Must elders have more than one child?<\/a>\u00a0for a detailed explanation of the grammar involved.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: I have a question I would very much like an answer to: Can a man be a deacon in the church if he doesn’t have children? Answer: “Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households” (I Timothy 3:12). “Must” lays down a requirement that…<\/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":[1568],"class_list":["post-40749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-deacons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66639,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-man-gains-children-through-marriage-is-he-qualified-to-be-a-deacon\/","url_meta":{"origin":40749,"position":0},"title":"If a man gains children through marriage, is he qualified to be a deacon?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know the Bible says a deacon is to have one wife and rule their children well, among other qualifications, but these are the two I have a question about (I Timothy 3:8-12). If a deacon is divorced based on scriptural grounds, meaning his wife cheated on him and\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":43615,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-havent-married-yet-can-i-still-be-a-deacon\/","url_meta":{"origin":40749,"position":1},"title":"If I haven’t married yet, can I still be a deacon?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, Bro. Jeffrey, I write this email in order to seek a mature answer and guidance from a well-rounded spiritual leader. Our local church here wants to appoint deacons since we don't have formally appointed ones. We already studied the apostle Paul's teachings on appointing deacons based on\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":89489,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-not-certain-some-of-our-deacons-are-qualified-to-be-deacons\/","url_meta":{"origin":40749,"position":2},"title":"I’m not certain some of our deacons are qualified to be deacons","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I'm a member of the church of Christ and have questions about the deacons where I serve. We have several deacons, and some of them have unknown situations to me. The first, to my knowledge, married without having children of his own, but his wife had children she\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":5206,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-qualifications-does-an-elder-need-that-a-deacon-does-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":40749,"position":3},"title":"What qualifications does an elder need that a deacon does not?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What qualifications does an elder need that a deacon does not? Answer: In regards to the family, an elder must have \"faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination\" (Titus 1:6) and be \"one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence\" (I\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":48527,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-man-be-appointed-a-deacon-when-he-only-attends-sunday-morning-services\/","url_meta":{"origin":40749,"position":4},"title":"Should a man be appointed a deacon when he only attends Sunday morning services?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I emailed you before about a topic, and you had an answer that I did not agree with at all, but today I have an unrelated question. At our church, we are in the process of selecting new deacons. Is it wrong for me to think it is a\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":51404,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-i-timothy-311-refer-to-both-elders-and-deacons-wives\/","url_meta":{"origin":40749,"position":5},"title":"Does I Timothy 3:11 refer to both elders and deacons’ wives?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In I Timothy 3:11, where it says \"Likewise their wives,\" do you think the word \"their\" means both elder and deacons wives? Or is this word a specific reference to deacons' wives? I ask this because in context this verse falls under the qualification of a deacon. Answer: Actually,\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\/40749","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=40749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40749\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}