Why I Believe in Women In Ministry

I would not be the pastor, nor the Christian, that I am today if it weren’t for female leaders in the Church. There have been women, in all levels of leadership, who have played indispensable roles in my faith and spiritual formation. I have been pastored, taught, and discipled by women who are called, anointed, and commissioned by God. These women are not in violation of Scripture; they are continuing a long legacy of women whom God has used and worked through to lead the Church and build the Kingdom. These women are boldly and faithfully living into their created purpose.

The Bible is full of examples of women serving in a variety of leadership positions in both the Old and the New Testament. These women serve as leaders in the Church and in the broader life of the religious communities in which they serve. From Debra, Huldah, and Miriam in the Old Testament, to a plethora of woman like the apostles Lydia and Junia, Anna the prophetess, Phoebe the deacon, Priscilla, Martha, Mary, Euodia, Syntyche, Tabitha (sometimes translated as Dorcas), and the nameless woman at the well in the New Testament — these women all represent a variety of different leadership roles that women are called to serve in and throughout the Body.

Moreover, in both the Old and Testament we see God at work, pouring the Spirit out upon males and females, indiscriminately. This Pentecost is prophesied in the Old Testament book of Joel (2:28-32) and actualized in the Acts account (2:17-21). Biblical scholar Linda Belleville reminds us that during Pentecost “the women among Jesus’ disciples were enabled for witness just as the men were (Acts 1:8, 14-15; 2:7-18). The result was a major paradigm shift from the male priesthood of the Jewish cult to the charismatic worship format and gender-inclusive leadership of the early church.” The book of Acts, known as the record of the early church, attests to this. Throughout the book, the significance of women in leadership is mentioned frequently.

The truth is that most people rely solely on two texts throughout the entire Bible to legitimate denying women the ability to serve in all forms of pastoral leadership throughout the Church. These arguments are based upon Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and I Corinthians 14: 33-35. Yet, this logic fails to hold up because Paul himself acknowledges that women play crucial roles within the leadership of the Church and even refers to a number of them as his co-workers in Christ. In Romans 16, we see that Paul commissions Phoebe to deliver his epistle to the Roman church. Out of everyone eligible for this critical task, Paul selects Phoebe. This is telling! Additionally, Paul commends Phoebe for her noteworthy ministry within the Church. In fact, at least five of the nine women that Paul makes reference to in Romans, were his ministry colleagues, his co-workers. Moreover, in mentioning Priscilla and Aquila (Rom 16:3-5), Paul’s Roman readers would have recognized that Priscilla’s name is listed first. The ordering suggests that Priscilla had the more significant ministry role within the Church and was recognized as the ministerial leader within this union. We also see that Priscilla plays a pivotal role in teaching and expanding Apollos’ understanding of the Gospel in Acts 18:26, where she is again listed before her husband. Therefore, Paul is subversively deconstructing patriarchy here. By uplifting women and the significance of their roles and ministry within the Church, Paul is illustrating the essential role of women in ministry.

Historically, some English Bible translators have tried to circumvent the attribution of apostleship to a woman by changing the gender of Junia within the biblical text. “The majority of English translations done from the 1940s to the early 1970s translate Iounian as the masculine Junias. While both older translations (e.g. Tyndale New Testament, Geneva Bible, KJV), more recent translations (NKJV, NRSV, TNIV) and newer translations (e.g. NLT, ESV) all render Iounian as the feminine Junia.” This is significant, because Paul greets Junia (whose name was changed to “Junias” due to translator’s error and the male inherent patriarchy, either consciously or subconsciously, that was at work within many male translators) along with Andronicus as “my fellow Jews who have been to prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles” (Rom 16:7 TNIV). Another way that Junia has been canonically stripped of her apostleship is through the translation of “Paul’s apostolic acknowledgement [of her] by translating the Greek prepositional phrase as ‘esteemed by’ or ‘in the sight of the apostles’ rather than ‘outstanding among the apostles.’

While I understand how someone could read the two passages of Paul and conclude that women should be prohibited from certain leadership positions, as Christians we have the responsibility of reading these two passages within their particular context and within the confines of the broader biblical narrative. As we do this, we will begin to see how God is making all things new and moving us beyond these prohibitive limits on the lives of women – limits that God never intended to begin with. As ambassadors of reconciliation, we must confess that sexism is alive and well today, both inside and outside of the Church. While many have come to accept women in ministry, we need more advocates for it. In particular, we need more men who believe that women are gifted and called to all levels of leadership within the Church. We need these men to profess this loudly and proudly, to enter into difficult conversations with their male peers who do not yet believe this, and be willing to sacrificially humble themselves by being willing to step aside at times in order to ensure that women are present at the table and are represented at all levels of leadership.