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Church Leadership

Women in Ministry

by Joel Comiskey

Winter 2006

This article resulted from my own debates with certain members at Wellspring, our church plant in Moreno Valley, who held strict views against women leading cells in which men were present, women coaching male leaders, and women speaking/preaching in church. This article came about as I reflected on Scripture, my own convictions, and counsel from pastors and leaders I respected on this topic.

MY JOURNEY

As a seminary student in Nyack , New York , the hot topic was women in ministry. As students we read all the women in ministry books and had to defend our own positions on the topic. I remember the faculty approved women-in-ministry debates, in which those opposed would present their views and those in favor of women-in-ministry would state their arguments.

As I read the literature back then, I concluded that the only clear verse of Scripture against women in ministry was found in 1 Timothy 2, where Paul asked women not to teach or exercise authority over a man. I understood that Paul was talking about a position because in chapter 3 he addresses the role of bishop. And thus, I concluded that a female was not permitted to be a senior pastor because I equated the office of bishop with the pastorate.

That was 1983. Twenty-three years later I’m not as dogmatic. My journey, however, is not what’s at issue here. More importantly is what the Scripture says about women in ministry.

NUMEROUS REFERENCES TO SUPPORT WOMEN IN MINISTRY

One thing that is crystal clear from Scripture is that God has used women in the past and plans on using women in the future. The Bible, in fact, is full of references of women in ministry. Here are a few:

THE DIFFICULT PASSAGES

1 Corinthians 11-14

In I Corinthians 11 Paul articulates guidelines for how a woman (the Greek word “gyna” could—according the context—also be translated “wife”) should dress in Corinth when she prays or prophesies.

Clearly, Paul believes there is a place for women to speak in the gathering of the congregation. He’s simply wants to make sure that women are using discretion. Right here in this text, Paul defined the rules regarding the place of a woman in the ministry of the church (even one who is married).

There is an interesting passage in I Corinthians 14 where says, “women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.” A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, has commented on this phrase that whatever Paul means here he cannot be contradicting what he had just said in I Corinthians 11:31 where he says, “For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.” (Emphasis added).

Paul wraps up his comments on this issue in I Corinthians 14:39, “Therefore, my brothers (the Greek word “adelphoi” is not as gender specific as our word “brothers” and could be better translated by the English word “kinfolk”), be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.” If Paul were wrapping up an argument against women speaking in church this would be a bad way to conclude. If, on the other hand, he were concluding an attack against a legalist’s prohibition of women, then this would be a forceful and logical conclusion.

1 Timothy 2:8-15

Admittedly, this is the most difficult passage in the Scriptures. 1 Timothy 2:12 says, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.”

The way that I’ve viewed this Scripture is to understand that Paul was talking about a position because he uses the phrase “teach and have authority.” Paul defines that position in 1 Timothy 3. My position in 1983 was that the office of a bishop was the office of a senior pastor. I now believe, however, that the position of a bishop was more likely the a man over various house churches, something like a superintendent role today.

As I’ve recently studied this text again, I've realized afresh at how difficult it is to interpret and apply 1 Timothy 2:8-15 without understandng the cultural context. Practically no evangelical believer applies all these verses literally. Paul says that women should not braid their hair or wear jewlery (verse 9). How many women follow this advice today? Or how many men try to enforce this? Paul says that women should be silent (verse 12). How many male leaders try to enforce silence on females in today's church? Finally, verse 15 says that women will be saved through childbearing. Literally taken, these verses mean that women's souls will be saved by giving birth to children.

My point is that no one accepts a straight forward reading of 1 Timothy 2:8-15 without understanding the cultural context.

To understand these verses it's important to know the context of Ephesus, where Timothy was the pastor. Ephesus was notorious for its commitment to the Queen of Heaven, Artemis. The entire region of Asia Minor, modern Turkey , was culturally matriarchal. It was taught that if a person wanted to have a higher experience of the deity, he or she would go to the Temple of Artemis and woud engage in sex with a temple prostitute (male or female). Followers of Artemis claimed that the ecstasy of sex brought one closer to god.

As Ephesians began to place their faith in Christ, they brought with them many of their pagan concepts. Because of the matriarchal nature of their culture and their religion, they came to church with the assumption imbedded in their minds that women were superior to men. This superiority was, in part, the result of woman being the source of the race.

Some in Ephesus were saying that man came from women and that women were superior to man. Paul makes it clear that if she were so superior spiritually then why was she deceived? But it seems that the crux of this passage lies in the Greek word “authentein” which is translated by the NIV in the phrase, “have authority over.” Authentein occurs in the whole New Testament at only one place, I Timothy 2:12. Most likely the meaning of this one word here is: “I do not allow a woman to teach or proclaim herself author of man.”

If the prohibition is against female superiority then the following verse makes a lot of sense. “For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.”

In conclusion, rather than I Timothy 2:11-12 being a prohibition against women serving in the church, which would clearly contradict Paul’s own practice, these verses challenge the Ephesian heresy that lifted up women above men and claimed that women were somehow closer to God. We should not, however, use 1 Timothy 2:12 as a prohibition for women to participate in ministry.

