women_pastors

Breaking Free Ministries USA

Women As Teachers & Pastors in the Church?

                                                      by James & Janice Swinton

“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, 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 husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a
woman to speak in church (I Corinthian 14:33-35 NIV).
“Let a woman learn in quietness in all subjection; but I do not suffer a woman to teach nor to exercise
authority over man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was formed first, then Eve: and Adam was not
deceived, but the woman having been deceived, was in transgression. But she shall be preserved in child
bearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with discretion” (I Timothy 2:11,12 ‘Darby
Translation of the New Testament by John Nelson Darby’).

Many women do not believe the Apostle Paul nor most churches approve of women holding any leadership
role over men in the church today. After examining these scriptures above on the surface, it does appear
that Paul didn’t approve of women holding leadership positions over men in the church, but to learn in
silent from men. What do these scriptures mean? Did Paul feel women were inferior to men? Did Paul
speak against women speaking in the church and women teaching men in the church?

Women Equality
“Women are neither inferior nor superior to men because they are the ones to bear children. Paul points
this out in I Corinthians 11:11, 12 (NASB). ‘...in the Lord neither is woman independent of man, nor is
man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth
through the woman; and all things originate from God.’”[William P. Heath. Women’s Ministries. Published by
Things to Come Mission, Inc, 1985, p 2.]

Women Speaking in the Church
“...women should remain silent in the churches...(I Corinthians 14:34 NIV).” “Paul is protesting against the
disturbance of services by feminine chatter - the meaning of ‘speak’ in v 34,35. Some women (they sat apart
from men) were perhaps calling out questions, and commenting knowingly on things said in the service.
Paul did not condemn women to complete silence in church for he mentions some were able to prophesy
(11:5; cf. Acts 21:9)... Only in quietness could the Word of God be heard and absorbed.”[Guthrie, D. & J. A.
Motyer, The New Bible Commentary: Revised. Carmel: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970, p. 1070.]

If Paul meant women aren’t allowed to speak in church, he would be contradicting the teaching that “we
are all one in Christ, neither male nor female” (Galatians 3:28).
Cornelius Stam stated that “it is evident that it was acceptable for women to ‘pray or prophecy’ in the
service, but here the apostle evidently refers to more casual talk which, however, sometimes became
intrusive and only added to the confusion.”[From I Corinthians 11:5, Commentary On the First Epistle of Paul to the
Corinthians by Cornelius R. Stam, 1988, p 188.]

Women Teaching in the Church
“...woman...learn in silence...I [Personal opinion, not from the Lord. Another example is I Corinthians 7:25
“Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment....”.] suffer not a
woman to teach nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence (I Timothy 2: 11, 12).” “In verses
11 and 12, Paul discussed women in a learning situation. You should realize that women in the ancient
world had rarely, if ever, been allowed to learn about religious things. This new liberty must have gone to
the heads of some of the female students who had been suppressed for so long...This injunction was
probably given to correct a potentially dangerous situation where women were becoming boisterous and
loud in their new freedom...This statement was surely made to restore peace in the assembly...Because of
their background of repression in Jewish and Greek society,they [women] were not ready to hold teaching
positions in the congregation because they had not been allowed the same opportunity to learn the Word”
[Reid, C. Cary, The Place of Women in the New Testament. Pasadena: The Foundation for Biblical Research, 1980, pp. 3,4 .]

Don Williams said, “The phrase rendered ‘I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men,’
appears to be timeless in English, that is ‘I never ever allow a woman to teach.’ However, in the Greek it is
a present active indicative verb which can be translated ‘I am not presently permitting a woman to teach or
to have authority over men .’ Thus in contrast to the extremists demanding full women’s liberation in
Ephesus, Paul prohibits the teaching of those not properly instructed. But the verb tense cannot be made
necessarily into a general principle for all time. The meaning of the infinitive ‘to have authority’ is literally
‘to domineer.’ Women are neither presently to teach nor to rule over men. They are to be in silence...While
Paul does not actually say it, we may rightly infer that the time will come for women to engage in the
teaching task of the church once abuses are corrected and they are properly instructed.” [Don Williams, The
Apostle Paul & Women in the Church (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1982), pp 112, 114.]

                                                        Conclusion
Since women in this age have the same opportunity to learn the Word of God as men, God wants to use
their God given talents in ministry, whether as deacons, teachers, preachers, etc.

Note: If this article has been of any help to you, please e-mail me       [see "contact us" form]. I would appreciate it very much.
God bless you,
James

Looking Back in History:
          Memoirs of Julia Foote

(A Black Woman Used Mighty of God)                  by James Swinton

Birth, Family, and Early Childhood
Julia was born in Schenectady, New York in 1823. Her father steps, an inner voice kept saying to her,
"Repent! Repent!" She immediately sat down; a crowd gathered around her. Thew present of an invisible
force seemed to fill the room, and the dance broke up quietly.

