Our Sister Phoebe (Romans 16:1-2)
Our Sister Phoebe: Romans 16:1-2
Rev. Brian L. Howard, D.Min.
Adams Farm Community Church, ARP
Note: This is the lightly edited manuscript of a sermon presented to the congregation of Adams Farm Community Church (ARP) in Jamestown, NC. A PDF with full footnotes is available here. Sermon video is posted here.
Introduction & Opening Scripture
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
Romans 16:1-2 ESV
Today, I’d like to spend some time on a Scripture passage that will help us frame an ongoing discussion that our denomination, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, is having around the ordination of women in the Diaconate. As you know, Adams Farm Community Church has a long history of ordaining qualified men to the office of Elder, and we ordain both men and women to the office of deacon. This is a practice that’s served us well and a practice that I’m in favor of. One of our key supporting texts comes from Romans 16:1-2. But that’s not to say that this practice is observed by all ARP Churches, nor is it without debate in our sister presbyterian denominations.
AFCC is now the third ARP church that I’ve served. And in each of these churches we’ve held true to ARP Form Of Government. It’s been edited over the years, but there are two essential statements on deacons that will be helpful to look at today:
To this office [of Deacon] should be chosen individuals who are faithful and diligent Christians of good character, of honest repute, exemplary life, brotherly love, sympathetic nature, and sound judgment, who are qualified under the standards recorded in Scripture.”
-The ARP Form of Government, 5.2
Unless otherwise determined by the Session, the Diaconate shall be chosen from male members of that congregation. The Session of each congregation shall determine whether women can serve as deacons in their own particular congregation. In either case, the Church shall not neglect the raising up of qualified men to serve in this position.
At the 1969 Meeting of General Synod the ARP Church first decided to open the office of deacon to include women. In my opinion, when it comes to a debatable issue such as this, the current ARP stance is probably as close to a harmonious Christian compromise as one might find, allowing churches some faithful flexibility in electing their deacons. Neither side has their conscience bound.
However, there is a proposed change that will be under review beginning with the 2021 meeting of General Synod. It comes as a Memorial from First Presbytery, our brothers in Western NC. Let’s take a look:
“That the ARPC move in a pastorally sensitive manner toward restricting the ordained office of deacons to only males”
Now, my message today is somewhat different from one of our typical sermons here at AFCC. I felt that it was best to cover this with our church family for 3 reasons: 1) So we can pray together. 2) So we can think together. 3) So we can plan together.
First, we should always be praying about the decision-making meetings in the life of a church. That includes our monthly elder and deacon meetings, yearly congregational meetings, quarterly Presbytery meetings, annual Synod meetings, and more. When we make a decision at any of these various meetings, I want to know that it’s a decision made by praying people from praying congregations. We need to pray about this together.
Second, I mention this deacon-question to you so we can think about it together. On a debatable, interpretable issue, I want to be sure that I’ve really thought through it. This is even more true if I’m going to affirm something that will put me in disagreement with other faithful Christians. If our diaconate is something you haven’t considered much before, then I encourage you to think through it, too.
Third, we’re talking about this together so we can plan for it. If there is a denominational change to male-only deacons, it will be a three or four year process that will eventually affect the guiding documents of our church, my ministerial vows, and the devoted women in our church family who’ve so well on the Diaconate. We may need to be planning ahead.
With all that being said, let’s take a breath here. After all, there is a debate underway, not an alarm. Guy Waters of Reformed Theological Seminary, who is also a PCA Minister and a proponent of a male-only diaconate, offers this:
Reformed pastors and theologians, fully committed to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture, have disagreed about what the Bible teaches concerning women and the diaconate. This state of affairs calls for particular humility in discussing this question.
So, with a bit of history in mind and a dose of “particular humility” let’s get back to Romans 16:1-2 and take a look at Phoebe.
PART 1: WHO IS PHOEBE?
