Don

Cheryl,

I agree with your post 23.

I see Titus being a gentile leader as another step in the gospel to all the world, one we might take for granted today, but radical in its time. And if God did not restrict church leadership to only Jews, why think he restricted it to only men?

Frank,

I like Bailey and Fee a lot. I do not see overseer as an office, rather a ministry. All believers are to have a ministry, some are called to a leadership ministry. The main diff in 1 Tim 3 between overseers and deacons is the ability to teach, all the rest of the lists are character qualities. So I see it as all believers have a ministry, some of these are recognized as church deacons/ministers, and some of these in turn are recognized as church elders.