Women in Leadership in the Church: An Exploration of the Biblical Evidence and Current Perspective

Abstract

I grew up in the church, and always considered myself more than passingly familiar with Scripture. After all, I could name all the books of the Bible, and I always knew the answers in Sunday school. I remember being vaguely aware that some people disapproved of women being pastors, but one of my pastors was a woman, and I didn't think anything of it. The first time I became aware that people didn't broadly agree that women should be in ministry was in college, when I first read or even heard of particular Biblical passages that seem to state quite clearly that women are not allowed to lead the church. At that time I also became aware that my mom had grown up in a church that did not believe in the ordination of women, and that the churches my grandparents still attend believe the same. This bothered me, and made me curious about the details of what my family actually believes. I wanted to know what the actual Biblical arguments were, which required knowledge of the passages that were commonly cited and how they were understood. If I were to argue for one position or the other, I needed to have ammunition. Here is the final result of my research: a paper that explicates the Biblical arguments for and against women in leadership in the church, and examines the views of ordinary people in light of those arguments. Enjoy.