PCA 38th General Assembly Overture 2

The deaconess issue will occupy a prominent place in General Assembly deliberations once more this summer thanks to a pre-emptive strike by Central Carolina Presbytery (CCP). The overture (number 2) heads off a very different overture that is expected to come before the Assembly from Metro-Atlanta Presbytery (MAP). [Editorial Note: a similarly worded yet very distinct overture was just approved by Evangel Presbytery on February 9, Overture 7. Also Overture 9 from Eastern Carolina Presbytery has been submitted and is exactly like CCP's Overture 2.]  The two could not be more diametrically opposite. The proposed MAP overture reads:

WHEREAS, the biblical office of elder was instituted by a divine commandment, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Gather for me seventy men whom you know to be elders of the people and officers over them and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you so that you may not bear it yourself alone.’” (Numbers 11:16-17) See also 1Timothy 5:17 and Hebrews 13:7-17; and,

WHEREAS, this plurality of elders was continued in the development of synagogues into the Second Temple Era and into the New Testament; and,

WHEREAS, Scriptures specify that Elders are set apart and necessary for every local church and the broader Church,

1.Acts 14:23: “And when they [Paul and Barnabas] had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

2.Titus 1:5: “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you…” (See also Acts 11:30; 13:1; 15:2, 4, 22; 20:17; 1Timothy 4:14; James 5:14; 1Peter 5:1-2; and Philippians 1:1); and,

WHEREAS, the Presbyterian Church in America Book of Church Order, in obedience to Scripture, therefore, requires a plurality of elders for the particularization of a local church (BCO 5-9) and for the ongoing functioning of a local church (BCO 12-1); and,

WHEREAS, the office of elder is that of spiritual and ecclesiastical governance, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching” (1Timothy 5:17). (See also Acts 20:28; [BCO 12-5]); and,

WHEREAS, the New Testament office of deacon was established, not by the direct revelation of a divine command, but by apostolic prudence, and not in a governing office but as an office of service, Acts 6:2 – 4 “‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.’”; and,

WHEREAS, Scripture establishes standards for deacons, 1Timothy 3:8: “Deacons likewise, must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.”; and,

WHEREAS, Scripture reveals that only the churches of Philippi (Philippians 1:1), Ephesus (1Timothy 3:8-13) and Jerusalem (Acts 6:1-6) are specified as having deacons, though Phoebe in the church at Cenchreae was called a deacon by Paul in Romans 16:1: “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant [Greek: diakonos] of the church at Cenchreae…”; and,

WHEREAS, the diaconal ministry is that of sympathy and service, not of spiritual and ecclesiastical governance, and any authority that may be attached to the office of deacon is a derivative authority, with plurality of elders serving as the final authority in a local church (BCO 9-1; 9-2; 9-6); and,

WHEREAS, though the office of deacon is “ordinary and perpetual,” (BCO 9-1) it is not one that is an absolute necessity for the particularization (BCO 5-10) or ongoing ministry (BCO 9-2) of a local church; and,

WHEREAS, in the PCA, individuals at all levels of the church, including missionaries, vacation Bible school workers, Sunday school teachers, Women in the Church officers, and countless other church workers (both men and women) have been commissioned throughout the entire history of the PCA and the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod; and,​

WHEREAS, upon completion of Joining and Receiving (J & R), the RPCES practice of commissioning deaconesses was carried over to the PCA, (Minutes of the Ninth General Assembly, PCA, 1981, p. 305); and,

WHEREAS, the RPCES had conducted a detailed study of the issue of deaconesses during the period 1974-8 and adopted the following resolution:

“Resolved: that in light of the action of the 155th General Synod, we do not recommend allowing each particular church within the domination to determine whether its diaconate shall include men as well as women, nor that they be allowed to ordain a woman as a deacon. We also remind churches that they are free to elect Spirit filled women as deaconesses and to set them apart by prayer (156th General Synod Minutes of the RPCES, 1978, pp. 133-134). (A copy of the full study report is attached); and,

WHEREAS, in connection with J & R, the PCA acknowledged the practices of denominations so received by stating, “In receiving these denominations, the Presbyterian Church in America recognizes the history of the respective denominations as part of her total history and receives their historical documents as valuable and significant material which will be used in the perfecting of the Church (Minutes of the Ninth General Assembly, PCA, 1981, p. 305); and,

WHEREAS, the PCA Book of Church Order, (since its First Edition, published in 1975, and continuing to the present in the Sixth Edition) authorizes its church Sessions to appoint “godly men and women of the congregation to assist the deacons in caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in any distress or need.” (Emphasis added)

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Metro Atlanta Presbytery hereby overtures the 38th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America to amend Book of Church Order 9-7 to include the following sentence to be placed at the end of the section

“These assistants to the deacons, selected by means determined by each Session, may be commissioned, but not ordained.

