Jesus Café Ministries - Scripture Squad - Can women be ordained as pastors?

From: ajystc7245
I would like to ask a question concerning the role of women in a church. Specifically about women being ordained as pastors in a church. This topic is mentioned in 1 Tim 2:9 (?) but i'm just not quite sure what exactly is meant by it...my church pastor says that Paul was talking directly to that specific church in the book of Timothy thus saying that women can be ordained.. but then when I asked another pastor he said that Paul wrote for all churches, and that women cannot be called to be pastors.. I'm just confused.. I've been struggling with this issue for a long time and I would like to know what u think about women pastoring a church... thanks.

Let us examine some of the terms we are talking about here. There are several issues you have mentioned including the roles of women and ordination.
PASTOR

The feeder, protector, and guide, or shepherd, of a flock of God's people in New Testament times. In speaking of spiritual gifts, the apostle Paul wrote that Christ "gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers" <Eph. 4:11>. The term pastor by this time in church history had not yet become an official title. The term implied the nourishing of and caring for God's people. The Greek word translated pastors in <Ephesians 4:11> is used elsewhere in the New Testament of sheep herders, literally or symbolically <Matt. 25:32>; of Jesus, the Good Shepherd <John 10>; and of "shepherds," or leaders, of the church <Eph. 4:11>. The NKJV uses the word pastor only in this verse. Also compare <Jeremiah 23:1-2> (KJV). (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary) (Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

PREACHER

One who proclaims the gospel; proclamation of God's saving work through Jesus Christ. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary) (Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

It is clear that the role of a pastor differs from the role of a preacher. A pastor is a shepherd of a flock. A preacher proclaims the Good News.

By adhering to these definitions of what a pastor is and does, we look at Scripture to see if we can see any examples of women filling this role.

We have Miryam, (Miriam) sister of Moses and Aaron who was considered a great prophetess and leader of her people. But she was not the shepherd. Sarah is called a prophetess, but not a shepherd. Ruth and Esther are praised for their great faith and courage, but were not shepherds.

The woman, Mary, brought forth the Word in a literal sense. And the first one to proclaim that Jesus had arisen was a woman, Mary Magdelene. But neither were shepherds/pastors. In the book of Acts we see that women played a vital role in promoting the news that the Messiah had come. We see Lydia and Philip's daughters doing important work in furthering the message.

The one example we do have of a woman taking an active role in leadership is Priscilla. We read about her in Acts 18. But even in this example she is never mentioned without her husband. Clearly they were a TEAM in sharing the Good News.

Now let us address ordination.

ORDINATION

In the limited and technical sense ordination is the ceremony by which a person is set apart to an order or office; but in a broader, and in fact its only important sense, ordination signifies the appointment or designation of a person to a ministerial office, with or without attendant ceremonies. (from New Unger's Bible Dictionary) (originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (C) 1988.)

Ordination in this sense is not a New Testament practice. Priests, Levites, prophets and kings were divinely ordained/appointed by God. Because of the deity of Jesus we consider that the 12 disciples were divinely appointed. After Judas died, Matthias was appointed/ordained.

God also gave authority to man to appoint/ordain people for various tasks. In Acts the seven deacons were appointed/ordained. We also have the example of Timothy being appointed/ordained by Paul.

To carry this further:

ORDAIN, ORDINATION

The Twelve were "chosen" and "sent" by Christ <Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16>, but without any ordination service. The same is true of the election of Matthias <Acts 1:26>. The seven were commissioned by the "laying on of hands" <Acts 6:6>. Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the Antioch church in the same manner <Acts 13:3>. However, the laying on of hands was widespread in the ancient world and does not necessarily point to an ordination service. The primary evidence of an ordination service comes from <1 Timothy 4:14>, where Paul apparently speaks of an official ceremony. Timothy's special spiritual "gift" was given to him "by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." From <2Timothy 1:6> it would seem that Paul joined with them in this service. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary) (Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Let's now look at the 1 Timothy passage.

In <1 Timothy 2>, Paul is writing to Timothy about a specific situation. Former pagan women were entering the assembly and unfortunately bringing many pagan ideas of worship with them. They were dressing inappropriately and disturbing the body of believers.

<1 Tim 2:11> Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. (KJV)

The word for "silence" in this verse doesn't mean "shut up." It means "stillness or undisturbed." In other words, the women were to be allowed to learn without interruption of the things of God! In verse 12, the word translated "authority" here is used only one time in the whole of the NT and refers to sexual domination.

Again, pagan women were bringing in practices that were not acceptable to living a holy life pleasing unto God and Paul is addressing these issues.

Now, we can still follow the premise of this passage and would never suggest it only applied to a certain time frame. Women should indeed dress appropriately. Women are not to draw attention to themselves, but to point the way to the Father. They are not to forsake learning the Word nor telling others. ALL believers are commanded by God to go and tell the nations the Good News that Jesus has come. Male and female alike share in that responsibility.

The true role of a woman can best be found in Scripture in Proverbs <31:10-31. Prov 31:30> Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, {but} a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. (NAS) We encourage you to read the entire passage.

To sum this all up, there is no Biblical command that pastors go through any ordination service. This is a man-made tradition. And while we understand that traditions are valuable to our worship practices, we urge each believer to search the Scriptures for final authority on these things. With all these things in mind - the role of a pastor, the role of a preacher, the practice of ordination - we cannot say that the ordination of women as pastors is based on Scriptural evidence. Clearly women are to be active servants of God in every aspect of life including telling others of His salvation plan. We do have examples of women as leaders in congregations, but not as pastors.

And we encourage believers to look at the pastor and his wife as a team. Pray for your pastor/shepherd AND his family on a daily basis. A pastor's family makes many sacrifices and we should help them and encourage them constantly.

Thank you for your question.

- The Scripture Squad :
TCCaleb, WMomTCC & RuthCCC