Romans 16:1-2 gives us a simple warm greeting from Paul to the believers in Rome. Paul commends Phoebe in the final section of his longest letter. She’s most likely the woman who has now delivered the letter to Rome, she’s a most important part of the question of whether there’s a biblical basis for women serving as deacons. So, let’s cover a few essentials.
Phoebe is “Our Sister” (v.1)
“This is my sister in Christ,” Paul says, I commend her to you…” Phoebe is a follower of Jesus Christ, and she is bound through Christ with other believers-- even us as believers today. She is no a stranger. She is not an abstract historical figure. She is our Sister in Jesus Christ.
As a Christian Sister, she was to be welcomed “in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints.” And also welcomed for a second reason:
Phoebe is a Servant of the Church at Cenchreae (v.1)
She’s a servant of a specific church-- Cenchreae. That’s about 6.5 miles from Corinth and is probably how Paul first got to know her. Cenchreae is about 600 miles from Rome. The fact that Phoebe made the journey from Cenchreae to Rome is notable. If you’re following along in your bible, you’ll see something “foot-notable” as well.
For example, the ESV translation I’m preaching from today has a footnote for the word “servant” here, and it says “deaconess.” The same footnote is there in older editions of the NIV. Different translations call Phoebe a deacon (NLT, NIV 2011), a servant (ESV, KJV, NASB, HCSB), a deaconess (Amplified), or even a ministrant of the assembly (Young’s). The difficult word in question is diakonon (διάκονον) and there’s a variety of nuanced translations here. We’ll come back to this later, so for now just make a note of this: We don’t all agree on what kind of servant Phoebe was, but we can at least agree that she was a servant.
Phoebe is A Patron of Many and of Paul (v. 2c)
In Paul’s words, Phoebe has been a prostatis (προστάτις) to “Many and of myself.” She is a patroness or protectress. Thus, Paul says, “I want you to welcome her; to help her.” She’s helped others and will need some help herself. The believers in Rome should anticipate that Phoebe will have “need” of them. More specifically, they should plan to help her in “whatever matter” she may ask. This is pragmati in the Greek (πράγματι·). That’s the same root for our word “pragmatic” So we can also say of Phoebe:
Phoebe is Authorized to Ask for Help (v. 2b)
This root “Pragma” is defined in Strong’s as “a thing done, a deed, action; a matter, an affair.” You might say Phoebe is there in Rome because there is “a thing to be done” in Rome. The church in Cenchreae found Phoebe to be an excellent servant over there, and so now she is sent over here. I’d say this implies some kind of official role or office, whether as a deacon or as messenger. Under Paul’s authority, Phoebe is authorized to ask for help by virtue of her duties in Cenchreae. That means that also:
Phoebe Should be Welcomed in the Lord (v. 2a)
The believers in Rome are to welcome Phoebe as a servant who can offer help to them and also ask for help from them. She should not be regarded as an outsider. They shouldn’t say to Phoebe, “You may have done it that way in Cenchreae, but you’re in Rome, now.” No, Paul says in verse 2 “Help her in whatever she may need from you…”
Some scholars think that Phoebe’s primary task was to bring Paul’s letter to Rome. He would have written it while in Corinth around 57AD, and Phoebe would have been just a few miles from Corinth in Cenchreae. Whether one thinks she’s a deacon, a servant, a messenger, or a ministrant, we can all agree she was a significant blessing to Paul, to Rome, to the the Gospel, and to us.
Now that we’ve considered Phoebe: the individual servant, let’s look at Phoebe: the inspiration for debate.
