Jesus Calls Women to Church Leadership

Scripture throughout the Old and New Testaments, including the teachings of Jesus and Paul, give many subtle proofs that God calls women to church leadership today as evangelists, teachers, and pastors.

OLD TESTAMENT

The history of God’s people recorded in the Old Testament convinces us that God raised up women to be spiritual leaders.

God appointed Miriam to be a leader of the people of Israel. In Micah, the Bible records the words of God, I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I delivered you from that place of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you.[1] [Emphasis added.]

Exodus reveals Miriam’s gifts, declaring, Miriam the sister of Aaron was a prophetess.[2]  The Book of Numbers tells us, Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not set out on the march until Miriam was brought in again.[3] The point is that the people of Israel could not move forward without this woman leader. The people believed her leadership was indispensable.

God raised up Deborah to be a leader of the people, and a powerful judge of Israel.  The people of God relied upon her for singular leadership of the 12 Tribes, and her influence lasted 40 years.[4] When the people cried out because of the oppression of Jabin king of Canaan,[5] she summoned Barak from Kadesh-Naphtali to raise an army.[6]  She said to him, Has not the LORD commanded that you gather 10,000 men?[7] Reluctant Barak replied, If you go with me, I will go, and if you will not, I will not go.[8] And so Deborah led them. And they destroyed all the Canaanite enemy.[9]

Proof that this woman’s leadership was ordained by God is found in Judges where Scripture records, The LORD raised up judges who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.[10] Most certainly that applied to Deborah when God raised her up.

First-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus explained that from the time of Moses that the people of Israel lived in a theocracy[11] – meaning that their leaders were not just political leaders, but they were also their spiritual leaders who represented God.[12] So when Miriam and Deborah led, they did so interpreting the laws of God. They were ministers appointed and approved by God.

NEW TESTAMENT

Priscilla’s ministry was mentioned by Paul more than once,[13] and she was described in the Book of Acts.[14] Luke wrote that when Aquila and Priscilla heard Apollos speaking boldly, they together, took him aside and corrected his teaching.[15]  Apollos’s ministry greatly enlarged, eventually rivaling the ministry of Apostle Paul.[16] Nothing else is given to us by Luke regarding this brief explanation of that encounter, but it seems clear that if Pricilla’s participation was not substantial, the text would have simply said that it was Aquila who taught Apollos. So it seems Pricilla’s ministry must have been well regarded along with Aquila.

Paul extolled Priscilla and Aquila, whom he described as the fellow workers[17] with him in Christ, and who risked their lives to save him.[18] It is noteworthy that each time Paul mentions Pricilla and Aquila in Scripture, he lists Pricilla’s name before Aquila, suggesting that she was more prominent than her husband in ministry.[19]

Apostle Paul, in his great letter to the Romans, informed them, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea.[20] That acknowledgment that Phoebe was a deacon shows that women were church leaders with formal titles as early as First Century Christianity.  

There is some dispute among Biblical scholars, largely waning,[21] that resists use of the title deacon for Phoebe, and they prefer the translation servant. To be sure, the underlying Greek word diakonos can mean deacon or servant.[22] But that notion carries little weight because it ignores the context of the situation, that is:  facts of what Phoebe was doing, who Phoebe was, and what Paul was saying.

Phoebe carried the letter to the Romans.[23]  Paul’s dispatch of Phoebe shows that her action characterized more than acting as a delivery person. In the New Testament, those who were sent to deliver important messages of the apostles or churches were also called apostles or apostoloi in the Greek.[24] Paul said that those who accompanied him with the offerings of the churches that were to be delivered to Jerusalem were apostles of the churches.[25]  Other examples include Barnabas,[26] Silas,[27] and Epaphroditus[28] who were identified as apostles[29] in scripture when they were sent on important missions.

Paul declared that Phoebe had been a patron of many including himself.[30]  That phrase, patron or prostatis[31] in the original Greek, implies more than a mere servant.[32] A patron was a benefactor who supported the church or its members, and as such would have been a person of substance who would have garnered more respect than someone who was simply described with the general term servant.

So, given that Phoebe was a benefactor of many, and she was engaged in the function of ensuring delivery of an important message from Apostle Paul, not unlike the conduct of an apostle,[33] it would have been unnatural for Paul’s audience, the Romans, to infer that Paul was referring to Phoebe as only a servant and not occupying the higher station of deacon when Paul called her diakonos. So, as Paul said, Phoebe was a deacon.

