Phoebe delivering one of Paul’s epistles to the church Elders does not make her a deaconess
By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Friday, June 26, 2026 – Christian post
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) voted against an overture Thursday to allow women to serve as ordained deacons in the denomination, which has been conducting its annual meeting this week in Louisville, Kentucky.
Overture 37, which had been introduced by the Pacific Presbytery, sought to amend the PCA’s Book of Church Order to strike the word “men” from diaconal criteria and open the office to qualified women at the discretion of the local session, while clarifying that only the office of elder is restricted to men.
The overture cited the diversity of views among Reformed churches on women in diaconal ministry, the example of Phoebe in Romans 16:1, support from complementarian scholars, historical precedent, the writings of historical Reformed theologians and Christian liberty.
The PCA Overtures Committee voted overwhelmingly earlier this week to recommend answering Overture 37 in the negative, noting, “Our constitutional documents are a sufficient expression of the biblical warrant, nature, qualifications, and duties of deacons.”
When the recommendation of the Overtures Committee to answer in the negative reached the floor of General Assembly on Thursday, it was met with resounding “yeas” and very few “nays,” prompting popular Christian X account Protestia to report the overture had been “crushed.”
“The PCA just absolutely crushed [Overture 37] on women deacons. Absolutely smashed it. Well done. Not close. Barely a whimper from supporters. Now let’s continue to hold the line on officers, titles, and practice. Praise God!” wrote the Rev. Matthew Everhard, senior pastor of Gospel Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Valencia, Pennsylvania.
Related overtures were also voted down, according to byFaith, the PCA’s online magazine.
My cmnt: So-called Christian Nationalism is just another Lib-Left shibboleth created to cause conservative, Biblical Christians to shrink in horror that the Lib’s might think less of them. Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, you cannot get the Lib-Left to think less of you than they already do. Do not play their games. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. (Psa 33:12)
My cmnt: Look around you! Which nations prosper and have freedom and opportunity and which nations do not? We do NOT need an official, national church – that is always a disaster. We do need an generally agreed upon, national worldview. The democrat party platform is the worldview of the biblical Caananites. Their religion is worshiping Satan and nature by pursuing every sexual activity imaginable to man and primarily involves sacrificing their children through the sacrament of abortion and infanticide. The Republican party platform is the worldview of our Judeo-Christian heritage as expressed in the Ten Commandments, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.
My cmnt: The democrat party worldview starts with, “In the beginning were the eternal particles in an eternal universe.” The Republican party worldview starts with, “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.”
Among the large number of other overtures considered this year, the PCA General Assembly also voted Wednesday to make the “Partial Report of the Ad Interim Committee on Christian Nationalism” available to all sessions, presbyteries and interested parties.
Compiled in response to an overture adopted at the PCA General Assembly last year, the report is not a final adopted statement on Christian nationalism, but offered affirmations and denials on topics such as the roles of church and state, Christian political engagement, the civil magistrate’s responsibilities, racial issues and the historic Augustinian concept of “ordered loves.”
The report affirmed the separate duties of church and state, noting “both [are] institutions created by God, each with its distinct calling and sphere of responsibility” and that “the church is not called to direct the affairs of the state, nor the state the affairs of the church.”
Noting the term “is currently used with a broad range of meanings,” the report noted that any form of Christian nationalism that incorporates ethnic partiality, racial superiority or a conflation of national identity with the kingdom of God is deemed contrary to Scripture, the Westminster Standards and the Gospel.
The Rev. David Strain, who serves as senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi, and chaired the committee investigating Christian nationalism, said during floor debate on the topic that they “were unanimous as a committee in rejecting speech that is crass, unwholesome, unclean, debasing, snide and contemptuous.”
“We wish to be clear about the unqualified wickedness of racism and kinism, antisemitism and all forms of racial prejudice,” he added.
The General Assembly also extended the committee for another year so it can deliver a full report on the topic to the 54th General Assembly in 2027.
Earlier this week, the PCA General Assembly unanimously elected the Rev. Fred Greco to serve as its sixth stated clerk. During a brief speech, Greco emphasized servant leadership and the importance of cultivating relationships.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
Lord Buckbeak: "Will you come into my parlor?," said the Spider to the Fly. 
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