Male and female leadership and teaching roles (1) Introduction

I’ve been serialising some of my work on the Biblical view of men and women (The complementarianism v egalitarianism debate). Here I begin to look at the implications for church leadership. These following articles are based on a discussion paper which was used in a specific church context. I’ve attempted to make it more generally… Continue reading Male and female leadership and teaching roles (1) Introduction

Who are deacons?

The first turn to Bible passage on deacons tends to be 2 Timothy 3. This is where Paul sets out the qualifications for both elders and deacons. In the first part of the chapter, Paul says that the role of elder/overseer/Bishop is a noble desire. He then sets out the qualifications for the role. Overseers… Continue reading Who are deacons?

What are deacons (not)

I’ve just took part in an interesting conversation with other pastors which started out with a question about how we train deacons in the church. This led to further questions about what exactly is a deacon? Fascinatingly there didn’t seem to be a uniform opinion on this.  So, I thought it might be worth thinking… Continue reading What are deacons (not)

Leadership is not about the committee you attend

Imagine if the way that your family functioned was that the husband/dad went down to the garden shed and made some decisions. Maybe he called round a few other men to join him for this meeting. Then afterwards, they came out and pronounced their wisdom. You can be by conviction a complementarian and still feel… Continue reading Leadership is not about the committee you attend