blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (Titus 1:5-9 NIV)
For an exposition of the qualifications of elders and deacons, seethe following web page.
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=533
Single or married men may serve as elders. The Apostle Paul wrote that an elder must be the husband of but one wife It would appear that this does not mean that an elder must be married, because Paul was single (1 Corinthians 7:8) and yet he was the primary leader among the first churches among Gentiles (Acts 14:23; 1 Timothy 2:7). Paul taught that some men are able to remain single and avoid immorality (1 Corinthians 7:7-9)
