Women in Ministry:Pastors, Teachers

Before discussing women as preachers, teachers, pastors, lets’ do a summary of the last several articles on Women in Ministry. It is clear in Scripture that women can operate in the gifts of the Spirit found in 1 Cor 12 & 14, and various other spiritual gifts. God calls, gifts, and anoints women just like He does men and even young people. Their roles may be different, but they are all vessels used by God for His Kingdom. There are examples in the Bible of women being actively involved in ministry and in leadership roles.

I have made it clear that I believe there are extremes in both the Complementarians and Egalitarians camps. More than once I have shown there needs to be a more balanced approach regarding women in ministry.

I believe that the concept of headship, ‘covering over women’ has not passed away, but it is never to stop a woman to operate in the gifting and calling that is upon her life. I covered the Bible verses regarding women not speaking or teaching men and I believe these commands were based upon what was taking place in the culture at the time, and it is not applicable to today other than women are not to usurp authority over men and are not to be ‘lone rangers’.

Both Complementarians and Egalitarians agree that women can be deaconesses.

Complementarians do not believe women can be elders. Egalitarians believe women can be elders. I believe Scripture is clear that elders are to be men, but there may be very unique situations where women can be elders if they have a covering-male overseer in their life.

I believe nothing stops husbands and wives from co-laboring together in ministry, including co-pastoring a church.

Preaching
Preaching in itself is not pastoring or shepherding, it is the proclaiming of the Good News. I do not see any prohibition in Scripture as to who can or cannot preach in the sense of proclaiming the Gospel. (Of course, they must be educated in the Word and able to rightly divide the Word.) I see no limitation where someone can preach, outside or within the church. I do not see a limitation in regard to age, other than what would be logical, rationale, and of course a ‘covering’ for young people. I also believe there needs to be ‘covering’ when women are preaching to men in a church setting where they are operating out of an authority/leadership type role.

A person can preach from the pulpit and not be an elder. No where in Scripture does it say only elders can preach.

Anyone who is gifted and anointed to preach should not be restricted from preaching because the gifting and anointing comes from God and there is most likely the calling to preach.

Teaching
I believe teaching is the same as preaching. The person obviously must be grounded in the Word. I believe women who are gifted and anointed in teaching should not be restricted from teaching men. If they are going to teach in an authoritative manner they need a covering.

Anyone who is gifted and anointed to teach should not be restricted from teaching because the gifting and anointing comes from God and there is most likely the calling to teach.

Pastoring/Shepherding
The Greek word for pastor is poimen, which means shepherd. Pastor, elder, overseer are used interchangeably in the Bible. But there is nothing in Scripture that says a pastor must be an elder.

Most would state that a pastor must meet the qualifications of an elder, since pastoring certainly involves overseeing. So, if the guideline is that pastors must be elders, and elders can only be men, then women cannot be pastors. Yet there are churches that are Complementarian that have women who are women pastors, ministering to women or young people only. But most Complementarian churches will not use the word pastor connected to a woman, even though the woman is certainly acting in the role of a pastor/shepherd. The truth is they cannot deny the gifting, anointing, calling of the woman, but are refusing to acknowledge it by using the word pastor.

In some churches there is the preaching pastor, who many times is the senior pastor, and the Executive Pastor. So there is the possibility that the preaching pastor is not an elder of the church but the Executive Pastor is an elder of the church. This can be because the preaching pastor has been divorced, so it works around that guideline that some churches have regarding pastors cannot be divorced. So, in these situations it would be feasible that a woman could be the preaching pastor and not the lead pastor, and thus not an elder.

There are other scenarios where a husband and wife are co-pastoring. Almost always this is going to be in an Egalitarian church, not a Complementarian church. However, there are cases in Complementarian churches where the wife is obviously co-pastoring with their husband but not given the title of pastor.

In Egalitarian churches they overall have no problem with a woman being a senior pastor of a church, some to the point that there are no men as overseers, ‘covering’. I personally believe that is unbiblical. I believe regardless if the senior pastor is male or female there should be a overseeing of elders, elders not deacons. Deacons are not overseers. Sadly, many churches do not follow the biblical standard.

As can be seen there is no consistency within the body of Christ regarding male or female pastors. I believe one of the main reasons is that Scripture is not black and white regarding pastors. Thus, we should not be dogmatic on this issue. But I do believe throughout this study on Women in Ministry, there are principles in Scripture to guide us.

My Experience and My Opinion Regarding Female Pastors
I have shared in a previous article some of my experiences regarding women in ministry. Overall, I have not had good experiences with women being elders and pastors. But those experiences have been based upon women who were not married and/or refused any kind of overseeing or covering in their life. They had no accountability. Thus, they were no different than men without any accountability.

I have certainly heard women who were excellent teachers and have no problem with a woman who is biblically trained in being a Bible Teacher to both men and women. I have also heard women who are excellent preachers. If a woman has the gifting and anointing to teach and preach she may also have the ability to be a shepherd/pastor. But not everyone, male or female has the ability to teach and preach is called to be a pastor. In fact, in the body of Christ, most (men and women) who are gifted to teach and preach are not pastoring a church. So, the assumption should not be that because someone can teach and preach (male or female) they must become a pastor. One of the big issues within the body of Christ is individuals in pastoral positions that should have never been placed in that role of pastor.

In my experience I have known of women who are excellent preachers. teachers, and are gifted in being a shepherd. It cannot be denied. So how does someone like me who has a Complementarian leaning deal with that? It is simple for me. If a woman is clearly gifted, anointed, called to be a pastor, and she is submitted to her husband and/or a board of elders she can be a pastor, but struggle with the woman being an elder of the church.

Summary
Women can be preachers, teachers, pastors if they clearly have a gifting, anointing, calling to operate in any of these roles, and they are submitted to their husband and/or a board of elders. I believe the best scenario is a husband and wife co-pastoring, if a woman is going to be a pastor. I do not believe a woman should be an elder. But I can be wrong on that.

Women in Ministry Series
Women in Ministry, Introduction-Why the Topic?
Part One-Women in Ministry-Complementarianism, Egalitarianism, And?
Part Two-Women in Ministry-Isorropiaism-HUH??? Balance
Part Three-Women in Ministry-Bible Passages
Part Four-Women in Ministry, Extremism
Part Five-Women in Ministry-No Speak
Part Six-Women in Ministry, Prophecy
Part Seven-Women in Ministry-Spiritual Gifts
Part Eight-Women in Ministry-Examples
Part Nine-Women in Ministry-Headship
Part Ten-Women in Ministry-Calling, Gifting, and Anointing
Part Eleven-Women in Ministry, My Position
Part Twelve-Women in Ministry, 1 Timothy 2:8-15
Part Thirteen-Women in Ministry, 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Conclusion
Part Fourteen-Women in Ministry, Deacons and Deaconesses
Women in Ministry: Elders | PreacherRichD |
Part Sixteen-Women in Ministry, Pastors, Teachers