Women in Church Leadership—and RCC

The question of the role of women in church leadership is a question that can become a source of division for churches. Often times, the reason for the division is rooted in the way the question is discussed, with the opening question being some form of "Who is biblical and who is unbiblical? Who is serious about following the bible and who is not?"

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By starting with questions like these, churches determine the outcome of the discussion before it can even begin; the outcome being division. The aim of this essay is to demonstrate that the different conclusions about women in Church leadership should not be understood according to a biblical/unbiblical binary, but rather, as the different results of equally serious biblical study and interpretation.

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The complementarian view

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The traditional complementarian view, which holds that God has given different but mutually complementing roles to men and women, concludes that women should not serve as leaders in the church because the role has been intentionally assigned by God only to qualified men. Some of the specific biblical arguments for this conclusion are as follows:

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First, Paul instructs churches in several of his writings that women should refrain from teaching in the church. They should remain humble and submissive (which is a good thing, biblically speaking), if there is something that they wish to learn they should ask their husbands. Under a guideline like this, it would be impossible for a woman to exercise leadership in a church unless that leadership were limited to other women or children.

 

Some examples include: 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, 1 Timothy 2:8-15

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Second, the Bible presents male headship (leadership) in the family as the normal way in which a Godly family operates. In a similar way, the Church (the family of God) should be led by men. Note also that the pattern of male leadership in the family is consistently held in both the old and new testaments.

Some biblical examples include: Ephesians 5:21-33, Colossians 3:18-19, 1 Peter 3:1-7

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Third, the leaders in the early church were men. It should be noted that all of the disciples, which would become the core leaders of the church, and were chosen specifically by Jesus, were men.

 

Fourth, when instructing churches about specific offices of leadership, elders and deacons, Paul is speaking to men. He goes as far as to say that an elder or deacon must be faithful to his wife. It is inferred from these passages that Paul assumes that these leadership offices are to be held only by men.

 

The key passages for this point are found in, 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:5-9

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How do Christians who believe that women can and should serve in church leadership make
their case biblically?

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Unity and diversity in community

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In the creation of man and woman, Genesis 1-2, they are presented as both united and diverse. This is seen in how the woman is created from flesh taken out of the man's side. The head and feet are often used in the bible to signify hierarchy of relationship. The creation of woman from the man's side implies no hierarchy, but unity, equality, while still retaining difference.

 

It is only after the entrance of sin, Genesis 3, where hierarchy is introduced into the relationship between man and woman (Genesis 3:16). The Church, is to be the place where God's people can live in unity with one another, while still appreciating and welcoming the differences that each person brings. Paul repeatedly challenges the churches, arguing that in Christ, the lines that used to divide people have been torn down. Lines include, rich and poor, ethnicity, and gender (Galatians 3:26-28).

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The Church is the place where Jesus rules most closely to how he actually rules in Heaven, at least it ought to be. Therefore it is argued that the biblical norm in church leadership is of all people (economic status, ethnicity, gender) are working together to serve Christ, bringing the unique perspectives, gifts, and talents stemming from their unique personhood.

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Narrative is not normative

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It is a well known principle in biblical interpretation that narrative does not always mean normative. Or in other words, the fact that something happens in the bible, does not necessarily mean that all Christians are being commanded to do the same thing. It is clear that Paul in several of his letters commands that women take a quiet role in the church, deferring to
men. The interpretive question then becomes, is Paul intending that his words to a particular church be adopted by all churches in all places going forward? The fact is that Christians do not do this for much of Paul's other writing. Some notable examples of this include, Paul's teaching on women's and men's hair length, and his teaching directed towards slaves.

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Instead, common biblical interpretation in these cases seeks to find a deeper principle that can then be applied to the particular context of a local church. In the case of Paul's instruction to Timothy and Titus that deacons and elders must be the husband of one wife, it could be understood as a requirement of marital fidelity or sexual integrity.

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A different take on the "key passages"

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It is helpful here to take a moment to address some of the key passages referenced above, to show that they do not necessarily lead to the conclusion that leadership in the church is reserved for men.