Being Born Again
Julia became a Christian when she was 15 years old. As the minister was preaching from the text
Revelations 14:3: “And they sung as it were a new song before the throne…,” a voice in Julia said, “Such a
sinner as you can never sing the new song.” As Julia meditated on these words, she fell to the floor
unconscious, and had to be carried home. Julia was unconscious for 20 hours, but while unconscious, these
words flashed across her eyes:
“This is the new song - redeemed, redeemed!” Immediately she awakened and began singing, “Redeemed!
Redeemed! Glory! Glory!” She read the new song: “But now, thus says the Lord who created you, O Jacob,
and He that formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called thee by your name, you
are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers they shall not
overflow you; when you walk through fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame scorch you
(Isaiah 43:1,2 NKJ).”

Doubts Conversion
One week after Julia’s conversion, she began to doubt her conversion because some people told her she had
to go to the alter and be prayed for by a minister. But God sent a minister to her and said: “My child, it is
not the alter nor the minister that saves, but faith in the Lord Jesus, who died for all men.” He also read:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…"
(Ephesians 2:8).

Education Needed
As Julia read and studied the Bible, she realized she needed an education. But she said the Holy Spirit
helped quicken her mental faculties. She believed that if she was more educated, God would make he
understand what she needed to overcome the desire to sin.

Sanctification
A year later, a man and his wife spoke at their church. They said they had taken all their fleshly desires to
Jesus, that His blood had cleansed and sanctified them wholly to Him. Julia then told everyone she wanted
to be sanctified.

A few weeks later, God sent an old lady to her, who read and explained many scriptures to her, such as
John 17 (Christ last prayer), and I Corinthians 6:9-11; read especially verse 11 - “…you were washed…you
were sanctified…you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Two days
later, the glory of God revealed to her: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ
lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Marriage
A year later. Julia married George Foote; they moved to Boston, where Julia joined a local church. During
her testimony, she spoke about her sanctification. After church services, many came to her asking questions
about sanctification. Julia then realized “the great need of ordering all my words as in the presence of God,
that I might be able to maintain that purity of lips and life which the gospel required. God is holy, and if I
would enjoy constant communion with Him I must guard every avenue of my soul, and watch every
thought of my heart and word of my tongue, that I may be blameless before Him in love.”

Called Into Ministry
As days past, Julia felt the impression that God wanted her to work in the vineyard; this led her to pray
about the matter. As she was praying, an angel appeared before her with a scroll which read: “Thee have I
chosen to preach My gospel without delay.” One night as Julia was seeking the Lord to remove this burden
from her, an angel again appeared and said, “You are lost unless you obey God’s righteous commands.”
Two weeks later, for the third time, an angel again spoke these words: “You have I chosen to go in My
name and warn the people of their sins.” Julia immediately said, “I will go, God.”

Excommunicated
Julia soon faced opposition, but mostly from her local pastor. He did not only refuse to allow her to preach
in the local church, but did not want her to be allowed to preach anywhere else in Boston. In regards to this
matter, Julia held a meeting in her home with various members in the congregation. Because her pastor felt
she had broken some church rule, Julia was excommunicated.

Julia later submitted her grievance to the Church Conference, held in Philadelphia. But her complaints
were not even considered, but thrown under the table.

Preaching in Philadelphia
While at the church conference in Philadelphia, Julia met three other women who had been called to preach
the gospel, and who also had met opposition mostly from men ministers. Julia proposed they rent a
meeting hall for preaching the gospel. The preaching continued for eleven nights; the room was full each
night. Even some of the ministers from the conference attended.

Preaching Circuit
After leaving Philadelphia, Julia preached for several months in her parents’ hometown of Binghamto, New
York. In February 1845 Julia left for Ithaca, New York, where she preached for a short period. She
preached also in many other towns: Osswego, Onondagay, Geneva, Rochester, Albany, and many others.

On June 18th, 1849, Julia was joined by Sister Ann Johnson, who became her traveling companion. They
continued ministering the Word of God throughout the state of New York and other places. Sister Johnson
remained a faithful worker with Julia until Sister Johnson’s death in 1856.

A Word To My Christian Sisters
“…you will not let what man say or do, keep you from doing the will of the Lord or using the gifts you
have for the good of others. How much easier to bear the reproach of men than to live at a distance from
God. Be not kept in bondage by those who say, ‘We suffer not a woman to teach,’ thus quoting Paul’s
words (I Corinthians 14:14-34), but not rightly applying them.”

Looking Back in History: Memoirs of Mrs. Zilpha Elaw
                                       (A Black Woman Used Mighty of God)
                                                                                                     By James Swinton

“Remember, dear brethren, that they who will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and numerous
foolish and hurtful lusts, which will eventually drown them in perdition. Cease, therefore, from earthly
accumulations; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Remember the love of money; it is [a] root of
all evil (I Timothy 6:10). Love not the world; for the love of God is not in those who love the world.”

