How far should the church restrict elders?

[salvationfound]

-My wife's home church believes that divorced and remarried people should
not be elders or deacons.

It made me wonder about the requirement for elders.


My questions are:
-Should the church allow women to be elders?
-Should the church allow divorced men/women to be elders?
-Should the church allow remarried men/women to be elders?
-Should the church allow practicing homosexuals to be elders?
-Should the church allow convicted felons to be elders?

I'm really struggling with this. I used to think it was easy to segregate who
could be an elder and who couldn't. But now its gotten harder for me.

[Faramir]

-My wife's home church believes that divorced and remarried people should
not be elders or deacons.

It made me wonder about the requirement for elders.

Just my 2 cents worth on a topic I have been mulling over recently myself.


My questions are:
-Should the church allow women to be elders?[/quote]
No. Not biblical.

-Should the church allow divorced men/women to be elders?

Recently divorced? No. Divorce is a horrible ordeal emotionally and spiritually. A recently divorced person is in no position to shepherd a congregation.

Divorce long past (depending on the person but in most cases at least 5 years), sure.

-Should the church allow remarried men/women to be elders?

It depends on the circumstances surrounding the re-marriage.

-Should the church allow practicing homosexuals to be elders?

No. Nor practicing fornicators or adulters or drunkards etc.

-Should the church allow convicted felons to be elders?

Depends on the circumstances. Recent conviction? Signs of repentance? Etc.

I'm really struggling with this. I used to think it was easy to segregate who
could be an elder and who couldn't. But now its gotten harder for me.

Just my 2 cents :2cents:

[nomad]

I'm really struggling with this. I used to think it was easy to segregate who
could be an elder and who couldn't. But now its gotten harder for me.

Just a few thoughts, but really it shouldn't be that easy necessarily. Elders should not necessarily be those who fit a set of starchy requirements, but those who represent the highest degree of righteousness, those who are following Christ the closest. Judge by their fruit. However, as marriage is something that often stresses people beyond the casual interactions we may have with them, it is another good window into their soul to see things they may be good at hiding otherwise.

My questions are:
-Should the church allow women to be elders?

As Faramir said, does not appear to be biblical. However there were deaconesses.

-Should the church allow divorced men/women to be elders?
-Should the church allow remarried men/women to be elders?

In ECF, you can see they strongly leaned towards 'no'. Though possibly, in the first case they may have allowed it if the believer had become a believer while married, and the other partner left.

Realistically, though, you also see that they made exceptions, and that some abused these exceptions: serial monogamy is not an American invention, and there were instances of it even in the early church. Those married 3, 4, 5 times (that is recorded!) were disqualified, especially if it happened after they were part of the church.

In my view, for a man, if you can't even love your wife as Christ loved the church, how will you be able to care for a bunch of other people who you don't have as much connection with?

-Should the church allow practicing homosexuals to be elders?
-Should the church allow convicted felons to be elders?

Someone who is losing badly in their fight against sin probably does not deserve to be an elder, regardless of the actual sin. Someone who has won their fight though, with the grace of God, has demonstrated what every christian should be doing. It's not previous failures that should determine the qualification, but present state.

[Cowthulu]

-Should the church allow divorced men/women to be elders?

Depends. Are they remarried? From my understanding of scripture it is possible to divorce and remain celebate.

-Should the church allow remarried men/women to be elders?

Depends again. If they are remarried because a previous spouse is deceased I don't believe there are any issues.

-Should the church allow practicing homosexuals to be elders?

No, sets a bad example.

-Should the church allow convicted felons to be elders?

If they have left those ways behind then I don't think their past should completely rule them out de facto.

[Berean Todd]

-My wife's home church believes that divorced and remarried people should not be elders or deacons.

I would agree, that is clearly what the Bible teaches.

Should the church allow women to be elders?

Elders (which the Bible uses the term elder, bishop and pastor interchangeably) no, should not be women. However women can be a deaconess.

-Should the church allow divorced men/women to be elders?

No, I do not think that they should.

-Should the church allow remarried men/women to be elders?

Since I do not think divorced men should, then only if the candidate was widowed and remarried. In that case, yes, but not if there was a divorce in the past.

-Should the church allow practicing homosexuals to be elders?

Absolutely not

-Should the church allow convicted felons to be elders?

It would depend on what they did, when they did it, etc. It would be tough, but possible I think to meet the criteria set fourth in the Biblical passages.