Women Pastors: An Investigation into Biblical Authority

In the tapestry that makes the backdrop of religious culture, a tedious search is not required to find women serving the local church as senior pastors. The debate of women being ordained as pastors is fierce and continually rages. Obviously, there are groups that maintain that women can serve as a local church pastor and groups who do not. This debate touches most evangelical groups. Most of these groups have either already settled the issue or currently working to settle the issue. The intent of this paper is to trace the idea of women pastors through recent history, provide a Biblical foundation for the office of Pastor, highlight the formulation of current ecclesiological teachings, and suggest some practical application for the church today.
Two distinct views present themselves. Women can serve a church as pastor, or women do not hold the qualifications to serve a church as its pastor. History indicates the occansional occurance of women serving a congregation as the pastor. However, this was not the normal practice of the early church. William Weinrich notes, “in its broad central tradition and practice, the church—East and West and in a multiplicity of cultural and social settings—that to men alone is it given to be pastors and sacramental ministers.”[1] There are exceptions in every situation, and this one is no different. History records women rising to the role of pastor even as early as the eighteenth century within the Quakers.
Even in the early beginnings of women pastoring, history indicitates a major cause in the rise of women pastors as emotionalism. Women claimed the calling of God to rise up and preach in churches. Since the calling originated with God, it was not up for debate. As women began to claim this calling, the Quakers and even some General Baptist accepted the accounting of a calling from God for a woman to preach. Someone obviously forgot to check the scriptures for a reference in this area. It was all about a feeling.
This new form of experiential religion was not accepted by all during the time. The Particular Baptist and the Anabaptist groups, as well as most evangelical Christian groups of this time refused to buy what the world was offering. The argument the Quakers used in support of women pastors was that the women also had the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit was sufficient for the use of any spiritual gift including preaching.[2]
There are some who maintain that emotionalism was not the deciding factor for the ordination of women for the role of pastor. It is also argued that a primary reason for the widespread ordination of women was propogated by the quest for gender equality. This journey began soon after the civil war and continues today as a leading mantra for the ordination of women into the role of a pastor.[3]
There is yet another banner for those holding to the ordination of women for the role of pastors. It is one of a non-literal interpretation of the Bible. This began to surface in the nineteenth century. A movement began to help people interpret the Bible in some way other than literal. An account is recorded of Sally Thompson who preached in some Methodist meetings before the Civil War. She moved to a different town and was stopped by the clergy in her town from preaching. In telling her story, one of the reasons cited for her problems was a literal interpretation of Scripture. Women suggested that men were just jealous of them preaching. The interpretation of the Bible had actually nothing to do with the problems.[4]
Regardless of the reasons for ordination, churches and denominations began the process of ordaining women. Some of them began as early as 1853 with the Congregationalists. Other groups and churches followed suit. The largest single shift began to occur in the late 1950’s. The Southern Baptist Convention was even bitten by this new fad in 1964.[5] As a matter of fact, the practice of ordaining women as pastors continues. The issue of women’s ordinations is still a debated topic within the Southern Baptist Convention. The Christian Century reports, “Approximately 1600 women in U.S. moderate-to-progressive Baptist groups have been ordained.”[6] Only 102 of these 1600 ordained women actually serve as pastors, co-pastors, or Church starters.[7]
History has shown the ordination of women as a fad, an emotional response, an effort for gender equality, or even a relaxed interpretation of the Bible. Regardless of the reasons, history does prove that women have preached in a church setting. History has shown women have been ordained to serve as pastor by every major Christian denomination. In light of the historical research, a study of the Scripture should be completed.
Biblical Foundation
The Biblical account records the creation of mankind, male and female, in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). God created man and women as partners. The Bible establishes from the very beginning that man was not created to dominate women. This relationship was complimentary from the beginning. However, even in a complimentary relationship there is still an authority issue. God gave man the authority over the animals of the earth. This authority is also illustrated in Adam naming the woman. This authority would have been very clear to the readers of the Old Testament. It followed the pattern that had already been established in the first chapter of Genesis.[8] God had established Adam as head of his family before they choose to sin against God. Several Biblical statements support this idea. Adam was created before Eve, Adam was the representative of the human race before God, Adam was accountable after the fall, and the New Testament speaks of sin coming into the human race through Adam (Gen 1-3, Romans 5:12-14).[9]
The Biblical account also records God establishing spiritual leaders to represent God before the people. God chose Aaron and his brothers and their sons to serve as priests (Exodus 28). The Old Testament witness maintains the priestly line through Aaron’s male descendants. There is not a record of a woman serving in this capacity as God’s representative before God’s people. This was the divine order. God knew it and His people knew it.
