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Female Officers in the Early Church

T. E. Smith said:
Contrary to the narrative pushed by many more conservative Christian denominations, evidence indicates that there were indeed women who served as church officers in the early church. This could include elders, official teachers, and deaconesses.
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There were no officers in the church, only ministries.
 
T. E. Smith said:
"Deacon" is arguably, in today's usage, a gender-neutral term rather than a masculine term... I termed it masculine because it is a transliteration of the Greek, and in the Greek, it is masculine.
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Sounds like you have joined the men/women equality cartel. Like men should do more housework and women should do more leading.
 
jerry63935 said:
but i do believe God intended the Man to be the leader . that is not putting the women under the men feet
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The birth of the feminist movement was just on that basis. The feminists claimed they were subservient to men so they had to rise up and put men under their feet. As they say, give them an inch and they take a mile. This is common to all modern-day movements that are intended to take God's order for society and family and make it in their own image which is not God's image.

One mile they have taken is that a career is more important than the care of children. They bring children into the world and then dump them at the childcare centre. That is what I call cruelty and totally contrary to the will of God. As I have a degree in Social Science we looked into all this and it is painful to see the outcomes.
 
T. E. Smith said:
Contrary to the narrative pushed by many more conservative Christian denominations, evidence indicates that there were indeed women who served as church officers in the early church. This could include elders, official teachers, and deaconesses.

Romans 16:1-2​

"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a minister (diakonos) of the church at Cenchraae. I beg you to give her a Christian welcome, as the saints should and to assist her in any matter in which she may have need of you. For she herself has been made an overseer (prostatis) to many people, including myself."

Diakonos is often transliterated as "deacon", but this obscures the original meaning of a "minister". How firmly fixed this title was is quite unclear due to the early date of Romans, likely CE 55-59. At the inaugural stage in the church's formation, the office was probably not clearly defined. Nevertheless, her role likely included preaching and evangelism.

Prostatis could mean a "leader", often in a religious context, and later took on the meaning of a "patron." It is the noun form of the verb in 1 Timothy 3:4: "He must manage his own household well."

Extrabiblical Evidence​

Women as Elders (presbutera or presbutis)​

  • A mummy label dated to the second or third century Egypt lists the following: "Artemidoras, daughter of Mikkalos, fell asleep in the Lord, her mother Paniskiaines being an elder" (presbytera, feminine)."
    • Cahiers de Recherches de L’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Egyptologie de Lille 5 (1974) 264 no. 1115.
  • An inscription reads: "A memorial for Ammio the elder" (presbytera, feminine). Found near Usak in modern Turkey (ancient Phrygia), before the time of Constantine.
    • Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 16 (1975) 437-38.
  • St. Cyprian writes of a female presbyter (elder) in Cappadocia in the mid-230s.
    • Epistle 75.10.5
  • An epitaph for Epiktas the elder (presbutis,also feminine), found on Thera, a Greek island. Dated to the third or fourth century.
    • Bulletin de Correspondence Hellenique 101 (1977) 210, 212.
  • An epitaph for Kale, the elder (presbutis, feminine once again) from Centuripae in Sicily, from the fourth or fifth century.
    • L’Annee Epigraphique (1975) 454.

A Woman as an Official Teacher​

  • A papyrus from Egypt, dated to the fourth century, twice speaks twice of Kyria the teacher (using the word didaskalos).
    • ZPE 18 [1975] 317-23.

Women as Deacons​

Please note that the term "deaconess" was a late development, and the masculine form was originally used to refer to female deacons as well. The masculine form continued to be in use for female deacons even after a feminine form was adopted.
  • Pliny wrote of slave women who were called ministrae. These ministers served in likely the same office as a deacon. This letter can be conclusively dated to 108 CE, and it was written to the Emperor Trajan concerning the Christians of Cappadocia.
    • Epistle 10.96.6.
  • Patrai of Achaia (from the early Christian period): "The deacon (diakonos) Agrippiane (feminine), most beloved of God, provided the mosaic in fulfillment of a vow."
    • Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 29, (1978), 425.
  • A tombstone from Melos, inscribed at the start of the fourth century, mentions a mother and her children, and all the children held offices in the church. The titles are given in descending order of importance.
    • Elders (presbyteroi)
      • Asklepis (possibly a female name)
      • Elpizon
      • Asklepiodotos
    • Deacon (diakonos)
      • Agliasis (a woman)
    • Order of virgins
      • Eutylchia and Klaudiana
    • Reference: M. Guarducci, Epigrafia greca, IV, Rome: 1978, 368-70.
  • An inscription on the Mount of Olives, dated from the fourth century, reads: "Here lies the slave and bride of Christ, Sophia the deacon (diakonos), the second Phoebe, who fell asleep in peace on the 21st of the month of March during the indiction..." but at this point the stone breaks off.
  • Matrona the deacon (diakonos), from Stobi, Macedonia, dated to the fourth or fifth century; she was ordained by a bishop.
    • Dr. G. H. R. Horsley, ed., New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, Sydney, 1977, 109.
  • An epitaph at Delphi from the first part of the fifth century was made for the deaconess (diakonissa) Athanasia.
    • Guarducci, IV. 345-47 (Delphi, V; fig. 99).
  • A gravestone on Mt. Hymettos from the late Imperial period says, "Nekagore the deaconess lies here."
    • IG, III 2, x.3527.
  • "Eugenia the deacon (diakonos)", from Kirazli in Bithynia, in the Imperial period.
    • Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik 18 (1975) 46 (Kirazli late Imperial).
  • "Maria the deacon (diakonos)", from Cappadocia in the sixth century.
    • Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 27 (1978) 948a.
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We have "deaconesses" in our church, but, we do not have female pastors in accordance with Scripture.
 
andy pandy said:
This passage makes it plain that she was a deaconess, not an elder as in "our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchrea."
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"It" makes it clear only in some versions of the bible.
In the KJV she is referred to as a "servant of the church".
I do not equate that with the deacons or requirements to be a deacon...including having a wife. (1 Tim 3:12)
 
with or with out is a servant /are you saying the deacon wife is a servant? we are all servants, but a deacon is a servant to the Church he over sees the needs of the congregation. he is the pastors right hand man if the pastor can not be there to preach. he should be able to step in with a dev or some type message. or if he can find a fill in .

in todays world they think the deacon runs the church and the pulpit. which is not correct the pastor is in control of the ministry and the pulpit . provided he is under the direction of the Holy Spirit
 
I dunno 🤷‍♂️

I’ve often found Scripture points towards male leadership in building th the church and family. Men who abuse church leadership positions can be dealt with sometimes even through the legal system when necessary. Fairly easy divorce laws make it possible for women to dissolve bad marriages legally and men can as well.

My real problem was seeing women lead Pentecostal churches. Did not go well. And yet…

The practice continues and grows. I kind of wonder honestly…keep in mind I’m a moderate socialist…the growth of female led churches isn’t a sign of long standing decline.
 
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