Can Women be Pastors? Part Three.

Question:

If you are right about there being no rule against women being in leadership, can you give any examples of women in the New Testament who were church leaders?

Answer:

Very good question. It is one thing to claim that those verses do not prohibit women from being in authority, but another thing altogether to show that there actually were women in positions of authority in the early church.

Keep in mind that BOTH the Jewish and Roman cultures were extremely male dominated, and one of the reasons Paul had to address issues with Christian women causing problems in church is that women were not used to being in those situations, so they did not know the rules of public interaction. In the Roman culture, women could not hold public office, could not vote, could not own a business (unless they inherited it from their deceased husband), could not attend or speak at public gatherings, and had no real rights of any kind. In fact, one of the chief charges made by the Romans about Christianity is that it was a cult that was going to "destroy the family" by granting women public and commercial equality, at which point they would no longer want to be wives and mothers.

So the first thing we should note is that no matter what Paul taught, women leadership was unlikely to be common or widespread, simply due to the culture. So while female leadership was relatively rare, you might be surprised to discover that there is evidence in the New Testament that some women were were active in church ministry, serving as prophets, apostles, and deacons, were teaching men, and were even in positions of leadership.

The first example of this is Aquila and Priscilla (also called Prisca). They are always mentioned together, and of the seven times they are referenced directly, Priscilla is mentioned first five times (Acts 18:18, 19, 26; Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19). They had a church that met in their home (1 Corinthians 16:19), where it appears they were joint leaders.  They both took Apollos under their wing and jointly mentored him in the Word of God (Acts 18:24-26). Here we see that Priscilla was a pastor, and clearly taught men, including the bold firebrand known as Apollos.

Next we have Phoebe, whom Paul calls a Deaconess (Romans 16:1).

Then there is the husband/wife team of Andronicus and Junia, who were both apostles. The Greek phrase "were prominent among the apostles" indicates that, of all those called apostles, these two were at the top (Romans 16:7). Some translations insist that the name "Junia" must be masculine, however, every single reference to Junia for the first 1200 years of Christianity referenced Junia as a woman, and virtually every translation of this passage in any language has the name feminine. The idea that this name must be masculine did not even appear in Christian writings until the thirteenth century. Today, no serious scholars dispute that Junia was an woman apostle.

Next, we find that Phillip the Evangelist had four unmarried daughters, all of whom acted as prophets (Acts 21:9).

Finally, we find Paul giving instructions for how male and female elders were to be treated. The Greek word for elder is πρεσβύτερος. It appears 67 times in the New Testament, and references a person in a position of authority, either in the Temple or in the Christian church.

What many do not realize is that in one case, this word appears in the feminine, which would mean "female elder."

Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat younger men like brothers, older women like mothers, and younger women like sisters, with absolute purity. (1Ti 5:1-2)

Because πρεσβύτερος is contrasted with "younger men" and "younger women," translators almost always assume that it is intended to mean "older man" and "older woman" in this verse, not to mention that everyone "knows" there was no such thing as a female elder, right? The only problem is that although it is inherent in the meaning that the person is "older," it does not really mean "older man," as Greek has a different word for "older man" (πρεσβύτης). Further, because being "older" is inherent in the meaning of the word "elder," it is completely accurate to contrast an elder with a "younger" person.

This verse is actually giving instructions for how to treat male and female elders, as well as those who are younger, both male and female, so a more accurate translation would be:

Never speak harshly to a male elder, but appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat younger men like brothers, female elders like mothers, and younger women like sisters, with absolute purity. (1Ti 5:1-2)

While finding a woman in leadership was rare in the early church, due partly to the cultural constraints on women in a society where they did not have the same rights as men, it did happen. And if Paul had really intended that women should not be allowed in any kind of leadership position, there would be no evidence of women in leadership at all.

So women, if God is calling you into full time pastoral ministry, obey that call. You have the same rights in Christ as any man. May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus be upon you and your ministry.