The Old Testament paints a picture of the headship of man and how he is accountable to God for himself and his wife. It does not illustrate the relationship of a woman to a man as one of subjugation. The New Testament women seem to have had some place in ministry. The gospels give accounts of Anna, a prophetess, Mary and Martha, and the woman anointing the feet of Jesus. In Luke 2:36, Anna is introduced as a prophetess. However, in reading the text, the idea is of her serving in the temple after the death of her husband. It is a beautiful picture of worship as this woman has given herself totally in submission to God. Mary and Martha are shown as they are willingly serving Jesus. Martha complains about Mary not helping. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus taking in all that Jesus is teaching (Luke 10:38-41). Again, this account illustrates worship. Mary buys expensive perfumes and anoints the feet of Jesus with this perfume and her hair. The disciples try to get her to stop. Jesus permits her to continue and comments about her worship (Matt 26:6-13). In these gospel accounts there seems to be one constant. The women mentioned are all seriously worshipping Jesus as the Christ.
The New Testament record does not stop here. There are several other women mentioned in the New Testament. Paul writes about Chole in First Corinthians. There is also Lydia mentioned in Phillipians, and greetings sent to several others, including women in Romans. These women were acknowledged for their service in the church. However, there is not a single reference in the New Testament to a women serving as a pastor of a church.
This investigation would be incomplete without looking at the New Testament terms that are translated for pastor. There are three terms that need to be explored. The first of the terms is episkepos. This word carries the idea of “one who has the responsibility of safeguarding or seeing to it that something is done in the correct way.”[10] This word is used five times in the New Testament text (1 Pet 2:25, Acts 20:28, Phil 1:1, 1 Tim 3:1, and Titus 1:7).[11] It is used without exception to indicate the spiritual leader of a particular congregation or a group of people.
The second word is presbueteros. This word means, “pertaining to being relatively advanced in age, older, old, and an official.”[12] This word is much more common. It was used thirty one times in the New Testament text. Eight are used to reference older men. Ten are used to indiciate Jewish leaders. Thirteen times this word is used to indicate a Christian leader.[13]
The third and final word is poimenos. This word literally means a shepherd. It also is used for a pastor in a local church (Eph 4:11, Heb 13:20, and 1 Pet 2:25).[14] Paul, Peter, and whomever may have written Hebrews, used this word to mean to leader in the church setting. They were referring to the pastor.
Now that the words have been defined, the investigation leads to the exploration of the qualifications of one who may serve as a pastor. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and also Titus 1:5-9 lists many qualifications for pastors. There are several qualifications listed in both text. Both text give the idea, rather strongly, that it is a man who is being spoken of. Both texts speak of the husband of one wife, use the personal pronoun him consistently, and point back to the Old Testament in the creation order that God put into place at the very creation of the World.
There is also one other Biblical text that should be examined. 1 Timothy 2:12 is rather clear. Women are not permitted to teach in authority over men. Since preaching is teaching the Word of God, women are not qualified to serve as pastors. This is again linked back to the garden and the created order that God designed and the distinct roles that men and women were created to fulfill.
All of the above mentioned verses vividly show that men, and only men are to serve as pastors. However there are many who claim that a woman can serve as the pastor. The Biblical evidence is conclusive. In almost forty references of the three pastoral words, every single one is a masculine noun with masculine pronouns and masculine articles. In spite of conclusive Biblical evidence of God’s plan and provision, women are still rising up and wanting to be ordained.
The Beliefs of the Church
The church as a whole has not practiced the ordination of women as pastors until recent history. The idea of women serving as a pastor is an idea that has developed fully in the post-modern era. There are some exceptions, however most American denominations have either changed laws or began the practice of ordaining women around 1956. This is the date for the Presbyterian Church USA. The Methodist followed the same year. The African Methodist Episdopal Church began to ordain women in 1960. Even the Southern Baptist Convention began in 1966. Others followed soon after. The Lutheran Church began the practice in 1970, the Mennonites in 1973, and the Episcopal Church in 1979. There is an interesting note to make regarding all of the above mentioned groups. The Southern Baptist Convention was the only group that did not initiate a rule change. They only failed to act as a body after a cooperating church had ordained a woman.[15]
The push is still going today. Women are being challenged to rise up and demand their rights to be ordained. A most recent article in the Baptist Standard states, “A former Baptist General Convention of Texas employee and her husband of 47 years have started a website urging Baptist women to speak up for their rights to be ordained as deacons and senior pastors.”[16] This is no longer an issue that can be divided along denominational boundries. It is actively occurring within every major denomination in America.