PART II: A DIAKONON OF THE CHURCH
As we’ve already said, most everyone agrees that at the very least, Phoebe is a “a servant of the church at Cenchreae.” So then the question becomes, “A servant to what degree?” The key phrase here is “diakonon tees ekklisias.” (διάκονον τῆς ἐκκλησίας. ) That is, “diakonon of the church.” There are four primary ways for this to be translated, as we touched on earlier:
“διάκονον τῆς ἐκκλησίας”
Servant of the church/assembly
Minister of the church/assembly
Messenger of the church/assembly
Deacon of the church/assembly
Now, maybe you see a list like this and get a little frustrated. “Why can’t Paul just say what he means?” “What didn’t God make it clearer in His Word?” We affirm, as the ARP vows for Elders, Deacons, and Ministers state, “that the Bible alone, being God-breathed, is the Word of God Written, infallible in all that it teaches, and inerrant in the original manuscripts.” So then, we should willingly accept that “diakonon tees ekklisias” was indeed the phrase God intended for us to have when he inspired Paul to write this.
If we have varieties of interpretation over how this passage should be translated, it’s because the Lord intended for this to be so. This should not lead to frustration, but to faithfulness. As Tom Schreiner, a proponent of male and female deacons and professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville writes,
The question as to whether women should serve as deacons is unclear in the Bible, and so it makes sense that sincere interpreters of Scripture differ on the matter. Thus, we must beware of dogmatism and an uncharitable spirit when adjudicating the evidence.
I might add here that in this debate of female deacons, there are also the factors of Biblical headship, leadership, and authority. Complementarian roles for men and women should honor the created order of Genesis 1-2, stay faithful to scripture like 1 Timothy 2:8-14, and fill ministry roles within firm Scriptural boundaries without overstepping them. The 2005 ARP position paper, “Women in the Life of the Church,” approved by General Synod, summarizes this factor when it says,
The elders are responsible for spiritual oversight and guidance while the deacons are given the task of attending to the temporal needs of the church. The polity or organizational structure...in the Associate reformed Presbyterian Church recognizes this scriptural distinction between the functions of elder and deacons.
Our ARP Form of Government also clarifies these distinctions, describing elders as “men of wisdom” who are “set forth in the Scriptures... to govern and discipline [the] people.” (6.1, 6.2) It describes deacons as “individuals who are faithful” and called to “sympathy and service after the example of Christ.” (5.1, 5.2) To make this authority and headship even clearer, the Form of Government adds, “the Diaconate is a board of, and under the supervision and authority of the Session.” (5.17)
I mention all of these FOG-facts because it’s helpful to see how our denomination has already clarified it’s Biblical-headship infused polity. The Counsel on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood described the ARPC in 2005 as “[choosing] the teaching of Scripture over capitulation to the mores of a postmodern culture.”
So yes, all kinds of complementarian, egalitarian, feminist, and New Perspective questions arise in studies of Phoebe’s “deacon-ness.” Up until recently, there was at least one other unanswered question regarding authority within ARP diaconates since our ARP Form of Government included vows of the congregation’s “obedience...in the spirit of love” to the deacons. However, as of the 2020 Meeting of General Synod, that language is under review, with the recommendation that “obedience” be removed. Thus, within the ARP church, many questions of authority have already been answered, leaving us to focus instead on Phoebe herself.
PART III: SERVANT, MINISTER, MESSENGER, OR DEACON?
For some, the uniqueness of this one occurrence regarding Phoebe in Romans 16:1 leads them to say that she is not deacon. But for me, it’s precisely because of that uniqueness that I say she is. Look again at Romans 16:1, “Our sister Phoebe, a diakonon of the church at Cenchreae.”
Bob Cara, an ordained ARP Minister and Professor at RTS, offers a study of the diakon word group and concludes that Phoebe is not a deacon. Although we disagree, his study is thorough and helpful. One of his points against Phoebe as a deacon is this:
“Diakonos is used twenty-nine times in the NT...twenty-five of these are servant either in a broad sense or a food-serving sense. Three are clearly the office of deacon (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim 3:8, 12). One would have to argue that diakonos in Romans 16:1 is the only one of the twenty-nine occurrences where it is not clear and still means the office.”