The entire section 9-7, therefore, would read:

“9-7.​It is often expedient that the Session of a church should select and appoint godly men and women of the congregation to assist the deacons in caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in any distress or need. These assistants to the deacons, selected by means determined by each Session, may be commissioned, but not ordained.”

Without all the "whereas" statements, this overture might not initially appear to be about deaconesses. It is in fact the practice of many PCA churches to have commissioning services for missionaries, teachers, etc. The problem with the overture lies not so much in what it is asking the Assembly to do (i.e. permit the commissioning of diaconal assistants), but in fact lies with the "whereas" statements, statements which are rife with poor exegesis and theology and clearly have the eventual ordination of women to the diaconate in mind. Let's look at some of the worst.

WHEREAS, the New Testament office of deacon was established, not by the direct revelation of a divine command, but by apostolic prudence, and not in a governing office but as an office of service, Acts 6:2.

This statement has a couple of problems. First it is simply a poor statement of apostolic authority. While it is true that no direct divine command was ever given regarding the establishment of the diaconate, if we reject apostolic authority in the church as part of the culmination of God's revelation in Christ, then we really have to tear all of the epistles out of our Bibles, don't we? But since the church is built on the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20), then we have believe that the divinely inspired record of their first command to the church was correct and authoritative.

Second, saying that the Seven of Acts 6 only engaged in a ministry of service ignores the rest of the biblical record. Acts 6:8 tells us that Stephen was working "great wonders and signs." In Acts 8, Philip, one of the Seven, taught, preached, worked miracles, and even baptized! (C.f. Acts 21:8) One can only say that the biblical model for deacons is merely one of service if one is selective in his exegesis.

WHEREAS, Scripture establishes standards for deacons, 1Timothy 3:8: “Deacons likewise, must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.”

Again, if apostolic command is not divine command...well, we have more problems than one of polity.

Phoebe in the church at Cenchreae was called a deacon by Paul in Romans 16:1: “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant [Greek: diakonos] of the church at Cenchreae…”;

Ah, Phoebe, who is supposed to prove that the early Christian church had deaconesses. In reality, Phoebe does not help the position. Let's talk about her.

First she is  in fact called a diakonon, the Greek word from which we get our word "deacon." The noun is feminine, so it is lexically possible to translate the word "deaconess," but is that a valid translation? Not clearly.

First, the Greek word does not necessarily mean "deacon" in the sense that we do. It appears 28 times in the New Testament (outside of this passage). Eight times the word refers to household servants. Twice it refers to pagan government officials. Twice it refers to Christ himself. Seven times it refers to pastors. Three times it refers to false apostles. Paul uses it of himself four itmes. Only twice does it refer to an office of the Church. Think about that, Gentle Reader. Only 7% of the times that diakonos appears in the Scripture, does it actually refer to the office of deacon. Since the only infallible interpreter of Scripture is Scripture and since we interpret obscure passages by clear ones, why do egalitarians hang so much on Phoebe? Because she serves their purposes. Coveniently ignored are the usages that refer to unbelievers, apostles, pastors, and Christ himself.

Second, the fact that the feminine form is used (diaknonon) really proves nothing. English does not apply gender to words for the most part, but Greek did. Phoebe was a woman, so we can only say for certain that it was grammatically proper to refer to her in the feminine. More than that is sheer speculation.

But, it is objected, Phoebe is called a "diakonon of the church in Cenchrea." That MUST mean she served the church in an official capacity. But all the phrase proves was that she was associated with and served that church, not that she was an officer of it.

Next, consider the qualifications of the office of deacon in 1 Timothy3:8-12. While not obvious in English, the Greek employs masculine nouns/verbs nine times in these verses. (The identification of the "women" in verse 11 does not clearly point to deaconesses. Rather, since verse 12 says that deacons should be "one woman men," employing the same word for "women" as in verse 11, it seems much more likely that verse 11 refers to the wives of deacons and not deaconesses.)

Given the flexibility of the term diakonos in the Bible and the clearer statements of 1 Timothy, it seems reasonable to conclude that Phoebe was not a deacon in the sense that we use the word. In short, Phoebe provides very weak evidence, if any at all, that the early church had deaconesses.

