Short Essay on Topic on the Role of Women in the Church

The role of women in the church has become a debated subject amongst many denominations today. The role of women plays an intricate part in the church ministry and can be seen in the early church, however, the limitations of women in ministry can be found in the pages of Scripture. Many churches have adopted the idea that the culture of New Testament times did not allow women to be involved in ministry, therefore the scripture is written to allow men to have the authority in the church. When reading the Bible one can see that there are limitations on the role of women in the church and can see that this tradition has held its place throughout time. The first question to ask then is “What qualifies a person to be an elder or a deacon?” A person can look at Titus 1:5-9 to find the qualifications of an elder. The qualifications based off of this text are: blameless, husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly, a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, and a teacher of sound doctrine. Based off of these qualifiers, an elder is to be a man that has a pure conscious and desires to be around the people of God and a want to teach doctrine to the people of God. Wesley states “Paul approved of; - men that had living faith, a pure conscience, a blameless life.” Another qualifier is that the elder must be a man. This does not leave any room for a woman to be an elder. This however, does bring up a question when looking at 1 Timothy 5:1-2 which says, “Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren;

The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.” This verse teaches that Christians are to respect the elder Christian in the church. This is elevating the age of the person, not specifying the person as an elder.
The qualifications of the deacon closely resemble that of an elder with a few extra requirements. These additions are recorded in 1 Timothy

Bibliography: Jamieson Fausset Brown. “Commentary Critical and Explanatory On the Whole Bible.” October 29, 2013. Accessed October29,2013. http://bible.christiansunite.com/jfb.cgi?b=54&c=2. Wesley, John. "Commentary on Titus 1:1". "John Wesley 's Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible". "http://www.studylight.org/com/wen/view.cgi?bk=55&ch=1". 1765. Kroeger, R.C., and C.C. Kroeger. Evangelical Dictioonary of Theology. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001