Study #7: Examples of Female Leadership in the Early Church

Information relating to our gathering on September 6th, 2022 (7-9 pm)
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  • Reflect and Note: Examples that you can remember of women in leadership roles (of any/various kinds) in the New Testament and what they did. 
  • Study: Acts 18 and Romans 16 and study the women mentioned and their roles (as best as you can determine if/where it's not explicit). 
  • Look Back: At our previous conclusions and see if there is any clarity on our previous questions.
  • Pray: For ourselves, our fellow study participants, and our church body. 
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Instruction for this Gathering

There was no instruction time at this gathering.

Gathering Examples
  1. What examples of  women in leadership role (of any/various kinds) did you discover in the New Testament?)
  2. Which women did you encounter in Acts 16 and Romans 16 specifically?
Examining Examples: Acts 18 and Romans 16
  1. What do we know about things like . . . 
    • Their character
    • Their profession
    • Their life circumstance
  2. What can we conclude about their role in the church/among the believers?
Connecting NT Threads
  1. Are there connecting themes/threads between some/all examples?
  2. How/Do these examples help us to understand specifics about God's design for men and women in leadership in His kingdom?
     
    • Are there conclusions that can be drawn with regards to leadership in general? (e.g. home, business, politics, etc.)
    • What about leadership in the church in particular? (e.g. elders, pastors, teachers, etc.)

 Conclusions

Will be posted following the gathering. 
Confident Conclusions
Ways that we can have a good degree of confidence the passages speak to the topic of gender and leadership.
  • Women were [recognized/esteemed/commended], often with leadership terminology, for the numerous ways they demonstrated their faith and devotion to God in service. Often, this recognition is interspersed with praise of men for the same things. (Cf. Rom 16:1-16; Phi 4:2-3; Col 4:15; 2 Tim 1:5)
  • Women and men were both essential to work in partnership and colabourers for the mission of God. (Cf. Rom 16:3, 6, 7, 12; Phi 4:2-3)
  • Women continue to be some of the "firsts" in the early church (i.e., first believers in an area, for to see the resurrected Lord, etc.) and there is an evident pattern of them then being commissioned to action and the women responding in obedience. (cf. Acts 16:14; 18:18; Rom 16:7)
  • There were prophetesses in the early church. (cf. Acts 21:8-9)
Not Yet Conclusive Conclusions / To Be Discerned
Ideas that are not yet conclusive, but noted because they might be inferred/implied in the passages. We will return to these as we work through other passages.


  • How does our understanding of 1 Tim 2:12 connect with the evidence of the ministry of women in the NT, particularly with Priscilla's instructing Apollos with her husband? (Cf. Act 18:26)
  • How does our understanding of 1 Cor 11:4,5 and 14:34 connect with the evidence of the ministry of women in the NT, particularly with the example of Philip's daughters? (Cf. Acts 21:8-9)
  • If Paul is describing Phoebe as filling the office of deacon in the church of Cenchreae, what does that role entail? (Cf. Rom 16:1)
  • If Paul is describing Junia as "outstanding among the apostles," (NIV) does this imply that she is an apostle? What does that mean? What would her role have been? What implications might there be for that today?




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Next Gathering:

October 4th, 7pm to 9pm
Instructions and Qualifications for Elders and Deacons (Asst., incl. Acts 6, 20:17-8; 1 Tim 3:1-13; 1 Titus 1:5-9; Heb 13:17; 1 Pe 5:1-5)

Between Now & October 4th

  1. Reflect: Our conclusions to date will be reorganized and sent to you in the coming week. Please review carefully and note what has become clearer and/or what we need to add or revisit together.
  2. Study: At our next meeting we will seek to understand both the roles and qualifications of ‘elders’/‘overseers' and ‘deacons’. To prepare, study Acts 6:1-7; Acts 20:17-38; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Hebrews 13:17; Titus 1:5-9; and 1 Peter 5:1-5, seeking to understand what these passages tell us about what these roles are and the people who fill them.
  3. Pray: For ourselves, our fellow study participants and our church body
  4. Additional Reading (Optional): Our sister Heidi has graciously offered to share the research notes that she prepared on examples of female leadership in Paul's epistles. She had first prepared this for the Ministry Council to help us in our study some months back, and I believe that it a great example of honest inquiry and humble navigation. Heidi invites you to dialogue with her if you would like to! Another resource that we thought we would share with you (both as a follow-up to some of our questions from Sep 6 and to help you prepare for Oct 4) is an overview of the role of 'deacon' in Scripture and what it looks like at our church. This brief essay/article is taken directly from a forthcoming training curriculum for Ministry Coordinators at Zion, and it may be a relevant tool for us as we study the examples of Scripture as well as instructions and qualifications for elders and deacons.