Are women pastors mentioned in the New Testament?
People often ask me if I can name any woman who was called a pastor in the New Testament. The people who ask me this question are usually those who believe that only men can be pastors; and one of their claims to support this view is that that no woman is called a pastor in the NT.
I usually respond to their question by saying that no one – male or female – is called a pastor in the NT; no one except for Jesus Christ.
The Greek word for “pastor” – which is the very same word for “shepherd” – is usually used as a verb (poimanō) in the NT, rather than a noun (poimēn). Pastoring or shepherding is primarily a function rather than a position!
Unlike the words ”elder”, “apostle”, “prophet” or “teacher”, the word “pastor” (poimēn) is not used as an ecclesiastical title in the NT.[1] Poimēn is used, however, as a title for Jesus, where the word is typically translated as “shepherd”. Jesus is called the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14), the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Peter 2:25), the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), and the Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20). (cf Mat 2:6; 25:35; 26:31; Rev 7:17; 12:5; 19:15.)
The only time the word “pastor” is used as a noun and applied to ministers (other than Jesus) is in Ephesians 4:11. Here the word “pastor/shepherd” is linked with the word ”teacher” indicating the role or function of pastor-teachers, rather than a title. (No gender is specified in Ephesians 4:11 or in any other verses about ministry gifts.)[2]
While many Christians may have pastoring abilities, I believe that the NT speaks of pastoring as part of a leadership role. (cf John 21:15-17.) The Jewish understanding of being a shepherd/pastor was one of leadership. Leaders are often called “shepherds” in the Old Testament, especially in the book of Jeremiah.[3]
Church leaders are instructed to pastor/shepherd God’s people in Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2. Church leaders may have other abilities too. Some may have apostolic, prophetic or evangelistic ministry gifts. A church benefits when it is led by several leaders who, between them, share a variety of ministry gifts, abilities and functions.
While I cannot name any woman – or any man for that matter – who is specifically called a pastor of a church in the NT, I do believe that Priscilla, Chloe,[4] Nympha, Euodia and Syntyche, the Chosen Lady, and other NT women, were female church leaders who functioned as pastors.
Endnotes
[1] Some NT verses which use the titles “elders”, “apostles”, “prophets” and “teachers” for church leaders: Acts 11:27; 13:1; 14:14; ch15; 2:19-10; Rom 16:7; 1 Cor 12:28-19; Eph 2:20; 3:5; etc. Philip is called an “evangelist” in Acts 21:8 (cf Eph 4:11; 2 Tim 4:5).
[2] Verses which mention Spiritual giftings: Acts 2:17-18; Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:7-11, 27-28; 1 Cor 14:26-33; Eph 4:11-12; Heb 2:4; 1 Pe 4:9-11.
[3] The frequent criticism of Jeremiah was that Israel’s shepherds (leaders) were careless and self absorbed: Jeremiah 2:8; 10:21; 12:10; 22:22; 23:1-4.
[4] Chloe of Corinth is mentioned in an article here.
Update: I just found an article today (2/12/11) by Philip B. Payne on the same subject as this post. Here is an excerpt:
Even if in the NT no women were identified by name as elders, overseers, or pastors, and many men were, this would not logically exclude women from those leadership positions any more than the actual lack of Gentile men identified by name as elders, overseers, or pastors in the NT excludes Gentile men from those leadership positions.
In fact, however, apart from Christ (Heb 13:20; 1 Pet 2:25; 5:4), no men or women overseers (ἐπίσκοπος) of a church or pastors (ποιμήν) of a church are named in the NT. John refers to himself in 2 John 1 and 3 John 1 as “the elder,” but nothing in either context associates this title with a local church or with administrative duties. The article indicates that this refers to something unique, which would not apply to local church administration. It probably identifies something like the last surviving elderly apostle and eyewitness of Christ. The only other NT association of ‘elder’ with any named person is Peter’s self-identification as a “fellow-elder (συνπρεβύτερος), a witness of Christ’s sufferings.”
The clearest NT identification of an individual with titles associated with senior local church leadership is not a man at all, but a woman: “Phoebe deacon (διάκονος, not feminine in form, which could imply ‘servant’ or ‘deaconess,’ but masculine in form, hence ‘deacon’) of the church in Cenchrea.
Related Articles
Did Priscilla Teach Apollos?
Euodia and Syntyche: Women Church Leaders in Philippi
The Chosen Lady in 2 John
New Testament Women Church Leaders
Bible Women with Spiritual Authority
Working Women in the New Testament
Tags: Biblical equality, can a woman be a pastor, women church leaders, women in ministry debate, Women in the early church
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 17th, 2011 at 6:22 pm and is filed under Equality and Gender Issues, Equality in Ministry, Women in Ministry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
There's been 16 comments so far...
