Why I Believe Women Can Pastor, Teach, & Lead in the Church of Jesus Christ

For the last several years, I have looked into this topic and recently I’ve shared why I believe Scripture does not prohibit women from serving as pastors, teachers, or leaders in Christ's Church. I've looked at Genesis, Paul's letters, the ministry of Jesus, and the women God repeatedly raised up throughout Scripture. But if I could summarize my position in one thought, it would be this: The Church is not a gathering or a platform. The Church is a body. Somehow, we've reduced this conversation to one question: Can a woman stand behind a pulpit on Sunday morning? But that's not really the biblical question. The New Testament doesn't define the Church as a building or a stage or a group that gathers at a certain time. It describes the Church as people. Paul writes that we are the Body of Christ. Every believer is a member of that body, and every member has been given gifts by the Holy Spirit for the good of everyone else (1 Corinthians 12:4–27; Romans 12:4–8). If that's true, then every believer influences the life of the Church, whether they ever stand behind a microphone or not. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). The Church exists wherever believers gather, even if it's only one or two believers. That means the question isn't simply what happens during the service or who is delivering the sermon. It's what happens whenever believers gather together. Before sin entered the world, God looked at Adam and declared that it was not good for him to be alone. So, He created Eve as his helper. The Hebrew word there, ezer, doesn't describe an assistant or someone whose purpose is merely to support another person's leadership. Most of the time that word is used in the Old Testament, it refers to God Himself as Israel's helper. An ezer is one who supplies strength where strength is lacking, one who comes alongside, one who rescues, one who helps accomplish what cannot be accomplished alone. That doesn't sound like someone God intended to silence. It sounds like someone God intended to work beside. Yet for years of my life, I've heard this phrase: "The man is the head, but the woman is the neck that turns the head." I've always found that saying strange because it sounds far more like manipulation than biblical partnership. If a woman isn't supposed to influence a man spiritually, why is it acceptable to influence him privately? When my husband pastored, there were women who would have been deeply offended if another woman preached on Sunday morning. Yet many of those same women had no hesitation walking up to him after the service or calling him during the week, and telling him how they thought Scripture should be interpreted, or explaining what they believed he should or should not do as the pastor. And I don't necessarily say that critically. I just ask, What's the difference? Was he less a man in the church parking lot than he was behind the pulpit? If a woman discussing Scripture with a man in the corporate gathering is sinful, shouldn't it always be sinful? And if it isn't sinful in the foyer, or in a leadership meeting, or around someone's kitchen table, or during a Bible study, why does it suddenly become sinful because everyone moved into the sanctuary and it's now 11:00 on Sunday morning? If I'm standing in the church aisle discussing a passage of Scripture with a brother in Christ before the service begins, and then I step onto the platform and share that same truth with the entire congregation after the opening prayer or when the music ends, what changed? Did God's design change, or only the setting? In 1 Peter, we're called a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). Every believer, male or female, has direct access to God through Jesus Christ. Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Jesus commissioned every believer to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18–20). Am I really supposed to believe that Christ entrusts women with His gospel, sends them into the world to make disciples, gives them spiritual gifts through His Spirit, welcomes them boldly into the throne room of God, yet is displeased if one of those same women explains His Word in the gathered assembly because men happen to be present? Frankly, to me, that sounds like nonsense, but more importantly, it simply doesn't fit the larger story of Scripture. When Jesus rose from the dead, He could have appeared first to Peter, or John, or any of the apostles. Instead, He appeared first to women and entrusted them with the greatest announcement in history: "He is risen." The first witnesses of the resurrection were women. Jesus consistently elevated women in a culture that had long minimized their voices. He taught them. Remember when Mary sat at His feet as a student of the Word? That was revolutionary in that culture. He welcomed women as disciples. He received their testimony. And the same Apostle Paul who wrote the passages we wrestle with also partnered with women throughout his ministry. Priscilla helped explain the gospel more accurately to Apollos. Phoebe served the church at Cenchreae. Junia is honored among the apostles. Euodia and Syntyche contended alongside Paul for the gospel. Philip's daughters prophesied. They did this because what Peter declared at Pentecost had happened: God's Spirit had been poured out on sons AND daughters. The overwhelming picture of Scripture is not one of women sitting quietly on the sidelines. It's men and women serving together under the authority of Christ, each using the gifts the Holy Spirit has given for the building up of His Body. That's why I don't believe this conversation is ultimately about women. I think it's about consistency, a twisted understanding of what the Church is, and what it means to lead in the Body, which Paul says isn't about calling the shots and dominating, but, like Christ, making ourselves of no reputation and taking on the form of a servant. If women truly cannot teach or spiritually influence men in Christ's Church, then that prohibition must extend wherever the Church gathers and communicates through conversation, preaching, teaching, and singing. (Because Paul says singing is a way to teach one another in Colossians 3:16) But if we recognize that women already teach, counsel, encourage, disciple, correct, and influence men throughout the life of the Church outside the sermon, then perhaps we've made the pulpit carry a weight Scripture never intended it to bear. The Church isn't a building. It isn't a stage. It isn't a microphone. It's the Body of Christ. And every member of that Body has been given gifts by the Holy Spirit—not to be hidden—but to build up the whole Church for the glory of Christ. I'm not saying these things because I need everyone to agree with me. And I'm certainly not saying them because I want a position or a platform. I'm saying them because I believe we owe it to Christ to take His Word seriously. He died to save us. And generations of believers before us have treasured these Scriptures, carried them, translated them, taught them, protected them, suffered for them, and some even died rather than deny the truth they contained. So, I don't want to be careless with them. I don't want to elevate tradition above Scripture simply because tradition is comfortable. And I don't want to silence a part of Christ's Body when Scripture gives me reason to believe Christ has called, gifted, and empowered them to serve. I believe we owe it to Jesus to see His Church for what He intended it to be—not what our traditions have sometimes made it. It is a Body. A people. A Bride. And if every believer is a member of that Body, then every believer matters. Every gift matters. Every calling matters. Every person Christ has redeemed matters. So, for the sake of Christ, for the sake of those who faithfully carried His Word to us, for the sake of present-day martyrs for the faith, and for the sake of the generations coming after us, I want to be willing to search the Scriptures honestly—even when what I find challenges what I've always believed.