Can a woman hold position in the church?

Answer 1

Specific Catholic Response

The Bible doesn't specifically say this anywhere. However, Catholics try to follow Jesus' actions as well as His words, and Christ chose purely males to be His apostles. He did have woman disciples, but He explained more and experienced more with the twelve apostles - His closest friends. They were the only ones there with Jesus when He instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, when He explained the heavenly parables (Matt 13:10-17), when He walked on the water, when He was transfigured upon the mountain, and when Peter declared that He was the Christ. Also, although Christ calls all to believe and follow Him, He sent only the twelve apostles on a special mission to preach. He told them to "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, [and] cast out demons" (Matt 10:8). When Christ rose from the dead, He did appear to many people including women, but it is only acknowledged that He appears to the apostles more than once. Finally, when Jesus was about to ascend into heaven, He commissioned only the apostles to "Go [...] and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matt 28:19-20). (Also seen in Mark 16:14-19 and Luke 24:36-53)

Since Christ chose only males to see, hear, and do these things, we follow His example and have only males as priests, deacons, bishops, etc. Throughout the New Testament, Christ is described as a Bridegroom. He often uses this word to describe Himself. Who, then, is the bride? It has always been implied that the Church is the Bride to wed the Bridegroom. If Christ is the Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride, and if priests are supposed to represent Christ, they too are "married" to the Church. How, then, can a woman marry the Church if the Church is a Bride? It would defy the natural order of marriage, for "male and female he crated them" (Genesis 1:27). "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24).

I am not saying that women are not important and that they are less than men. I myself am a woman. After Jesus rose from the dead He first appeared to a woman - Mary Magdalene. Also, without the Virgin Mary agreeing to bear Jesus, where would this world be? Women are so important to the Church, but they are not meant to have the same roles as men. This does not mean that their roles are inferior. Men and women are meant to be complementary. "Furthermore, neither [men nor women] alone can fully image God. Both together in their communion constitute the full image of the Trinity" (http://catholiceducation.org).

A woman's role in the Church is to "[call] men to their responsibilities," and to be mothers (http://catholiceducation.org). This does not mean that women must take the stereotypical 50's wife role, and women are definitely not objects whose purpose in life is to be subordinate to men and their desires. However, where would we be without our mothers? The most esteemed woman in the Church, Mary, the Mother of God, was created solely to be a mother. She was created for no other purpose (Fr. H. M. Manteau-Bonamy, Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit: Marian Teachings of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Revised Edition ( Libertyville, Il: Marytown Press, 2001) 63). How important we must be as women to be chosen by God to bear and raise our future generations! Women have so much power in their hands just by the way they raise their children! In this way, it is women who ultimately have the power to build up the Church, change the world, and turn things around.

It is not wrong for women to have jobs and professional careers. Pope John Paul II even commented and praised what he called "the genius of women" in his Letter to Women, delivered in 1995. Therefore, although women have different roles than men, their roles are no less important. Working together, Catholic men and women can be an unstoppable force for good in this world.

Response from other Christian denominationsRepresenting the non-Catholic view, I echo the answer above in that nowhere in the Bible does it say that women can't hold positions in the Church. However, the above view is a response that is specifically Catholic, and this question is placed in the Bible and New Testament sections as well as Catholicism and so needs a balanced approach without getting into discussion.

With respect to the early Church, women DID have a leadership role and were very much involved in both the pragmatic leadership of house churches (as there were no church buildings) as well as being spiritual leaders. There is much Biblical evidence of Jesus' attitude to women including the teaching of Mary and Martha of Bethany, the teaching of the Samaritan woman, and his attitude towards Mary Magdalene (it was to her that he appeared first of all after the Resurrection - and not to the disciples). Moreover we are told that, at the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost ALL the believers were gathered there including Mary his mother, and his brothers and sisters. Women as well as men, all of whom received the power of the Holy spirit to carry the message of Christ to the world.

