Women in the Early Church

What was the role of women in the New Testament church? That's a particularly important question for the church of today, especially those shaped by the Restoration Movement. It's also the exact question I tackled last Sunday. If you have 40 minutes, here's the audio. If not, here's a quick run down of the Scriptures used.

Acts 1:14-2:18. Both men and women were gathered together on the Day of Pentecost. Both were among the earliest disciples. Both received the gift of the Spirit and it appears that both spoke in tongues (i.e. publicly proclaimed the gospel in an unlearned language). See Peter's explanation in 2:17-18.

Acts 9:36. In the ministry of Peter, Tabitha is described as a "disciple" who is "abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did."

Acts 16:14. In the ministry of Paul, his first convert in Macedonia is a woman named Lydia. She influenced her entire household to be baptized and was an encouragement to Paul.

Acts 17:4, 12. Many of the "leading women" in Thessalonica joined Paul and a number of "prominent Greek women" in Berea came to believe.

Acts 18:24-26. Priscilla and Acquila taught Apollos (a man described as "mighty in the Scriptures"). They explained the way of God more accurately to him. This is at least one example of a woman instructing/ministering to a man.

Acts 21:8-9. Philip, the evangelist, had four daughters who were prophetesses.

Romans 16:1-2. Pheobe is called a "deacon" in the church of Cenchrea and the churches in Rome are instructed to assist her in whatever area she has need.

Romans 16:3-5. Priscilla and Acquila are referenced again. This time Paul calls them "fellow workers." A term he also applies to Timothy in v. 21. It indicates that they weren't just friends or converts of Paul but they worked alongside him in his evangelistic and missionary activities. It also mentions that they had a church that met in their house.

Romans 16:6-7. Andronicus and Junia are called "outstanding among the apostles." This doesn't refer to apostles in the sense of one of the twelve, but simply as one "sent by God." It's probably more similar to a missionary in today's context.

1st Corinthians 11:1-16. The instructions here concern head coverings but within them Paul tells us that women were praying and prophesying in the Christian assembly. Neither were silent activities. Prophesy is simply "speaking a word from the Lord." It could be spontaneous or planned and it was spoken for the edification of the church. Apparently both men and women engaged in this activity within the assembly.

Philippians 4:2-3. Here Paul mentions two women who were in a dispute with one another. They are described as having "shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel" and are referred to as "fellow workers" along with Clement.

Colossians 4:15. Nympha has a church that meets in her house. Many think that those who hosted churches in their homes didn't just serve as hostesses but also provided some level of leadership in the church.

1st Timothy 3:11. Within the qualifications for deacons Paul addresses "women." The exact meaning of this verse is in dispute because some think it should be translated as "wives" (the Greek can go either way). I lean towards the translation of "women" because I find it odd that Paul would give qualifications for deacon's wives but not elder's wives and there's at least one example of a woman deacon in the New Testament church (Pheobe).

From these texts I think you see many examples of women contributing to the establishment of the early church and the spread of the gospel. There are a couple of texts that seem to restrict their participation in church leadership and I'll be addressing them in the next two weeks.

Footnote: If you like Restoration history you might find this old post (What Happened to All the Deaconesses?) interesting as well.