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This past Saturday, the Philadelphia Presbytery met to deliberate on several matters, each related to the role of women in the diaconate. One product produced from the meeting is an overture to be sent to this summer's General Assembly. Below is an excerpt from that overture which presents the proposal. It follows a number of "whereas" statements.


"Now therefore the Philadelphia Presbytery overtures the 36th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America to create an ad interim study committee whose members are representative of various positions within the PCA with respect to women’s involvement in Diaconal ministry, to study and report back to the 37th General Assembly, on the following:

"1) Scriptural teaching bearing on women’s eligibility for election and ordination to the office of deacon and recommending, if necessary, changes to the BCO in keeping with any findings proceeding from the study of Scripture; and

"2) Should no changes to the BCO be deemed necessary, clarifying an appropriate range of practices for the involvement of women in diaconal ministry and giving guidance regarding current differences in practice among PCA churches including but not limited to the following: (a) may churches choose not to ordain any male deacons? (b) may churches choose to commission but not to ordain male deacons? (c) may women be commissioned as deaconesses without ordaining them as deacons? (d) may the same constitutional questions, or similar questions, used to ordain deacons be used to commission deacons or deaconesses who are not ordained? (e) may Presbyteries license and ordain men who submit themselves to the BCO but who also believe that women should serve as ordained deacons? (f) may churches elect ordained men and commissioned women to serve together in the diaconate? and (g) may churches use the title Deaconess for an elected position of ministry in the church or selected to serve according to BCO 9-7?"

__________________
Andrew
Husband to Dena
Candidate of the MVP in the PCA
MDiv graduate from Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, MS
Pastor (elect) of Tchula Presbyterian Church, Tchula, MS

"What do you think about when you are not thinking about anything else? This is what you worship!"

I thought PCA already allowed for deaconesses. Maybe I am thinking of another Presby denom.

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<devil's advocate>
Deacons are supposed to be servants of mercy correct? If so, how could a man truly empathize with a woman in the congregation that needs understanding in areas that could only be understood by another woman? What about women 'deconesses' that are only for women in the church?

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Travis Graham | Member | Christ The King (PCA) | Houston, TX

"The world will bow,
and knees will be broken,
for those who don't know how"
- Woven Hand

__________________
Todd K. Pedlar
member, First Congregational Church, (CCCC) Cresco, IA
http://semperubi.rtrc.net

"Many men, after a long conversion, see more of the workings of sin in their hearts than ever they did before or at their first conversion. Now, such men have not an increase of sin, but an increase of illumination and light" (Christopher Love)


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The PCA Book of Church Order is fine just as it stands,

"9-7 It is often expedient that the Session of a church should select godly men and women of the congregation to assist the deacons in caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in distress and need."

This overture is, in my opinion, completely unnecessary, and is heading in a direction we really ought not go.

And, considering Presbyterian history, I find that it should come from Philadelphia (of all places) to be most ironic, and little sickening.

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Sterling Harmon
Coventry, CT
PCA
Deacon
________________

"Whatever is laudable in our works proceeds from the grace of God."
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"Our Lord God must be a good man, to be fond of worthless fellows. I cannot like them, and yet I, myself, am one."
-- Martin Luther, Table Talk

It might pay to recall that 10th Pres in Philly has had deaconesses since they were received into the PCA out of the RPCES, who allowed for ordained deaconesses

Ken, there are 'deaconesses' in the PCA but they are not ordained (it is a way to get around the BCO, if you will).

I think, however, you are thinking of the EPC which allows churches to ordain women as deacons.

Travis,

This is a misunderstanding of the nature of deacons. Deacons are not merely "servants of mercy." All Christians are that. Deacons are called, ordained and empowered to lead the ministry of mercy in a church. Deacons, by the very fact of the office, exercise authority. It is merely in a different sphere from that of elders (who are primarily called to minister in the Word and prayer). Deacons are not "sub-elders" or "junior elders," nor are they "just like everyone else." They are called to lead the church in its mission of mercy.