One final point on this issue: esteemed Biblical scholar, Bishop N.T. Wright points us to the fact that in the ancient world, those who delivered the message usually read it to the recipients,[34] and he believes it is more than likely than not that Phoebe was sent by Paul to not only deliver the letter, but also to read it to the Church at Rome.[35]

Paul said to the believers in Rome, Greetings to Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me. They are very important apostles.[36]

Junia is a woman’s name[37] and so the implication is clear, that Paul identifies this Junia as being a woman apostle. Given the previous discussion that Paul used the term apostoloi or apostles to refer to any number of persons sent by the Apostles or churches with important messages, this should not seem unusual.  

Yet there is resistance from some Biblical scholars against this translation on two points. First, opponents do not want to agree that Junia is a woman’s name, and second, they hold that a better translation is that Andronicus and Junia were well known by the apostles   –   not were themselves apostles. The New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New International Version (NIV), and The Passion Translation (TPT), along with the New Century Version (NCV), are in one accord that Andronicus and Junia are well-known apostles; while the English Standard Version (ESV) and New English Translation (NET) interpret that they are not apostles but known by the apostles.

Again, properly resolving this disagreement requires reference to the context. In order to believe the second rendering, that Paul is commending Andronicus and Junia because they are well known to the apostles, one must first accept the premise that Paul would be likely to give deference to other apostles on matters of recognition. The problem with that assumption is that New Testament writings all point the opposite way.

Paul wrote that his apostleship did not come from men, but from God.[38] Paul explained that when he was first called by Jesus to preach that he did not immediately go up to Jerusalem or consult with any Apostles, but rather he departed to the mission field,[39] and that the gospel that he preached was not from the other apostles, but was from God alone.[40]

Eventually Paul did make his way to Jerusalem to meet with those who, in Paul’s words, seemed to be influential.[41] But Paul expressly rejected their perception of his apostleship, saying, But what they were makes no difference to me. God shows no partiality. Those who seemed influential added nothing to me.[42]

And Paul, in apparent less than respectful terms, challenged the status of the other Apostles, saying, Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.[43]

There is no Biblical record of Paul showing any deference to other apostles on matters regarding his ministry.

So, in summary, review of all the New Testament writings of or about Paul shows that Paul would not have been inclined to commend Andronicus and Junia with an endorsement from other apostles. Paul plainly stated that he did not much care what the other apostles thought on such matters.

As a side note, where Paul did show great respect to the Apostles in Jerusalem is regarding the work that Jesus had given the 12 Apostles. In Acts we learn that their mission given to them by Jesus was to bear witness to the resurrection and teaching all that Jesus said and did.[44]  

Paul almost never described the person of Jesus or wrote about what Jesus taught.[45] He deferred that ministry to the authority of the 12 Apostles.

So in light of the fact that the New Testament record is clear that Paul did not agree that the other apostles had any authority over him or his ministry, and that Paul used the term apostle in the lesser sense that those who were sent by an apostle or church with important work were called apostles, is it correct to claim a better translation would be that Paul meant to say that Andronicus and Junia were well known by the other apostles? The answer is no. Junia was an apostle.

Those who argue that women must not be allowed to be evangelists, preachers, or pastors, hold up the writings of Paul to the Corinthians and Timothy as their proof texts.

Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Tim 2) that, A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man.  She must remain quiet.[46] And to the Church at Corinth (1 Cor 14), Paul wrote, As in all the churches of the saints, the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak.[47]

There have been many attempts to interpret Paul in such a way as to say that he did not mean what he said. Dr. Brian Simmons in the Passion Translation footnotes on First Corinthians 14 suggests that Paul is quoting from a letter that the Corinthians had sent to him. He also asserts that Paul is only telling the women not to interrupt the ministers conducting the church service.[48] And he points out, as a number of scholars have,[49] that both Corinth and Ephesus, where Timothy ministered, were cities that were dominated by pagan worship for the goddess Artemis and woman priests.[50]  It was necessary for the good order of the services, they argue, that the new women converts, in Corinth and Ephesus, had to be taught not to dominate church services. Recent Biblical scholarship research supports this.[51] So there is a trend among some to suggest that this was only a local issue.

However, there is weakness with that hopeful claim. That is, almost all the translations agree that Paul added, as in all the churches of the saints the women should be quiet.[52] [Emphasis added.] So, it is seems apparent that Paul meant what he said, and that there was a tradition that in all the churches that were known to Paul, to some extent, women were expected to be more quiet in church.