 

1 Corinthians 14:34-35: "Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church."

The key to understand this passage is to keep in mind the unique situation at the church in Corinth. The Corinthian church was one where there was heavy practice of the spiritual gifts of prophecy and tongues. Paul, in this section of the letter is giving his instructions to this church on how to conduct worship in a way that is not chaotic, disorderly, and ultimately stumbling to non-believers. Paul's instructions here are not to all women at all times, but rather, to a particular group of women in the Corinthian church who were exercising spiritual gifts in a way that was making worship difficult for everyone.

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1 Timothy 2:11-15: "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety."

This is a notoriously difficult passage to interpret, mainly because of Paul's last line about women being saved through childbearing. The best sense the author (Pastor Andrew) can make of what Paul is saying here is that he is making a reference to Genesis 3:15 and 3:20. Adam named Eve, and Paul is using this act of naming as an example of how a woman should submit to a man in the church.

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The interpretive questions here are many because Paul's language is ambiguous. First of all, is Paul saying that women should learn in quietness and submission to ALL men in the church, or a specific man, namely their husbands? What about unmarried women? What about the case of a mature longstanding Christian woman with an immature, newly believing man? There are just too many "what if’s" to draw a clear conclusion.

 

Second, by connecting his teaching to Genesis, is Paul intending that his argument be applied universally to all churches in all places? This is unlikely, because in 1 Corinthians 11:2-12, Paul commands men to keep their hair short and women to keep their hair long and covered, with his argument making reference to Genesis. It is clear in this case that Paul is not intending this practice to be adopted everywhere, but simply in Corinth. His use of Genesis in these verses was simply his own stylistic way of making his point.

 

Rather than being a prohibition against women speaking or teaching in the church, universally, it is better to understand this passage as Paul giving instructions to Timothy on how to lead a specific group of women in his church. It is worth noting that Paul gives instructions for how women are to pray and prophesy in the church when addressing the Corinthians (1 Cor 11:5). Clearly in that case women are allowed to speak! The better interpretation of these verses is

that, similar to the situation that was happening in Corinth, Timothy was likely dealing with disorder or conflict in his church, and these instructions are Paul’s way of helping.

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Mutual submission as the church submits to Christ

An often missed but important verse in Paul's writing is found in Ephesians 5:21. Prior to giving his instruction to the Ephesian church about how households are to behave, namely women submit to their husbands and husbands love their wives as Christ loves the church, Paul commands all to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Mutual submission to one another out of reverence to Christ is the core relationship value in the church that must be held
alongside any kind of specific submission of one group to another.

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Few but specific examples of female leadership in the Bible

While it is certainly true that most of the leaders presented in the bible are men, it is also true that there are a few examples of women leading. It should be noted that a likely reason for this is because the ancient world of the Bible largely assumed that women submit to men, further reinforcing the point that male authority over female is a result of sin entering into the world. Into this setting, the Bible does present some very notable and counter-cultural examples of
women in roles of leadership. Some examples are: Deborah in Judges 4, Huldah the prophetess who speaks God's word to King Josiah in 2 Kings 22, Phoebe the deacon in Romans 16, and Priscilla and Aquila, house church leading couple found in various places in Acts, Romans, Corinthians, 2 Timothy. It is interesting to note that Priscilla is often listed first, indicating that she may have been the church leader in this husband and wife duo.

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Women in leadership, in the context of non-denominational church

The purpose of this essay is not to further the argument about women in church leadership. Rather, this essay is written to show that both sides of this argument, in their best forms, represent sincere Christians who have come to serious biblical conclusions. The question then becomes, how do we navigate this issue in the context of a non-denominational church like
RCC?

At the heart of non-denominational churches is the commitment that we as a local community have chosen to be a church together, focusing on our unique story and relationships rather than adopting a more prescribed model for church structure which comes with being a part of a denomination. As a result, success as a non-denominational church relies heavily on the church's ability to focus on the most important things while also being able to live in community with one another when it comes to disagreement in matters of secondary importance.

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It is the recommendation of this essay that readers understand that there are differing conclusions when it comes to the role of women in church leadership. The different conclusions, in their best forms, represent the sincere and serious efforts of Bible believing Christians to live in obedience to God's word. Additionally, our commitment to RCC as a non-
denominational church should allow us to focus on saving the lost and together becoming disciples of Christ, and if there is disagreement on this particular issue, it should be held as a secondary matter that does not prevent us from serving Christ together and loving one another as he has commanded.