Can Women be Church Elders?

The Role of Gender in Church Leadership

Oct 27, 2009

The role of women in church leadership continues to be a source of controversy in churches.

"We must have women elders!" said Pastor Daniel Whitfield of Mission Springs Community Church in Fremont, California. "We will drive people away from Christ if we don't include women at the highest level of church government."

His progressive congregation had women serving everywhere but the elder office, but those who disagreed with him were dismissed as culturally obsolete. He added two women to the church's elder board, but tragically, the move drove away a third of his congregation. So what was the problem?

Christians Must Use a Consistent Approach as They Study Scripture on the Role of Women in the Church

Christians should not change their method of interpreting the Bible to selectively accommodate a contemporary issue. There are three ways to approach interpretation of the Bible:

Most protestants follow the first method, believing the Bible to be the literal and plenary Word of God. Theologian David Cooper said, "When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense."

When the Bible is viewed as text that "was the Word of God," anything in it can be dismissed. After all, the entire New Testament was written to an ancient culture, not to people existing today. True, each book in the New Testament was written to a specific audience, but they were then circulated among all believers and became canon. Christians considering the historical context of Biblical passages still recognize the New Testament as God's Word for the entire church age and applicable to today's problems. So what does the Bible say about women elders?

There were No Women Elders in the New Testament Churches

The Apostle Paul assumes all elders are male by his description of an elder in I Timothy 3:2-12 (NIV) where he uses the pronoun "he," the phrase "husband of but one wife" and description of the character traits of an elder's wife in subsequent verses. However, women can have the gift of leadership, and there are avenues outside the elder office where they can lead. Titus 2:4-5 (NIV) indicates that older women are to teach younger women to be family-minded and responsible homemakers. Considering today's divorce rate and the breakdown of the family unit, some believe that women could make the world a better place if they took the passage to heart.

An example in the Old Testament from Judges 4-5 (NIV) is Deborah, a woman who had to rule during an unstable time in Israel's history because no man was courageous enough to take the reins. However, even Deborah showed that she understood God's ideal design when she expressed amazement that "a mother in Israel" had to fill the void. (Judges 5:7, NIV)

Teaching That Supports Women Elders in the Church Question the Trinity

Christians believe that humankind was made in the image of God (Gen.1:27, NIV) and the family unit reflects the Trinity. The husband correlates with the Father, the wife correlates with the submissive Son who obeyed His Father's will, and children, fruit from a marriage union, correlate with the Holy Spirit. There are roles in the Godhead, though the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equally God. Some believe this reality is dimly seen here on earth, reflected in the family unit.

Feminists view this argument as heretical Arianism, but the answer to that is that most things on earth are imperfect pictures of spiritual truths. Just as Jesus' parables taught just one aspect of a complex subject, so the family unit shows one aspect of God's mysterious personality. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then (in heaven) we shall see face to face." (I Cor. 13:12, NIV) When Christians meet God in heaven, they will finally grasp and understand the mystery and complexity of the Trinity, reconciling the roles of the Godhead with their equality.

Also, Jesus gave no indication He had an inferiority complex about His role in comparison to His Father's. He was "in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ... made himself nothing... a servant... he humbled Himself and became obedient to death." (Phil. 2:6-8, NIV). He then received an exalted position from His Father just as woman is the crowning glory of man.

Two different teachings about women elders are disseminated among Christians. One view holds men to be ultimately accountable while the other advocates an egalitarian approach. They hotly debate, but the Christian out in the field must grapple with any practical application. Since the church is a "calling out" of believers from the world, many feel it's important that Christians model God's truth, believing that if churches conform to the world rather than transform it, they are not fulfilling that responsibility.

Women who yearn for headship imply they regard their position as subpar, yet some believe their supporting role is God's plan. It's widely believed that the church's blueprint is to have women fully exercise their spiritual giftedness alongside male elders and marriages in which husbands act as loving leaders to their supportive wives.

It is clear that the role of women in the church is a subject of much debate. Ultimately, the role of women in Christian churches will depend on individuals' interpretations of the Bible.

The copyright of the article Can Women be Church Elders? in Bible Studies is owned by Dianne Smith. Permission to republish Can Women be Church Elders? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.