WHEREAS, upon completion of Joining and Receiving (J & R), the RPCES practice of commissioning deaconesses was carried over to the PCA, (Minutes of the Ninth General Assembly, PCA, 1981, p. 305); and,

WHEREAS, the RPCES had conducted a detailed study of the issue of deaconesses during the period 1974-8 and adopted the following resolution:

“Resolved: that in light of the action of the 155th General Synod, we do not recommend allowing each particular church within the domination to determine whether its diaconate shall include men as well as women, nor that they be allowed to ordain a woman as a deacon. We also remind churches that they are free to elect Spirit filled women as deaconesses and to set them apart by prayer (156th General Synod Minutes of the RPCES, 1978, pp. 133-134). (A copy of the full study report is attached); and,

WHEREAS, in connection with J & R, the PCA acknowledged the practices of denominations so received by stating, “In receiving these denominations, the Presbyterian Church in America recognizes the history of the respective denominations as part of her total history and receives their historical documents as valuable and significant material which will be used in the perfecting of the Church (Minutes of the Ninth General Assembly, PCA, 1981, p. 305);

This is a pure ad populum argument that proves nothing. While the PCA did allow the RPCES to keep their deaconesses, the RPCES agreed to submit to our polity, which specifically forbids deaconesses from being ordained.

Finally,

WHEREAS, the PCA Book of Church Order, (since its First Edition, published in 1975, and continuing to the present in the Sixth Edition) authorizes its church Sessions to appoint “godly men and women of the congregation to assist the deacons in caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in any distress or need.” (Emphasis added)

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Metro Atlanta Presbytery hereby overtures the 38th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America to amend Book of Church Order 9-7 to include the following sentence to be placed at the end of the section

“These assistants to the deacons, selected by means determined by each Session, may be commissioned, but not ordained."

Now we come to the rub. By the overture's own admission, it is the practice of churches to commission people for various endeavors without ordaining them. The "whereas" statements make it clear, however, that the over-arching motivation here is to publicly set women apart as deaconesses. (One is forced to wonder what male assistants to the deacons would be called.)

And this is really the challenge. Post-moderns would have us believe that words essentially are meaningless, but that is manifestly not so. Words communicate ideas and ideas have consequences.

Take for instance an unfortunate choice of words I made in a theology class once. I referred to the Person and work of God. My theology professor jumped all over the phrase, reminding me that God is three Persons, not one. Now I am no modalist, so I hastily changed my language because words...ideas...have consequences. They really do here. To call female assistants to the diaconate "deaconesses" (leaving the poor male assistants in the cold), is to obfuscate the meaning of the word "deacon" and can only lead to further confusion, disorder, and theological decline in our denomination.

Now, consider the text of Overture 2 from Carolina Presbytery, which has at its heart, the concept that words do actually have meaning:

Whereas, the PCA is grateful to God for the outstanding and selfless work done by the women of PCA congregations and freely acknowledges that the ability of the church to minister to a lost and dying world depends in large part on the self-sacrificing volunteer spirit of our female members; and

Whereas, the PCA also believes that, the officers of the Church, by whom all its powers are administered, are, according to the Scriptures, teaching and ruling elders and deacons (BCO 1-5) and that in accord with Scripture, these offices are open to men only (BCO 7-2); and

Whereas, the PCA believes that scripture teaches that the officers of the church are to be ordained not commissioned. (BCO 17, 12-5, 8-6); and

Whereas, while some RPCES congregations had women on their diaconates, the RPCES resolved as part of the J&R agreement with the PCA to "Amend the existing doctrinal standards and Form of Government of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, by substituting for them the doctrinal standards and Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America" * ; and

Whereas, several churches in the PCA currently elect and commission women to the office of deacon and call them by the title deacon or deaconess and allow them to serve on the diaconate; and

Whereas, BCO 9-7, which states that women may be selected and appointed by the session of a church to serve as assistants to the deacons, is often cited as pretext for this practice of electing and commissioning female deacons;

Therefore, Central Carolina Presbytery hereby overtures the 38th General Assembly to amend BCO Chapter 9-7 by adding the words:

These assistants to the deacons shall not be referred to as deacons or deaconesses, nor are they to be elected by the congregation nor formally commissioned, ordained, or installed as though they were office bearers in the church.

So that the revised version would read:

9-7. It is often expedient that the Session of a church should select and appoint godly men and women of the congregation to assist the deacons in caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in any distress or need.  These assistants to the deacons shall not be referred to as deacons or deaconesses, nor are they to be elected by the congregation nor formally commissioned, ordained, or installed as though they were office bearers in the church. 

Central Carolina's Overture nails the issue and what is at stake here. If you want to commission the assistants to the diaconate, male and female, do so. But let's be clear in our terms, shall we?