About Deacons

The word Deacon means “servant”, in this case a servant of the church fellowship. . Biblically, it is not a position of leadership, imo, but a position of ministry. As such, I see no reason to deny what is obvious to all, that women have ministries in the church therefore they are “deacons”. Since it is not a position of authority over men, there is no problem with the pastoral epistles.

I think it wise to have women minister to other women, whether teaching or counseling. Male members should follow the Billy Graham rule and never be alone with any women not his wife or kin, imo.

peace to you

 

Many of the above options seem to be drawn from business practices being applied to the role of the deacon or deaconess (see Romans 16 and Phoebe for reference). In the early church the deacon was one who helped distribute food and materials equitably among the church members.
In many Baptist churches the deacon has been given functions that are for the elders as the elders care for the spiritual condition of the church while the deacons care for the physical condition of the church.

 

Yes, women can serve under deacons and thus the Deacon's wife should be able to serve under his leadership. And yes, the wife of any Church member, deacon or not, should be present when a male is helping a female or vice versa.

No, 1 Tim 3:12 makes it plain as day "Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well". The principle stands though that there should be older women leading younger women as per Titus 2:3-5 "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed".

Yes, I believe so, even younger children would work.

It doesn't hurt and when done correctly gives individual families attention that they need in larger Churches.

I'm of the opinion it should be for life or until the deacon decides to step down.

I'm not that big a fan of ordaining, but that may be something local to my culture here in the mountains. Other places seem to focus more on ordination. No strong opinion on ordaining or not.