1 Timothy 3

In 1 Timothy 3:1 the NASB reads, "It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do." The problem in the Greek is that the word "man" in English does not appear in the Greek text. In the Greek the word is "tis," an indefinite pronoun. The masculine and feminine forms of this pronoun are identical, and indistinguishable as to gender apart from the context (The RSV translation is better, "If any one"). Second, the Greek phrase translated "husband of one wife" in verse 2 is not helpful in determining gender since the same Greek phrase appears in the requirements for deacons (vs. 12), but women, who obviously cannot be husbands of wives, can be deacons (Romans 16:1). Since there were female deacons, and since a female deacon couldn't be anyone's husband, the Greek phrase must have a different rendering, such as "a one woman man" and a different meaning (such as "marital fidelity").

THREE OPTIONS:

I see three options for women in ministry today:

1. The Bible permits women to do some kinds of ministries but prohibits other types of ministry.

2. The Bible prohibits women's ministry under most circumstances but allows exceptions in specific cases, in which case we should allow such ministry today in exceptional cases.

3. The Bible permits women's ministry under normal circumstances but prohibits it in exceptional cases, in which case we should allow it under most circumstances today.

I believe in the third position--that God wants us to promote and encourage women's ministry but that at times exceptional situations may arise that would prohibit women in ministry (e.g., cultural circumstances like those that existed in Ephesus).

THE TESTIMONY OF VARIOUS PASTORS AND SCHOLARS

As I wrestled with the issue of women in ministry, I emailed key leaders and mentors to give me their opinions. I've included their responses below:

SITUATION AT WELLSPRING

Let’s admit that we’re learning and growing

We're learning and growing in our own beliefs about ministry. While we're learning, however, it's important to give women the place they rightfully deserve in church ministry and a chance to exercise their gifts. .

Will not force you against your conscience

I will give each network leader the liberty to form the new groups and shepherd the networks the way they see fit. I won’t force the network pastor, for example, to multiply female cell leaders who lead men. The main thing is that cells are evangelizing, developing leaders and multiplying cell groups.

Freedom for women in cell leadership

I won’t, however, hinder women from leading cell groups. I believe that a cell leader is a facilitator and a cell multiplication leader is a coach of that new leader. I believe that being a coach within the authority structure of the church is within the Biblical guidelines.

Coaching leadership

I will certainly not hinder any male who desires to form part of a cell group led by a woman. And if a male leader comes from a female cell group, I wouldn’t have a problem with the woman coaching the male leader—although I would counsel extreme caution about one-on-one discipleship in that setting.

Pastoral Leadership

At Wellspring, we don’t know what our future staffing will look like. I don’t have any problem, however, with hiring a female pastor. I want to focus on fruitfulness for all people—not just for males. If a female is fruitful, I want to rejoice with that female and there would be the possibility of that female being part of the staff of the church.

LET’S GO FORTH TOGETHER

It's my conviction that we should not allow the women in ministry issue to divide the church. Godly, evangelical Christians have taken different sides on this issue. As you can tell from this paper, I’m still developing my ideas on the topic. Yet, it’s also clear that I favor giving women the opportunity to exercise their gifts and minister to their full capacity.



APPENDIX: PASSAGE FROM LEADERSHIP EXPLOSION:

When I visited Yoido Full Gospel Church in 1997, I desired to know how this church succeeds in raising up so many cell leaders. One clear answer is that Cho trusts his lay people. He believes in the priesthood of all believers—whether they are men or women.

Today, David Cho’s church is the prime example of a cell ministry that was launched by women and that uses women as the vast majority of cell leaders (note 1). For years, Cho tried doing everything himself. One night he tried to baptize 300 people, and he had a physical breakdown that required ten years to overcome. His doctor prescribed strict bed rest. In desperation, he asked his board of elders to help him pastor the church. They refused--even considered finding another pastor (note 2). With few alternatives, he gathered all the women leadership in his church, saying, “I need you to help me to pastor this church.” They said, “Yes, pastor, we’ll help you. They began to pastor and care for the church through the cell ministry. When Cho had his physical breakdown, there were some 3,000 people in his church. When he finally recovered in 1978, there were 15,000 people in his church.

In Cho’s church today over 19,000 of the 25,000 cell groups are led by women (note 3). The women who lead cell groups in Cho’s church are not considered authoritative Bible teachers. Rather, their authority is derived from their submission to Pastor Cho’s leadership. These women leaders are seen as facilitators ministering under Pastor Cho. Their job is to encourage the spiritual life of the group by visiting, praying, and ministering to each member. New Hope Community Church in Portland Oregon views their women leaders in the same way. At NHCC an equal number of men and women are Lay Pastors (note 4).

Most of the rapidly growing cell churches make extensive use of women in ministry. This is not a new phenomenon. Back in the days when Wesley turned England upside down through a powerful small-group ministry, the majority of his cell lay leaders were women (note 5). The proliferation of cell groups creates a need for more leaders and it becomes especially critical that a church not eliminate 50 percent of its potential small-group leaders on the basis of gender. .



ENDNOTES

  1. David Yonggi Cho, Successful Home Cell Groups (Plainfield, New Jersey: Logos International, 1981), pp. 21-32.
  2. Larry Stockstill, “Leadership Base Path,” message given at 1998 National Cell Church Pastor’s Conference in Baker, Louisiana, audio tape.
  3. I visited YFGC in April, 1997, and these were the current statistics. The District Pastor is always male but the vast majority of Zone Pastors (sub-District Pastors) are female. This fact became obvious to me as I walked from district office to district office.
  4. Dale Galloway, 20 20 Vision (Portland, OR: Scott Publishing Company, 1986), p. 132.
  5. William Brown, “Growing the Church Through Small Groups in the Australian Context,” D.Min. dissertation (Pasadena, CA: Fuller Theological Seminary, 1992), p. 39.


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