The simple truth is that until the modern era, women’s ministries were few and isolated. No one can read the Old and New Testaments and survey the history of the many churches and Christian institutions over the past two Millenia and honestly claim that women’s roles in ministry leadership were widespread.  In the patriarchal cultures of the Bible, God appointed 12 men to be the leaders of the tribes of Israel, and Jesus named 12 men to be His Apostles. And so that has been the cultural tradition.

But that does not mean that God does not want women, too, to be evangelists, pastors or teachers. I challenge anyone to pick up their Bible and show where God said that He forbids women to be His ministers in the roles of evangelist, pastor or teacher. Were such a thing a command from God, where exactly does God say that?

Did Paul say that the instructions that he gave regarding women remaining silent in church or not teaching men was a command from God and not from himself?

Paul, at one point, made it clear that it was important whether the teaching that Paul gave was from himself or from God. In the same letter to the Corinthians, Paul was careful to make that distinction. When he spoke on marriage and divorce in Chapter 7,  Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he, himself, and not the Lord, taught that a Christian husband should not divorce an unbelieving wife,[53] but that the Lord taught that a wife is not to depart from her husband.[54]

So, on this teaching that women should remain quiet, what did Paul actually say? He said, I do not permit it.[55] Paul did not say that the Lord does not permit it.

Does this mean that every time that Paul taught something, and he did not support it by saying that it was from God, that we should disregard it? No, of course not. Paul’s teachings are inspired by God. But some things are plain obvious, aren’t they? Where the Biblical evidence and historical record strongly show that a practice conforms to cultural demand and does not appear to come from God, we may consider that and decide for ourselves with good consciences what is the will of God for our churches.

Paul acquiesced in the existence of slavery, even though he did not like it.[56] See Philemon. Can’t we agree that slavery is not of God? And in the same way that slavery is not of God, can’t we also agree that discrimination against women’s ministry, without solid Biblical support, is also wrong?

Paul proclaimed in Second Corinthians, If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old passes away, and all things become new.[57] And he assures us in Galatians that we are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. There is neither slave nor free, nor male or female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.[58]

MODERN TIMES

Evangelist Marilyn Hickey took the gospel to Islamic Pakistan in 2012, and more than 250,000 came to hear her messages.[59]  Sixty percent, or more than 150,000 souls, signaled their new belief in Jesus.[60] This amazing milestone capped a ministry where Marilyn Hickey traveled to 138 countries in more than 40 years of ministry.[61]

Aimee Semple McPherson started the Foursquare Church, and in less than 10 years won tens of thousands of souls to Christ.[62] She pastored the church and preached from its headquarters site, Angelus Temple, in Los Angeles. It was one of the largest protestant denominations in 1923, seating 5,300.[63] Today the Foursquare Church has a membership over 8 million; and with churches in 144 countries and all 50 states, it is one of the largest church groups in the world.[64]

Megan Boudreaux, a young woman living in Louisiana, hearing of devastation in Haiti following a massive killer earthquake, sold everything she owned and traveled alone to Haiti in 2011. Singlehandedly, she worked to build a refuge for orphans.[65] She established a school called Respite Haiti that now ministers to more than 540 students, mostly orphans.[66]  Her ministry employs more than 140 men and women who operate the school, medical clinic, sports center, and kitchen where two meals are served each day.[67]

Jesus taught that we who abide in Him bear much fruit, for apart from Him we can do nothing.[68]  Jesus declared that every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.[69] He said, So then, you will know them by their fruits.[70]

Can anyone rightly argue that the salvation of more than 100,000 former Moslem souls in 2012 was not of God because the evangelist who preached the gospel of our Lord to them was a woman – Marilyn Hickey?

Who would claim that the planting of the 8-million-member Foursquare Gospel Church was not of God because its founder and builder was a woman preacher and pastor – Aimee Semple McPherson? 

Who would deny that Megan Boudreaux was called by Jesus to pierce the darkness? Was not the hand of God present when this young woman brought salvation to more than 500 Haitians?  Did it matter to God that Megan was a woman?  No, of course not.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus, when seeing the people, He felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. He said to His disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.[71]

Paul wrote to the Ephesians (Eph 4:11-12), These are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ.[72]

In the 20th and 21st Centuries, those gifts of evangelists, pastors and teachers included women church leaders whose ministries have borne much fruit in the name of Jesus.

Having established that God does call women to be church leaders, must we go one step further and say that all churches must accept women in the roles of pastor or bishop or something else like that? No.

