Category Archives: women in ministry

Can Women Be Church Leaders? The Household Codes of the Bible

Posted on by under women, women in ministry

Can women be church leaders?

It’s a big question that causes a lot of debate. Not as much today as, say, a couple of decades ago. Thankfully. Nonetheless, this remains a fairly divisive issue in the church today.

I’ve spent plenty of time looking at the question of women leadership here at the blog. But, in this article, I want to address a couple of Scriptures known as the “household codes” in the New Testament. These are particularly found in Eph 5:22-6:9 and Col 3:18-4:1.

Obviously these passages don’t specifically speak about church leadership. However, many, if not most, see a connection between leadership in the home and leadership in the church, all going back to God’s “original creation design.” So, while these are distinct, they are related and these household codes are worth addressing in the larger context of the discussion concerning women’s roles. Continue reading →

Advertisements

Women, Prophets, and Church Leadership

Posted on by under prophecy, prophets, prophets today, women, women in ministry

WomenPreach2Recently, Perry Noble, pastor of megachurch NewSpring, wrote an article defending the idea that women should preach. To that, theologian Tom Schreiner wrote a response for The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW).

Though from a Southern Baptist background, Noble is open to a more egalitarian stance, at least to allow women to preach. Schreiner has argued for what can be identified as traditional complementarianism (men are the leaders in both the home and church). His overall perspective was that Perry Noble fails to persuade in his article for women preaching.

I think Schreiner has some fair thoughts on the holes in Noble’s arguments (though not Noble’s conclusions about women preaching). However, both Schreiner’s final argument – that women should not preach – and the path of how he got there (at least in this brief article) fall short. Continue reading →

Junia: An Apostle or Not?

Posted on by under books, women, women in ministry

st_junia2.jpg_w540Yesterday was International Women’s Day. In light of such, I put up a link to an article of mine where I reviewed Scot McKnight’s short ebook, Junia Is Not Alone. The book is all of 25 pages.

In the book, McKnight discusses the enigmatic Junia (or Junias, in some translations). Many may not have heard of her, but she is mentioned at the end of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. In those days, the major greetings came after the body of the letter. So we read about Junia, and Andronicus (her supposed husband), in Romans 16:7.

In particular, McKnight assesses 2 problems that have arisen over the centuries: Continue reading →