I have noticed on some web sites where congregations list qualifications for their new preachers. Most of them require their preachers to be married, which is absurd!\u00a0Where in the Bible does it say that a preacher must be married to preach? I can’t find it and I’ve searched. What about I\u00a0Corinthians\u00a07:8 when Paul is saying that it is good for the unmarried to remain unmarried? Paul was not married and he preached. The only leaders in the church that are required to have been married to\u00a0“one wife”\u00a0are elders and deacons.\u00a0That is it!<\/p>\n\t
Of course, it is absurd, but when men try to alter the will of God by imposing additional rules, the result is generally wrong. That is why there are warnings not to add to God’s word. “Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar<\/em>” (Proverbs 30:6). This is how the Pharisees ended up in trouble — they added additional rules to God’s laws (Matthew 15:1-9). Their intentions were probably good. I suspect they thought they were making God’s laws clearer and easier to follow, but the result was a mess of contradictions.<\/p>\n Preachers are not required to be married and you pointed out the proof — Paul wasn’t married, though that didn’t stop people from holding it against him. “Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?<\/em>” (I Corinthians 9:5).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I have noticed on some web sites where congregations list qualifications for their new preachers. Most of them require their preachers to be married, which is absurd!\u00a0Where in the Bible does it say that a preacher must be married to preach? I can’t find it and I’ve searched. What about I\u00a0Corinthians\u00a07:8 when Paul is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[64,1511],"class_list":["post-15131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-marriage","tag-preachers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51729,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-continue-to-preach-when-his-wife-left-him-because-she-doesnt-want-to-be-a-preachers-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":15131,"position":0},"title":"Can a man continue to preach when his wife left him because she doesn’t want to be a preacher’s wife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a minister's wife leaves him, is it still biblical for him to stay in the pulpit? She left him as she didn't want to be a preacher's wife any longer. He preaches for a church of Christ. Answer: There are few qualifications of a preacher, beyond his ability\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15140,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-the-reason-denominations-want-married-preachers-is-because-they-confuse-the-office-of-an-elder-with-that-of-the-preacher\/","url_meta":{"origin":15131,"position":1},"title":"Isn’t the reason denominations want married preachers is because they confuse the office of an elder with that of the preacher?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wanted to make a comment about\u00a0requiring preachers to be married. I have taken note that the denominations do not generally adhere to scriptural church leadership, and instead of a plurality of elders, they have a board of deacons and one 'elder' or 'pastor,' who also serves as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35535,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-preacher-sins-is-he-permanently-disqualified-from-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":15131,"position":2},"title":"If a preacher sins, is he permanently disqualified from preaching?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, What is the proper term to call the speaker on Sunday? Is it a pastor or a preacher? Also, to be a preacher you basically have to have all the qualifications of an elder correct? And if for some reason a preacher sins, such as adultery, they would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6706,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-a-preacher-move\/","url_meta":{"origin":15131,"position":3},"title":"Must a Preacher Move?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Over the years, I have heard various individuals argue against preachers being located in a particular area and working with one congregation. Typically, they will point out that Paul, and those with him, worked with many congregations, moving from city to city. In their view, elders\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/07\/WagonTrain-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17801,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-mark-peters-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":15131,"position":4},"title":"Was Mark Peter’s son?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In I Peter 5:13 Peter said, \"The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus, my son.\" Since Peter was married, could Marcus be his son? Answer: It wasn't unusual for preachers who worked closely with younger men, who would eventually succeed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86538,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-right-to-dismiss-a-preacher-because-he-married-a-non-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":15131,"position":5},"title":"Is it right to dismiss a preacher because he married a non-Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, First, thank you for all you do to answer these difficult questions. They have helped me a lot on my Christian journey. My question concerns something that happened very recently at my congregation; our youth group had two ministers helping and supporting all the activities (spiritual and recreational),\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}