Here is the reason why. The body of Christ is a community of many thousands of churches with various beliefs and doctrines. What binds us as one is the collective faith in our salvation by and through the finished work of Christ. We live because He lives. It is okay to have many other beliefs so long as assemblies of believers do believe in Jesus for their salvation and obey His will through the teachings of the Bible and the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  If men and women, rooted in love and obedient to the Word of God, in accordance with their good conscious, believe that the teaching of the apostles and the Bible does not allow them to ordain women, who are we to judge them?  

Rather than assuming such doctrine disenfranchises women in ministry, such situations allow women and men to pray about it, seek the Lord, to dialog, and to teach and seek to convince, or move on to other opportunities – all in the will of Christ.

All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.[73]

SUMMARY

In conclusion, the Bible and history inform us that for the most part God calls men to church leadership. However, on many occasions God raised up mighty women such as Miriam, Deborah, Pricilla, Phoebe and Junia for important leadership roles in ministry.

Modernly, Jesus has called many women such as Marilyn Hickey, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Megan Boudreaux to lead ministry and bear much fruit in His name.

 Women called by God may serve as evangelists, preachers, pastors and teachers, and churches may allow them to do so if they wish.

[1] Mic 6:4. (NET)

[2] Ex 15:20. (NET)

[3] Num 12:15. (ESV)

[4] Judg 5:31.

[5] Judg 4:2-3.

[6] Judg 4:6.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Judg 4:8.

[9] Judg 4:9, 15, 23.  

[10] Judg 2:16.

[11]  Kaufman Kohler and Emil G. Hirsch, Theocracy, The unedited full-text of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, Jewishencyclopedia.com, p 1. Retrieved 9/14/2020. The authors cite first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus Contra Apionem, Chap 2, section 17.

[12] See L. Gabriel Narvaez, The Exodus and the Origins of Theocracy in Israel, gabrielnarvaez.wordpress.com (August 2018) p 1.  Retrieved 9/4/2020.

[13] Rom 16:3-4 and 2 Tim 4:19.

[14] Acts 18:26.

[15] Ibid.

[16] See 1 Cor 1:12 and 1 Cor 3:4-6. Paul observes that some say they follow Apollos and others say that they follow Paul. Apostle Paul continues that Paul planted and Apollos followed him and watered. Paul said both were servants through whom the Corinthians believed.

[17] The Greek states the fellow workers, meaning there was something particular or singular about the ministry of Priscilla and Aquila.

[18] Rom 16:3-4.

[19] Rom 16:3-4 and 2 Tim 4:19.

[20] Rom 16:1. New Living Translation. (NLT) The majority of the most widely used Bible translations interpret the Greek word Diakonos in the text as servant with a footnote leading to deacon. For example, the NIV explains, When church related, as it is here, it probably relates to a specific office – woman deacon or deaconess.

[21] An increasing number of scholars agree that Phoebe was a deacon including Dr. Ben Witherington III, Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies, YouTube, Seedbed, Women and Ministry, Parts 1 and 2 (2015). Retrieved 9/15/2020; also see Dr. Ben Wayman, Assistant Professor of Philosophy & Theology Greenville College, YouTube, Seedbed, Refuting Objections to the Church Ordaining Women, (2017). Retrieved 9/16/2020.  Also see HOPE FOR TODAY broadcast – The Bible Teaching Ministry of David Hocking, (June 22, 2020), where David Hocking teaches that in Rom 16:1 Phoebe is a deacon and in Rom 16:7 Junia is an apostle.

[22] See William C. Mounce. The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, Zondervan Publishing House (Grand Rapids 1993) p 138. The Greek word diakonos is described as one who renders service to another, a commissioned minister or preacher of the Gospel, or minister charged with a significant characteristic.

[23] Henry H. Haley, Halley’s Bible Dictionary –Deluxe Edition, Revised and Expanded 25th Edition, Zondervan (Grand Rapids 2007), p 700. Haley states, Phoebe carried the letter. See also YouTube, Premier on Demand, ASK NT WRIGHT ANYTHING, Why Women Should be Church Leaders and Preachers (September 25, 2019). Retrieved 9/14/2020.  Bishop Wright stated that when a letter was sent in the ancient world, chances are that the one who carried the letter would also read and explain it.

[24] Craig L. Bloomberg and Jennifer Foutz, A Handbook of New Testament Exegesis, Baker Academic (Grand Rapids  2010), pp 222-223; and see also, Kenneth Berding, What are Spiritual Gifts? Rethinking the Conventional View, Kregel Publications (Grand Rapids 2006), pp 206-207.

[25] 2 Cor 8:23. Paul uses the specific word apostoloi in Greek which is apostles in English.

[26] Acts 13:2-3 and Acts 14:4, 14. When read together Scripture verses make clear Barnabas was an apostle.