Understandably for some, Phoebe’s unique label of diakonon makes her not a deacon. However, for others that uniqueness means she is. Think of it this way, If she had been called more broadly something like “God’s diakonos” as we see in Romans 13:4 (Theou diakonos / Θεοῦ διάκονός) or “diakonon to the circumcised” as in Romans 15:8 (diakonon peritomes/ (διάκονον περιτομῆς) or even just diakonon, then our Phoebe debate might not be needed.
However, God’s Word calls her “a diakonon of the church at Cenchreae.” That is, a diakonon in specific service to a specific church. The simplest conclusion for me is that Phoebe is a deacon of that church. You can also think of it like this--we mentioned earlier that “diakonon” (διάκονον τῆς ἐκκλησίας) can have four different meanings: 1) Servant, 2) Minister, 3) Messenger, 4) Deacon. So let me ask four different questions.
--
If Phoebe Is A Servant: Why is there the specific designation “of the church at Cenchreae?” Why has Paul entrusted her to travel over 600 miles to deliver his longest epistle?
If Phoebe Is A Minister: Again, why is there the specific church-designation? The general usage of “minister,” as in the KJV translation of Romans 13:4 and 15:8. is the only one that would fit here. The general usage doesn't fit with the specific designation “of the church at Cenchreae.”
On the other hand, if it’s the specific usage of “minister” like when Paul says “I became a minister” (Colossians 1:23, 25), then we have an entirely new debate. “Minister Phoebe” would be in direct conflict with other Scripture like 1 Timothy 2:13.If Phoebe Is A Messenger: What authority would she have to ask “whatever she may need” from Rome? She is indeed a messenger, but she must also be more than a messenger.
If Phoebe Is A Deacon: Then all of the details in Romans 16:1-2 easily add up to her role as a deacon: Sister, Servant, Patron, Giver & Receiver of Help in Rome.
Of course, there’s even more here to dive into than we have time for in our half-hour together. There’s the deacon-wives versus deacon-women debate of 1 Timothy 3:10-11. We should also factor in the widows list in 1 Timothy 5:1-16 and it’s connection to so-called “deaconesses” throughout church history. We’ll come back to these another time. For now, let’s conclude with our look at Phoebe.
CONCLUSION: KEEPING DEBATES DEBATABLE
Let me end today with two thoughts from two philosopher-theologians. First, philosophy 101 students know about William of Occam. We summarize his philosophy as “Occam’s Razor.”
Basically,“the simplest explanation is usually the right one.” For Phoebe, the simplest explanation is that when she’s called a “diakonon of the church at Cenchreae” it’s because she was just that, “a deacon of the church at Cenchreae.” This is the only time that the label “diakonon” is connected with a specific church. And for me, that's the simplest solution. Yes, Epaphras in Colossae (Colossians 1:7) and Timothy in Ephesus (1 Timothy 4:6) are servants associated with specific churches. But we don’t find the same kind of connectional “of the church at…” language as we do with Phoebe in Cenchreae.
Second, I think back to the wise words of BB Warfield, that last of his kind at the old Princeton Seminary. He was hardly a champion of female deacons and yet he acknowledged that much of church history included at least some kinds of women serving in a diaconal role. But take a look at his comments here from 1889, “This is no doubt a narrow, not to say a precarious foundation on which to build much of an ecclesiastical structure….” and “It need not be denied that the office of deaconess is a Scriptural office, although it must be confessed that the Biblical warrant for it is of the slenderest.”
Warfield equated the 1 Timothy 5:1-16 list of widows as the holding place for what he called “the office deaconess.” But we do well to let his words sink in. “A precarious foundation?” Yes. The “slenderest warrant?” Agreed. But a foundation and a warrant nonetheless.
If there is any legitimate Biblical foundation, however “slender” for women to serve as deacons, then I neglect my duties as a shepherd if I undermine that foundation. The pastorally sensitive manner to handle such debatable issues is to leave them debatable. We need freedom for Biblically-based ecclesiology without binding the conscience of faithful, orthodox men and women who differ on the issue.