Is this just a fad? Will it pass in time? That is doubtful. It is obvious that women pastors are gaining popularity. People just will not speak out against this non-Biblical idea. There are a couple of different reasons for the rise in the interest in the ordination of women. One reason for the ordination of women to be an acceptable practice this research has uncovered is that of the equality of women. Chaves records, “The gender equality frame was a women’s movement frame that was brought into the religious organizations and thereby changed the meaning of conflicts over women’s ordinations.”[17] As women sought equality outside the church, they brought that philosophy into the church. It is a philosophy that is debated. Prominent women are advocating equality, even in regard to ordination. Ansley Throckmorton states, “When we become preoccupied with role identity and ‘gender mystiques’ and ‘sexual stereotypes’ in reference to the ministry, we are in serious trouble.”[18] She further comments that the church has been in error of practice for nineteen centuries.[19] It has already been established in this investigation, by the Biblical witness, that men and women are both created in the image of God. Equality exists for men and women. However, there are specific roles that God created for men and specific roles he created for women.
Another disturbing reason for the overwhelming interest in ordaining women to serve as Pastors is the disbelief of the Bible. “When a denomination is officially inerrantist, however, the ubiquitous biblical argument against female clergy is far more salient than other arguments.”[20] Chaves comments further that one of the biggest obstacles in ordination of women is people who actually hold the inerrant position of the Bible. The Bible is clear on many different mandates. One thing it appears equally clear on is the spiritual leadership that God has given to men. Since the Bible may not actually mean what it says, maybe it should be reinterpreted by people who do not believe it is true. Maybe then, a reading from the Scripture would be politically correct and not convicting or judging about wrong behavior. Wayne Grudem comments that the concept of women being ordained is equal to liberal theology invading the church. By the way, he defines a liberal as one who “denies the complete truthfulness of the Bible as the Word of God and denies the unique and absolute authority of the Bible in our lives.”[21]
The church today is overflowing with proponents for the ordination of women. Even within Baptist life, there are some who teach and practice the ordination of women as not only acceptable, but Biblical. Among these groups are the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Both of these groups maintain a similar doctrinal position on the ordination of women. That position is that it is up to the local church to ordain the best qualified whether male or female, and the denomination is not in a position to instruct on Biblical interpretation.[22]
The church has not always practiced the ordination of women. There have been some occurances in the recent past. Most Churches began ordaining women when the women began wanting equality in leadership within the church. Even though the Biblical position is clear, people try to cloud it over by assuming that the Bible must mean something different now than when it was written. Because of this shift in the attitude about the Bible, unbiblical events are occurring within the church at an alarming rate. Something must be done to stop this runaway train.
Application
What is a church to do? That question is one that must be answered. The problem is catching the attention on the world as well. A recent column in the Abeliene Reporter News takes the whole issue as one to hold women in subjection to a male ruler. Mary Gruben comments, “For many years, I have been rethinking the way the Southern Baptists treat women. It is wrong, and it is based on an old, traditional grave clothes kind of thinking.”[23] Back to the question at hand, one of the first things is to speak the truth in regard to situations as previously referenced. A fine example of the truth in this case was published by the same paper. Dr. Terri Stovall commented, “I find great freedom in living within the boundaries God has set forth.”[24] Women who serve God and believe the Bible should speak up and speak truth.
Preachers should stand on the truth of the Word of the living God and preach what it says. They should not try to explain parts of it away or just skip them completely. People who believe, proclaim, and live by the Bible can set the standard for the rest to follow.
A third area of practical application is prohibit the ordination of women as pastors. This should be done on a local church level as well as a denominational level. The Southern Baptist Convention has done well in this area. In June of 2000, the messengers elected a revision to the Baptist Faith and Message to reflect the Biblical position that women cannot serve as pastors.[25] More pastors, churches, and denominations need to take a stand for the authority of scripture and how that authority is worked out in a local church setting.