[27] Acts 15:40 and 1 Thess 2:6. When read together these verses indicate that Paul considers at least Silas is an apostle.

[28] Phil 2:25.

[29] William C. Mounce. The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, Zondervan Publishing House (Grand Rapids 1993), p 94.

[30] Romans 16:2. [ESV]

[31] See William C. Mounce. The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, Zondervan Publishing House (Grand Rapids 1993), p 399. Directing us to Rom 16:2, the Greek word includes the sense Protectress.

[32] This author’s turn of phrase mere servant is not intended to diminish the role of servant in the church, but rather to contrast positions in the ranks of service. Christ insisted that we must all be as humble servants by washing the feet of His disciples.

[33] This author capitalizes the term Apostle when referring to the original 12 Apostles who were appointed by Jesus, and also Paul the Apostle, but does not capitalize the word apostle when referring to the several other apostles whose origin of appointment is uncertain.

[34] YouTube, Premier on Demand, ASK NT WRIGHT ANYTHING, Why Women Should be Church Leaders and Preachers (September 25, 2019). Retrieved 9/14/2020.

[35] Ibid.

[36] Rom 16:7. New Century Version (NCV). See also The Passion Translation (TPT). Dr. Brian Simmons translates: Make sure my relatives Andronicus and Junia are honored, for they are my fellow captives who bear the distinctive mark of being outstanding and well-known apostles.

[37]  New English Translation [NET] Bible, Full Notes Edition. Thomas Nelson, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. See Romans 16:7 Footnote D:  The Editors explain that the name Junia is a woman’s name.

[38] Gal 1:1. (ESV)

[39] Gal 1:15-17.

[40] Gal 1:11-12. (ESV)

[41] Gal 2:1-2.

[42] Gal 2:6. (ESV)

[43] 2 Cor 11:5. (ESV)

[44] R. Douglas Geivett and Holly Pivec, A New Apostolic Reformation? A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement, Lexham Press (Bellingham, WA 2014), p 60.

[45] A few exceptions would be in 1 Cor 7:10, 11:24-25; 15:3-8.

[46] 1 Tim 2:12. (NET)

[47] 1 Cor 14:34. (NET)

[48] TPT, 1 Cor 14:34 footnotes I through j; 1 Cor 14:35 footnote a.

[49] Dr. Gary G. Hoag, Denver Seminary and BIOLA University, YouTube, Seedbed, Women Learning in Quietness and Submission: Xenophon of Ephesus and 1 Timothy 2, (2016). Retrieved 9/15/2020.  

[50] TPT, 1 Cor 14:35, footnote a.

[51] Dr. Gary G. Hoag, Ibid.

[52] 1 Cor 14:34. Virtually all translations but one state that in all the churches of the saints, women should remain quiet. One exception is the NASB which attaches that clause to previous verse 33 as follows: God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

[53] 1 Cor 7:12.

[54] 1 Cor 7:10.

[55] 1 Tim 2:12. The Greek text is clear and unambiguous. Paul wrote “I do not permit.” Most translations including ESV, NASB, NET, NIV, NRSV, NKJV, and NCV all translate as I do not permit or I do not allow.

[56] Philemon 14-15.

[57] 2 Cor 5:17.

[58] Gal 3:26-28.

[59] Revelle Mohammed, Christian Post Reporter, Marilyn Hickey’s ‘Night of Healing’ Rallies Over 400,000 in Pakistan, (2/11/2012). Retrieved 8/19/2015 and 9/16/2020. This online article reports the crowd size estimated to be 250,000 to 400,000. Out of an abundance of restrain the lower figure is quoted.

[60] Ibid.

[61] Marilyn & Sarah – Marilyn Hickey Ministries, marilynandsarah.org. Retrieved 9/17/2020.

[62] Wikipedia, The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Retrieved 8/19/2015 and 9/16/2020.

[63] Ibid.

[64] Ibid.

[65] Megan Boudreaux, Miracle on Voodoo Mountain – A Young Woman’s Remarkable Story of Pushing Back the Darkness for the Children of Haiti, W Publishing Group. (Nashville 2015).

[66] Susan Brown, Christian Life Baton Rouge, Miracle on Voodoo Mountain, batonrougechristianlifemagazine.com, (8/5/2019). Retrieved 9/4/2020.

[67] Ibid.

[68] John 15:5.

[69] Matt 7:17-18.

[70] Matt 7:20.

[71] Matt 9:35-38. (NASB)

[72] Eph 4:11. (NLT)

[73] Romans 8:28