In the early Church we hear of Lydia, a businesswoman an dealer in 'purple cloth' who was the leader of a Christian Church. As a leader of a household, we are told in Acts that when she became baptised, the whole household became baptised. Catholics will argue that she was never a 'priest' or 'church leader' but of course priests, as we know them, didn't even exist in those days (see below) and, as leader of the household, because of Greek and Roman custom it would have fallen upon Lydia to be the leader of the church there without question, whether or not that is mentioned in scripture. So as leader of a Christian household and as churches were all house churches in those days, she was definitely a Church Leader as we would know it. We hear of other women known by Paul and greeted in his letters - women who were early Church leaders. Examples are Phoebe, a leader of a church at Cenchreae, and Aquila, who worked alongside Paul as a fellow church leader and who led a church meeting in her own house. In fact in just fifteen verses of Romans 16 Paul lists at least ten women in leadership roles in churches - or in roles that are important enough to warrant mention. We hear of Priscilla, another female leader who earned Paul's respect as a house church leader (1 Corinthians 16:19), a teacher of men [!] (Acts 18:26), and a courageous leader who risked her neck for the gospel (Romans 16:4). She is also a woman Paul celebrates as his co-worker (Romans 16:3), a distinction she shares with men such as Timothy, Titus, Epaphroditus, and Philemon. We hear Paul tell of Junia who was 'prominent among the apostles' suggesting that her leadership was recognised at the highest level by the early church. We hear Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, confirm that "...there is neither Jew nor gentile, male nor female, slave nor free - for we are all one in Christ Jesus." Sadly there are misogynists in all denominations for whom these words are either meaningless or are conveniently forgotten. In Rome, there is a famous fresco, (the Fractio Panis) from the early church there, showing women 'breaking bread' ie - having Holy Communion (or the mass) in secret for fear of persecution. and the president at this communion service is clearly a woman. A woman in a priestly role. The fresco is unmistakable.

Of course, Catholics get hung up and confused over the role of women as leaders and of women as priests, and somehow blend the two. Moreover they will cite 'scripture' (usually out of context) to try to back up a eather mysoginistic attitude when it comes to women and real leadership, let alone priesthood. However, we must realise that, while there were many leaders of the churches across the then-known world, and many of these were women, the priestly role, as understood today, did not exist. While the threefold ministry is recorded in the New Testament, it is believed by most Biblical scholars and historians that in most church assemblies this was not observed fully until the second century at the earliest, by when male domination had taken root.

As with other aspects of specifically Catholic rather than Christian faith (like purgatory, over-adulation of Mary, veneration and praying to saints, papal infallibility etc) , many Protestants believe that the Catholic Church has been rather 'economical with the truth' in maintaining a male-dominated ministry for the last 1800 or so years of Christianity. However, prior to this it is very clear that the early Church recognised the full ministry of women in Church leadership - especially in Greek and Roman society - only to be gradually changed by the Church as male domination took over.

This is why many Protestant Churches (eg the Reformed Church, the Methodists, Anglicans and so on) allow ministry to both sexes without any discrimination, including ordained ministry (ie, priesthood) as they know that they are returning to the early Church practices that were instituted by Our Lord before they were changed, along with many other doctrines, by the Roman Catholics.

Answer 2

One thought:

Though women can do much in support of Christian activity as proclaimers involved in a preaching work, many feel it is not proper for women to take the lead within the Christian Congregation, for several reasons:

**The Bible indicates that Jesus appointed only men to be among the 12 apostles and the 70 evangelists(Matthew 10:1-4; Luke 10:1) and then following his lead,

**Paul limited the choosing of congregation elders to men(1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9) reminding Timothy "... I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet... "1 Timothy 2:12.

This is obviously speaking of teaching WITHIN the congregation arrangement only, because Joel 2:28, 29 prophesied that:

**'In the last days,' God says, 'I shall pour out some of my spirit upon every sort of flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy . . . and even upon my men slaves and upon my women slaves I will pour out some of my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy'. In fulfillment of this prophecy, the holy spirit did fall upon both men and women at Pentecost(Acts 1:14, 15; 2:1-6, 17, 18), preparing them all to preach to unbelievers in the streets, and from house to house, in many languages(Matthew 28:19+20)(Matthew 24:14)(Acts 5:42; 20:20)around the world(Acts 1:8).

Clearly, although not taking a lead in the congregation itself, many women were very active in support of it(Acts 1:14)(Luke 23:49). Paul writes:

**"I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea..."(NASB) and asks that the brothers

**help Euodia and Syntyche, "women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel...whose names are in the book of life." Philippians 4:2, 3 (NASB).

**Priscilla, wife of Aquila, is mentioned often , as she and her husband engaged in Christian activity(Acts 18:2, 18, 26; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19)as brought out at Acts 18:26, where Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos speak eloquently, but recognizing that he didn't have all his facts correct, "invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately."(NIV)

Answer 3

1 Timothy 2:12 - And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.[NKJV]

Other than the verse above, Scripture says next to nothing about women taking "teaching positions in the church." Most spiritual teaching was done in the home, where older women were to teach younger women (Titus 2:3, 4), and both men and women were charged with properly instructing children.

Answer 4

In the New Testament it does not say this.