Errata

OK, I have reread and rethought my last post and I need to make one change. I went back to Scripture to look at women as deacons and I really couldn't find anything to support that. There are women listed who served the church, but not who were in the office of deacon as far as we know. That being said, one of Strauch's arguments about why men should be elders does not really apply as well to deacon. Strauch says that men should be elders because they are the spiritual leader of the household, they should be the spiritual leaders of the church. Deacons were appointed by the elders to help do the practical things in the church. I don't think there's a compelling reason that they could not be women. However, in 1 Timothy 3, both elders and deacons are assumed to be men. Interestingly, Paul includes instruction about a leader's wife. This is right in the middle of the section on deacons. Nothing specific is said about elder's wives. That being said, I think that it is only logical that the same standards apply.