Birth, Family & Early Childhood
Ziloha was born in the state of Pennsylvania around 1790 to Christian parents. Her mother died when
Ziloha was 12 years old. Her father then placed her under the care of Pierson and Rebecca Mitchel, who
was Quakers, until she was eighteen. Zilpha said she miss the family devotions they had mornings and
evenings where prayer and praise were offered to God daily. But in her new Quaker family, their religious
devotions were held, if any, only in their mind. As a result, Zilpha soon fell into sin.

Born Again
But she said God rebuked her through a dream in which the Angel Gabriel said, “Jehovah was about to
judge the world, and execute judgment on.” After months of prayer seeking God’s forgiveness for her sins,
Zilpha said, “I distinctly saw the Lord Jesus approach me with open arms, and a most divine and heavenly
smile upon His countenance. As He advanced toward me, I felt that His very looks spoke and said, ‘Thy
prayer is accepted. I own thy name.’” From that moment, Zilpha never doubted God God’s love for her
soul. This was the time of her total acceptance of God. And in the year 1808, Zilpha joined a local
Methodist Episcopal Society.

Zilpha still felt the lost of her mother: “Oh, how often do I think of the advantage enjoyed by many young
people, who are blessed with devout and godly parents, and of the little estimation they are held in by too
many perverse and giddy children, who, instead of greatly prizing the grace conferred upon them, resent the
kind restraints of family worship and attendance at the house of God.”

Marriage
In 1810, Zilpha married Joseph Elaw, who was not a Christian. Zilpha advised against such marriages:
“Oh! Let me affectionately warn my dear unmarried sisters in Christ against being thus unequally yoked
with an unbeliever. In general your lot would be better, if a millstone was hung about your necks, and you
were drowned in the depths of the sea than that you should disobey the law of Jesus [Matthews 18:6], and
plunge yourselves into all the sorrows, sin, and anomalies involved in a matrimonial alliance with an
unbeliever.”

Sanctified - Called to Ministry
In 1817,, Zilpha, while attending a gospel camp-meeting, a voice spoke to her and said: “Now you are
sanctified…I will show you what you must do.” Afterward, as she appeared not to be on earth, she prayed
publicly. Many came to her requesting her to present their petitions to God, thus began her “ministry of
prayer.” Before the end of the gospel camp-meeting, the Holy Spirit revealed to Zilpha that she was to be
like another Phoebe [Romans 16:1-2, a colleague of Apostle Paul] who was to visit the sick. This revelation
confirmed what her sister, after recovering from a near death experience, had stated a year previous. Her
sister had said she had seen Jesus, had been in the society of the angels, and that an angel came and told
her that Zilpha must preach the gospel.

Both of these revelations still did not move Zilpha to preach. But doing a severe sickness, Zilpha said a
person appeared and stood by her bedside and said: “Be of good cheer, for you shall yet see another camp-
meeting; and at that meeting you shall know the will of God concerning you.”

It was nearly one and an half years later before Zilpha attended the next camp-meeting. While at the camp-
meeting, a voice said to her, “Go outside the tent while I speak with you.” Immediately Zilpha went outside
of the tent and began to speak, as if involuntarily, exhorting the people. After Zilpha had finish speaking,
she said, “I sat down and closed my eyes; and there appeared a light shinning round about me as well as
within me, above the brightness of the sun; and out of that light, the same identical voice which had spoke
to me on the bed of sickness many month before, spoke again to me on the camp ground, and said, ‘Now
you know the will of God concerning you; you must preach the gospel; and you must travel far and wide.’
This is my commission for the work of the ministry, which I received, not from mortal man, but from the
voice of an invisible and heavenly personage sent from God…my ministry was commenced in the midst of
thousands who were both eye and ear witnesses of the fact.”

                                                   Closing Comment
These articles are examples of God using a women who went against the establishment. Mrs. Foote and
Mrs. Elaw did not allow society to dictate or redirect their called to ministry. They obeyed God and
preached the gospel, not accepting the doctrine of men, men who do not know how to rightly divide the
Word of God (II Timothy 2:15 KJV). Yes, God has selected certain men and women by visitations and
dreams in all ages, past1 and present.

All Christians have been given the commission of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:18) - to tell mankind that
God sent His Son to this earth to die for our sins (verse 19). You can say ‘yes’ to His offer by accepting His
offer that He died in your place for your sins (I Corinthians 15:3), confessing with your mouth [to] the
Lord (Romans 10:3) that Jesus is Lord (10:9). Even if you believe God exists, you have to accept His Son,
as well, to be acceptable to God. No man can come to the Father (can be saved) except through Christ (Acts
4:10,12).

Source: Andrews, William L. Sisters of the Spirit: Three Black Women’s Autobiographies of the Nineteenth
Century. Bloomington, Indiana
University Press, 1986

Footnote: 1 ) Noah (Genesis 6:3
                       Abraham (Genesis 12:1)
                       Moses (Exodus 3:1-10)
                       Samuel (I Samuel chapter 3)
                       David (I Samuel 16:11=13)
                       Paul (Acts 9:1-2)