River Bluff Church affirms men and women can preach, teach, and oversee in the Church.  Throughout the Bible, we see God raising up both men and women to lead and teach authoritatively.  In following this biblical pattern, we value both serving in all of these roles.  Qualified women and qualified men can serve as members of the River Bluff Council, as pastors and elders, and preach and teach in every area.

 

This position is affirmed by a number of prominent scholars (e.g., Dallas Willard, NT Wright, Kenneth Bailey, Craig Keener, and others), pastors and preachers (Rick Warren, Jon Tyson, Peter Haas, Kris Valloton) and denominations (Vineyard, Four Square, Assemblies of God to name a few).

 

Key biblical considerations

• Miriam was a prophet who led worship (Exodus 15:20).

• Deborah was a prophet and judge who led the men into battle (Judges 4-5). 

• Phoebe is described by Paul as a deaconess (diakonos), and since this is the only place in the New Testament in which the term diakonos is linked with a specific local church, it is likely that she held the office of deacon. She is described as a “helper” (prostates), which means “to set over, to rule, superintend, preside over, protect, and care for”. (Romans 16:1-2)

• Priscilla, who is mentioned before her husband, Aquinas, is described as Paul’s co-worker (a phrase Paul uses to refer to Timothy and others) and as having a church in her house, which, likely, she and her husband co-pastored (Romans 16:3-5). 

• Junia is described as prominent among the apostles (Romans 16:7). Native speakers of koine Greek in the earliest years of Christianity read Paul's letter as describing Junia as an apostle.

• Women were an important part of Paul’s missionary work. Paul mentions two women, named Tryphaena and Tryphosa, and says they are “workers in the Lord” (Romans 12:12). In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul says that another two women, Euodia and Syntyche, “labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers” (Philippians 4:3). In both passages, Paul says that women were working in the gospel, apparently teaching, pastoring, and leading.

• Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:11), Nympha (Colossians 4:15), and—possibly—Apphia (Philemon 1:2) led house churches.

• Jesus affirms Mary of Bethany as a disciple, i.e., as one who can sit at his feet (Luke 10:38-42) and Mary is the first to preach the resurrection: she is the an apostle to the apostles (John 20:14-18)

• Tabitha led a benevolence ministry (Acts 9:36) and Philip’s four daughters were all identified as prophets (Acts 21:8-9).

• On the day of Pentecost we know that women were in the Upper Room. Women were preaching on the very first day of the Church, to that huge crowd that had come from all over the world. How do we know women were preaching to men on the very first day of the Church? Because Peter felt obligated to explain it (Acts 2:16-21)

What about the passages that state that women cannot teach or have authority over men? 

Our first response is to observe that using these passages as an objection to women teaching and leading is selective, for Paul clearly asserts that women must have their heads covered (1 Cor. 11:4-6) and must remain silent throughout church (1 Cor. 14: 34-35), and yet most churches in America allow women to enter with their heads uncovered and sing during church. Likewise, although Paul admonishes believers to greet one another with a holy kiss (2 Cor. 13:12), few church members do this. 

Our second response is that passages that state women cannot teach or have authority do not have to—and should not, in light of the abundant evidence to the contrary— be taken universally. Here we discuss one such passage:

1 Tim. 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Three things stand out: 

• If Adam was not deceived, then he sinned deliberately, out of rebellion, rather than from ignorance. It is difficult to argue that men should be in charge because the first man was a deliberate rebel. It seems that some people are trying to explain verse 12 by appealing to a verse that is even more difficult to understand.

• Verse 15 is also puzzling, since it says that women can “be saved through childbearing,” which contradicts verses that say that salvation comes only through Christ. Is Paul saying that childless or barren women are unsaved?

• These puzzling verses tell us that we don’t understand the passage as well as we’d like to. Something was happening in the church in first-century Ephesus, and we presume that Paul’s instructions made sense to people in that historical context, but readers today are puzzled because we are missing part of the picture.

  • 1 Timothy is an open letter from the apostle Paul to Timothy, giving him some public instructions about what Timothy should do in Ephesus.The economic, religious, and social culture of the city was built almost entirely around several cults to female deities, the biggest of which being Artemis and the Egyptian goddess Diana. Women were the religious leaders in the city and would have been accustomed to speaking and leading in church, and being new converts, they were likely untrained in the Scriptures. (Listen to Pastor Shane Holden’s message below for additional insight into this)

We believe the historical context and exegetical considerations in these passages, and throughout the bible, calls for qualified men and women to serve in positions of leadership and teaching in every area of the church. 

Sample Scholarly References 

 

Craig S. Keener, Paul, Women, and Wives: Marriage and Women's Ministry in the Letters of Paul

 

Cynthia Long Westfall, Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle's Vision for Men and Women in Christ 

 

Sample Podcasts or Youtube videos

 

NT Wright  Why women should be church leaders and preachers // Ask NT Wright anything

 

Pastor Shane Holden at First Free Church  https://subsplash.com/firstfree/media/mi/+cnn5b82

 

Rick Warren Rick Warren Reflects on His Legacy | Christianity Today

 

Pastor Suzy Silk at Church of the City The Controversial Jesus - Jesus, Women, and Leadership - Suzy Silk

 

Kenneth E. Bailey  https://www.kennethbailey.net/women

 

Position Statements by Denominations

 

Assemblies of God  Assemblies of God (USA) Official Web Site | The Role of Women in Ministry

 

Vineyard ONE IN CHRIST //

The Foursquare Church  Why Women Are Qualified for Ministry Leadership - News + Resources