Can a Christian church have female leadership?
The topic of whether churches can have female leaders and teachers is hotly debated and sometimes divisive. At first glance, the Bible appears to teach that women shouldn’t be teachers in a church… but there are growing number of churches with female priests. How do we make sense of this?
What does scripture say?
Opponents of female church leadership usually point directly to 1 Timothy 2:12.
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.
That seems pretty clear, right? In his first letter to Timothy, Paul is explicit in his guidance. Let’s not be hasty, though, and make sure we understand the full context of this scripture.
What is 1 Timothy?
1 Timothy is the first of two inspired letters Paul wrote to Timothy, his beloved son in the faith. Timothy was from Lystra, a city in Rome. His father was a Greek who may have died before Timothy met Paul. Although Timothy was young, likely in his late teens to early 20s, Paul chose Timothy to accompany him in his travels, ministering in a wide variety of places. Paul often sent Timothy to churches as his representative and 1 Timothy finds him on another assignment, serving as pastor at the church of Ephesus.
1 Timothy is a practical letter containing pastoral instructions from Paul to Timothy. Since Timothy is well-versed in Paul’s theology, there was no need to give extensive doctrinal instruction. Instead, Paul expresses many important theological truths like the proper function of the law, salvation, the attributes of God, the fall, the person of Christ, election, and the second coming of Christ. Chapter 2, where we find the above passage, is all about the function of the church.
1 Timothy 2:12
So, back to 1 Timothy 2:12. Let’s examine that verse in a larger context.
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.
This scripture obviously covers Paul’s position on gender roles in the church. Men should pray and lift holy hands without fighting, women should dress with modesty, be quiet and submissive and not have authority over men. It doesn’t cover women teaching women or children, or having other leadership positions, but does seemingly apply to priests, pastors, etc.. The meaning of the text is clear, but it leaves one question…
Is this universal guidance? Or is it specific to the church at Ephesus?
If the meaning of the text itself is clear, then why do some churches believe it’s okay to have female teachers? The answer is that some people think this scripture is universal guidance for all churches for all time, and others think this is specific guidance for Timothy to follow while he’s guiding the church at Ephesus and doesn’t apply in perpetuity. Honestly, since it’s not explicit in the text, the debate is open.
So, what do we do? Should we have female church teachers or not?
Truth be told, I don’t have a strong position on this issue on it’s own. The sad and truly tragic reality of the situation is that the enormous majority of churches with female teachers have far more critical theological problems. The majority of them throw out tons of scripture to support liberal ideology, often related to sexuality and similar topics, that explicitly and clearly contradicts the teachings in the Bible.
Whether it’s right or wrong to have a female pastor, it’s an enormous, glaring red flag that much more serious, very explicit theological wrong-doing is going on.