Beliefs & Governing Policies

Men’s & Women’s Roles in the Church

During our annual meeting in September, we were asked to put together a summary of how we understand the roles of men and women in our church body. This is a great question and it directly affects the health of our church so we wanted to take an opportunity to share the elders’ view on it. So, what does CVBC believe about the roles of men and women in our church body and how is it practically demonstrated? The theological answer that best describes our position is known as “complementarianism.” This means that men and women are created equal and yet have distinctions in their roles in the church. 

First, CVBC believes that all individuals, both men and women, are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). A man or a woman is not created with more or less worth than another man or woman. An individual’s value is not dependent upon his or her gender but upon the fact that God has created him or her. Thus, CVBC strongly opposes any mistreatment or abuse based on someone’s gender. Rather, we believe that all people should be treated with love, care, and respect.

Second, CVBC believes that God has created men and women with distinctions in their roles in the local church. These distinctions are rooted in God’s creation of men and women and are not an effect of The Fall (1 Tim. 2:13; Gen. 2:18-25). A common theme in the Bible is that God uses human relationships to help us understand spiritual realities. For example, sexual exclusivity and life-long faithfulness in marriage are meant to be human models of the intimate, exclusive, and eternal love that Jesus has for His church. In a similar way, we understand male leadership in the church to be a picture or example of the loving headship of Jesus for His followers. Specifically, we try to model this at CVBC by restricting the role of an elder or pastor to men (1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9) as they fulfill their obligations to teach (1 Tim. 3:2, 5:17, Titus 1:9) and lead the congregation (1 Tim. 3:5; 5:17; Acts 20:28). 

As a practical matter, this also means that our Sunday morning preaching and other church-wide teaching opportunities are the responsibilities of qualified men. However, this does NOT mean that women can’t be gifted teachers! We encourage women at CVBC to use their gifts of teaching and leadership under the authority of the elders, in ways such as: leading us in music, leading teaching times for other women and for children, and in co-teaching things like small groups for couples. Furthermore, we do not believe that this restriction of teaching and preaching to the congregation restricts a woman from discussing or instructing others about the Bible in the daily interactions of the church. We believe that men can (and should!) learn from women regarding the faith and Scripture. However to model the headship that we believe is described in Scripture, our practice is to have the regular teaching and preaching in the public assembly of the church done by men. 

Since we believe the office of elder is restricted to men, it’s natural to also ask whether deacons should only be men as well. There is not as much biblical content regarding the answer to this question as there is for the office of elders. The office of a deacon and the office of an elder share similar moral and spiritual qualifications (1 Tim. 3:8-13). What distinguishes a deacon from an elder is the responsibilities of the office. Deacons are leaders, but serve under the elders and are not called to teach, preach, govern, or shepherd the sheep. Rather, they are responsible for ministries of mercy and service in the church (Acts 6:1-6). Thus, from the passages already noted and the reference to a female deacon in Romans 16:1-2, it appears that this office may not be restricted to men only. However, this is an issue the CVBC elders are still working through, so at present we are planning to have men continue to serve in this role. Please pray for us as we seek to continue to strive for more biblical faithfulness in this area. 

According to the Bible, all members of a church are given gifts by the Spirit to encourage, edify, and build up the body (1 Cor. 12). At CVBC, we want all members, both men and women, to utilize their gifts for the health of our church. If you are gifted to sing or to teach or to run sound or to mentor or to welcome people with a smile or to help administer our various ministries, please let us find a way to help you exercise those gifts! If a woman has a gifting in teaching, we want to provide a biblical setting where she can teach out of the Spirit’s equipping. Our goal is to recognize and equip brothers and sisters for ministry and participation in the body, and at the same time respect God’s divine order and rules. If the Bible restricts a certain role, we will restrict it when applicable. If the Bible does not restrict it, we will encourage service from everyone!