating in the worship services in a public, leadership role. ~ Paul Dennis, Bedford, TX
The role of women in the church and in the home has been a topic of keen interest in recent years. Consequently, several articles in Gospel Gazette Online are dedicated to that question. Go to the archive page and search for “role of women” and opt for “find exact phrase.” That search ought to yield sufficient resources to ascertain that God does not permit a woman to occupy “in the worship services in a public, leadership role.”
The New Testament reveals that there were special servants in addition to deacons. These special servants did not displace deacons and some of the special servants were women. “I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea” (Romans 16:1). The word “servant” here is from the same Greek word from which the word “deacon” comes. Yet, depending upon the context in which “diakonos” (in one of its forms) occurs, it may mean “servant” or minister (Ephesians 3:7). In the case of Phebe, given that there are no qualifications for female deacons listed in the New Testament, she was more accurately a servant (special if you like). Romans 16:6 and 12 may also refer to female workers in the church.
Both men and women are obligated to Christian service and may serve especially well in any number of ways, to include benevolence, edification and evangelism, in ways that do not violate any divine role assignments. None of these servants are equivalent to nor replace deacons, who have qualifications to meet (and maintain) and are responsible to the church especially for certain, assigned aspects of local church work. Even the work of deacons is not accomplished in our time without the participation of numerous other servants, both men and women.