How that can be done without violating the Scriptural commands against women exercising authority (cf. 1 Timothy 2) is beyond me.

__________________
Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

Book of Church Order
7-2 "The ordinary and perpetual classes of office in the Church are elders and deacons....In accord with Scripture, these offices are open to men only."

I was listening to R.C. Sproul a number of years ago speak on this subject in a "Message of the Month" thing. He stated that he had served on the PCA Study Committee on the ordination of women deacons and was the minority opinion on the committee in favor of their ordination.

I disagree with his opinion but was just providing a bit of trivia.

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Rich
Okinawa, Japan

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Thank you for explaining this important distinction. I've been "on the fence" with regard to the deaconess issue, but this issue of leading the mercy ministry is key. Thanks for the insights.

__________________
Scott
Dallas, Texas
PCA

"I believe that pluralistic secularism, in the long run, is a more deadly poison than straightforward persecution." - Francis Schaeffer

The EPC allows churches to ordain women to all offices, although up until now I understand TE's have been rare and many churches prohibit women officers. However this may change as more congregations from the PCUSA go into the EPC.

I understand that the RPCNA and ARP have deaconnesses.

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Chris Poe--Attending Grace Community Baptist Church, Mandeville, LA

"There never was a man in the world without a creed. What is a creed? A creed is what you believe. What is a confession? It is a declaration of what you believe. That declaration may be oral or it may be committed to writing, but the creed is there either expressed or implied."—B.H. Carroll

Redeemer PCA in NYC has "deaconnesses" too, although I believe they are unordained.

If I recall correctly, there were female deaconesses (Priscilla I thought was one). Now female ELDERS are a different and unbiblical modern aberration. I really do not see the problem with female deacons (and yes women assisting women would be the preferrable role).

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The answer pastor Greco, is that the women (deaconess) do not exercise authority over men! Several very conservative Presbyterian denominations have lived with this system for years without all the supposed negatives comming to pass.

I can see that some people would be opposed to it. But please NB the covenanting tradition has produced at least 2 denominations that have remained faithful to the word & the standards and had women deacons.

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Kevin Rogers
Sovereign Community Church, PCA
Moncton NB

They are unordained in a sense, but they take the same vows that ordained deacons in PCA churches do - the female deaconesses have exactly the same role and function as the male deaconesses (i mean deacons) do. I happened to be at Redeemer one Sunday when they took their vows of office. I'm not sure how they regard them "officially" - that is whether the males they consider to be ordained and the females not.

Phoebe is called a servant of the church - the word used there is a perfectly good female form of the word servant. The question is does that word connote an OFFICE? It's the only place in the whole of scripture (I believe) where the female form of servant is used. If women were meant to be ordained into the same office as deacons are, then why does Paul not talk about deaconesses in 1 Timothy 3? He had plenty of opportunity to do so - and the demands therein that call for deacons to be men of one wife makes it hard to imagine that female deacons are supportable, scripturally.

That's not necessarily clear from the passage as the term means servant.

It's sort of like the word apostle in the Scriptures as well. Not every apostle was an Apostle.

Incidentally, this is to take nothing away from Priscilla. From the account in the Acts, it is very obvious that she is held in very high esteem and loved very dearly by the Church for her service. I simply agree with Fred that the Diaconal office is an office that is given authority in the sphere of mercy ministry.

So then there are no men involved in mercy ministry. Because the deacons lead, and they must lead all in the mercy ministry.

I will not make Providence my Bible, but to your point, I will simply note that the overwhelming evidence is contrary to your point. Virtually every church body that has rejected God's Word on 1 Timothy 2 has rejected God's Word in other significant areas.

Is there any way that you guys can make sure that we have a reformed moderator this year at GA (like we have had in the past) so that if such a study committee were appointed it would be a good one. If I were there I know I'd nominate Fred Greco!