Women: The biblical position on church officers (1) As we are in the midst of an officer election cycle, we often hear questions about why we do not have female church officers at First Presbyterian Church. Sometimes these questions are asked critically by friends at other churches who do ordain women to office. Sometimes, these questions are raised inquisitively by congregation members who simply want to know whether our practice is based on principle and Scripture, or simply on human tradition. I addressed this issue in a sermon on Romans 16:1-2, several weeks ago. But I revisit the matter again here. Why do we have only qualified male church officers at First Presbyterian Church? The simple answer is: “because that is what the Bible teaches.” The New Testament consistently…

Women :The biblical position on church officers (2) Last week, we began answering the question “why do we not have female church officers at First Presbyterian Church?” So far, we've said the following: the simple answer is “because that is what the Bible teaches.” The New Testament consistently teaches that the ministry of the word and rule in the church is to be exercised only by qualified male leadership (see, for example, 1 Timothy 2:8-15, 3:1-2, 12; 1 Corinthians…

The Lord's Day MorningJune 9, 2002 1 Timothy 3 Why We Need Elders and Why Kind of Elders We Need Dr. J. Ligon Duncan If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 3. This morning we're going to look at the subject of why we need elders and what kind of elders we need. And this is an obviously timely matter, for at the end of this month we are, as a congregation, to begin voting for new elders. And about a month later, we’ll begin the process of voting…