In conclusion, this investigation has shown briefly a history of women being ordained as pastors. It has shown in detail the Biblical position of the roles of men and women especially in relation to the office of pastor. The belief of the church has been traced and shown that most of the women’s ordinations are occurring in the post-modern era. There are also some strong admonitions in scripture that outline gender roles and establish qualifications for pastors. The Biblical witness does not support women pastors. It is time for the church to stand to defend truth rather than tradition. There is one verse that is appropriate, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)[26] Pastors and churches should be praying to God and requesting never to become like this. If the admonition in verse 2 is kept, then there is no harm. “Preach the Word”(2 Tim 4:2). This would solve many problems not only in the area of women’s ordinations but in the church as a whole.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Women's Ordination in Baptist Churches." Christian Century 123, no. 15 (July 2006): 13.
BibleWorks 7.0. BibleWorks, LLC, Norfolk, VA, 2007.
Brekus, Catherine A. Strangers & Pilgrims: Female Preaching in America. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Chaves, Mark. Ordaining Women. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Grudem, Wayne. Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth. Colorado Springs: Multnomah Pubishers, 2004.
________. Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Leberalism?. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2006.
Southern Baptist Convention. "Baptist Faith And Message 2000 Article Vi." June, 2000. http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp # vi/ (accessed March 29, 2009).
Taylor, Shirley. "Website Challenges 'Cold Heart' Toward Women Demonstrated in Church Bylaws Restrictions." Interview by Allen, Bob. Baptist Standard, Vol 121 no.3 (February 2009): 2.
Throckmorton, Ansley Coe. Women as Pastors. Edited by Lyle E. Schaller. Nashville: Abbington Press, 1982.
Website, http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/dec/07/southern-baptist-view-of-women-needs-update// (accessed March 17, 2009).
________.reporternews.com/news/2009/Jan/28/woman-so-baptist-convention/ (accessed March 17, 2009).
Weinrich, William. "Women in the History of the Church: Learned and Holy, but Not Pastors." In Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, ed. Piper, John, Wayne Grudem, 263-279. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2006.

[1]William Weinrich, "Women in the History of the Church: Learned and Holy, but Not Pastors," in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, ed. Piper, John, Wayne Grudem (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2006), 273.
[2] Ibid., 278.
[3]Mark Chaves, Ordaining Women (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997), 74-75.
[4]Catherine A. Brekus, Strangers & Pilgrims: Female Preaching in America (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998), 273.
[5]Chaves, Ordaining Women, 16-17.
[6]"Women's Ordination in Baptist Churches," Christian Century 123, no. 15 (July 2006): 13.
[7]Ibid.
[8]Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Pubishers, 2004), 32-34.
[9] Ibid., 30-40.
[10]Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, ed. and trans. Fredrick William Danker, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich [BDAG], 3rd ed. (The University of Chicago Press, 2000), s.v. “evpi,skopoj.”
[11]BibleWorks 7.0, BibleWorks, LLC, Norfolk, VA, 2007.
[12]BDAG, s.v. “presbu,teroj.”
[13]BibleWorks 7.
[14]BDAG, s.v. “poime,noj.”
[15]Chaves, Ordaining Women, 16-17.
[16]Shirley Taylor, "Website Challenges 'Cold Heart' Toward Women Demonstrated in Church Bylaws Restrictions," interview by Allen, Bob. Baptist Standard, Vol 121 no.3 (February 2009): 2.
[17]Chaves, Ordination of Women, 75.
[18]Ansley Coe Throckmorton, Women as Pastors, ed. Lyle E. Schaller (Nashville: Abbington Press, 1982), 43.
[19]Ibid.
[20]Chaves, Ordaining Women, 86.
[21]Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Leberalism? (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2006), 15.
[22]This information is available on the respective organizations web sites. The Baptist General Convention of Texas may be accessed at http://www.bgct.org and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship may be accessed at http://www.thefellowship.info.
[23] Mary Gruben, "Southern Baptist View of Women Needs Update," Abilene Roperter News, December 8 2008, Website http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/dec/07/southern-baptist-view-of-women-needs-update// (accessed March 17, 2009).
[24]Terri Stovall, "From a Woman in the Southern Baptist Convention," Abilene Reporter News, January 28 2009, sec. Letters to the Editor,, Website http://www.reporternews.com/news/2009/Jan/28/woman-so-baptist-convention/ (accessed March 17, 2009).
[25]Southern Baptist Convention, June, 2000, "Baptist Faith And Message 2000 Article vi," http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp # vi/ (accessed March 29, 2009).
[26]All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

© 2009 Todd A. Peebles