Cheryl Schatz

Mark,
You said:

If you continue to feel that i haven’t answered the question i fear it is based purely on our understandings of the various type of ‘teaching’ or gifts given in the NT.

It onus is on you to prove that “elder” is a gift. If you cannot do so, then I would ask you to deal with the topic at hand which is spiritual gifts.

I agree with you that an elder is not a gift, and like you stated an elder is someone qualified with other gifts…Cheryl i am also intrigued why you feel that the issue of eldership is not important in a discussion about teachers. This is perplexing since several times Paul instructs that elders are to teach and protect the church. Is it that you think elders have nothing to do with teaching?

We are discussion what women are allowed to do in the body of Christ. We have dealt with the issue of “elders” other places and we likely will talk about this again. All elders are teachers but not all teachers are elders. If we can establish what a woman has full freedom to do in the body of Christ, then that discussion comes first. When you say that a woman can teach doctrine to men in the church, and then you deny that women cannot teach doctrine as this is a task assigned only to elders, you are contradicting yourself. Your contradictions are very frustrating as it has been difficult to get you to answer my questions and when you do answer them, you turn around and contradict your answer. It makes me wonder if you are really interested in being understood or if you are might just want to stir the pot for entertainment value. There may be other reasons why you are evading the questions. I just find it very frustrating because I don’t see you as upfront with your answers.