THE OFFICE OF PASTOR AND OTHER NT MYTHS--beginning questions

Despite, or maybe due to, the class I took last fall, many questions remain. I have opinions on each of these questions and I even have biblical answers for some. Others remain uninvestigated or overly tinged by presupposition. So, poked in among the thesis, the Doctrine of the Kingdom, teaching (here, here, and here), and too little sleep, I shall be pondering these and other pesky gender-leadership-ecclesiology topics.

• Can a woman be a senior pastor?
• For that matter, NT-speaking, can anyone (except you-know-who) be the Senior Pastor?
• Does the "office" of Pastor even exist?
• Can a woman be an elder?
• Can a single man with no children be an elder?
  
• Are elders pastors or something else or what?
• Can a woman be a deacon?
• What are deacons and how are they different from elders (assuming they are different)?

Each of these questions stirs opinions, and often much heat. Opinions are welcome. Heat is not. If you comment, be on topic, be fair, and don't preach (if you want to preach, post on your own blog and leave a link).

NOTE: This is a rumination ("1. The act of pondering; meditation. 2. The act or process of chewing cud." American Heritage Dictionary) in search of synergy ("1. The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.")

Tag(s): theology hermeneutics

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