I thought you were going to talk about the shepherds of the OT, from which the concept was birthed, and why we are compared to sheep. And wasn’t Rebecca the first named woman shepherd of the OT.
Oh, I hope I didn’t dissappoint.
Moses’ wife, Zipporah, and her sisters were shepherds:
“Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. Exodus 2:15b-16
And Rachel was a shepherd:
“. . . Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.” Genesis 29:9b
Couldn’t find a reference to Rebekah being a shepherd, but I probably looked too quickly.
I guess Shepherd-Sheep terminology is used because the Israelites could readily identify with it. It was a common industry. Many Israelites were involved in caring for sheep, including some famous people: Jacob, Moses, David, etc.
Too tired to look it up today. But look around the time that Jacob found Rebekah at the well. Somewhere in there I believe there is a reference to her tending the sheep.
That’s a really cool article! Like it a lot.
Thanks Caleb!
[...] Are Women Pastors Mentioned in the New Testament? [...]
Thank you for the link to my study concluding that the only explicit local church leadership title given to a named person in the New Testament is Phoebe “deacon of the church of Cenchrea.” Anyone reading this is welcome to purchase my Man and Woman, One in Christ for $17.75 (Zondervan list $29.99) at http://www.pbpayne.com, which lists many endorsements for the book.
Thank you for leaving a comment, Dr Payne.
I have your book and wholeheartedly recommend it.
[...] Are women pastors mentioned in the New Testament? [...]
Again, on the of those who can serve as pastors. pleease read 1 Peter 5.1-4 and you have another area where the Word supports men only as pastors. Just as you refer to the word for elder in your article, here in 1 Peter, the appointed elders are to serve as overseers. The criteria for an overseer (1 Tim. 3.1-7 and Titus 1.5,6) does specifiy that an overseer is to be the husband of one wife.
I share this perspective because most people who argue for women to be pastors simply leave out these texts. This undermines the leadership of the church and therefore renders her unsubmissive to Christ as her head.
Rich, I just read 1 Peter 5:1-4 again and there is nothing in the Greek which specifies that this passage is only relevant for men unless you think that because Peter is a man then only men can be like Peter. (My everyday New Testament is the Greek)
The Greek word presbuteros is a grammatically masculine adjective, but just because it is grammatically masculine it doesn’t men that it cannot apply to women. Abraham and Sarah, for instance, are called presbuteroi (plural) in Genesis 11:18 in the LXX.
[In Greek, many masculine words can apply to women and plenty of grammtically feminine words apply to men. Most of the Greek words about leadership are grammatically feminine.]
I do not leave out 1 Tim 3:1-7 or Titus 1: 5-6 in my discussions on the matter of women pastors, in fact I have written an article on it. http://newlife.id.au/equality-and-gender-issues/pauls-qualifications-for-church-leaders/
My life is geared to being submissive to Christ, so I’m not sure where you’re going with your last statement.
[...] Rich’s comments, and my replies, can be found here [...]
[...] Are Women Pastors Mentioned in the New Testament? [...]
I think Phoebe was a leader of a church, based on the meaning of prostatis. In any case a pastor is just one example of an overseer, others being apostle, prophet, evangelist and possibly teacher. It is only because of the restriction in many churches where they ONLY see a pastor or perhaps pastors that people are not aware of the others.
On Rich’s comment, the term often translated as “husband of one wife” also applies to deacons and yet Phoebe was also a deacon, so this is a puzzle that needs to be solved, as it can appear to be a contradiction and within the Pauline corpus no less, as if Paul contradicts himself.
Comps tend to solve the puzzle by suppressing the implications of Phoebe being a deacon.
Rather than do that, egals point out that the list of qualifications is written in a shorthand form in that no one thinks an elder must have kids, but IF they do have children, one should assess their parental skills as those are relevant to being an elder. Furthermore, there is evidence that the term in Greek applied to both genders.
Rich and I have had a few discussions. He was my inspiration for this: http://newlife.id.au/equality-and-gender-issues/protecting-the-weaker-sex/
I also explained the one-woman-man idiom which still stumps a lot of Christians. I have written about this here: http://newlife.id.au/equality-and-gender-issues/pauls-qualifications-for-church-leaders/
Romans 16:1-2 (about Phoebe) is pretty much the closest thing I have to a proof text on the issue of women in ministry. And Phoebe was probably the person who delivered the letter to the Romans. This job meant that she was effectively Paul’s envoy. In those days a usual part of the letter carrier’s job was to help explain the contents of the letter and verbally deliver any further instructions from the sender.
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