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From Mary to Priscilla
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If we find exceptions to the male-dominated, fallen world in the Old Testament, the resurrection of Jesus and the Day of Pentecost throw open the floodgates! On this page, we want to briefly explore the many women who participated in the ministry and leadership of the early church.
According to 1 Corinthians 9:1, an apostle was someone to whom the risen Lord appeared after his resurrection and whom Jesus had sent as a witness to his resurrection. The apostle Paul argued to the Corinthians that he was an apostle because he had seen the risen Jesus. And throughout his letters he expresses his firm conviction that Jesus had sent him as his representative to Gentiles around the world.
“Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’
“Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:17-18
According to these criteria, Mary Magdalene was the first apostle. In John 20:15-16, Jesus appears first of all to her. Before he appeared to Peter or the two men on the road to Emmaus or to the other disciples, he appeared to her.
And he sends her as a witness to his resurrection. “Go instead to my brothers and tell them (20:17). Mary Magdalene was the first apostle!
As Paul is greeting the Roman churches, he mentions a husband-wife pair named Andronicus and Junia (Rom. 16:7). He describes them as his “kinsmen” and “fellow prisoners.” This indicates that they are Jewish believers who have been jailed for their faith. He indicates that they believed in Jesus even before he did.
“Say hello to Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and my fellow prisoners. They are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.”
Romans 16:7, CEB
But the most fascinating thing he says is that they are “well-known among the apostles.” To us, this is an ambiguous expression. Does he mean that they are among the apostles, or does he mean that they are well-known by the apostles? Both are possible meanings.
As a side note, the English Standard Version does not let the reader know this choice. In keeping with an anti-women-in-ministry bias, it eliminates the option with the translation that they are “well-known to the apostles.”
But this was not the understanding of the early church. Greek and Latin interpreters like Chrysostom, Ambrosiaster, Theodoret, and Origen all took this verse to call Junia an apostle. Similarly, some copyist of the text was so uncomfortable with the implication of a female apostle that he changed the manuscript to say Junias, a male name. The Greek fathers knew Greek better than any of us in this debate, and they took Romans 16:7 to say Junia was an apostle.
The most likely reading is thus that this verse referred to a husband-wife pair as apostles. They may have been some of those apostles mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:7 – individuals to whom the risen Jesus appeared between his appearance to James and Paul. They could also have been among the 500 brothers and sisters who saw Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:6.
Assuming this interpretation, then a woman had the highest role in the early church – an apostle. Accordingly, it is no surprise that The Wesleyan Church had JoAnne Lyon as General Superintendent. That’s as close to one of the original apostles as our denomination gets!
One of the clearest instances of a woman in a pastoral role is the mention that Phoebe was a deacon of the church at Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1). The same word is used as is used in Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8. It is not a feminine form. It is the normal word for a deacon.
“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae.”
Romans 16:1
It is sometimes responded that the word often means “servant” or “minister.” For example, 1 Timothy 4:6 calls Timothy a “diakonos of Christ Jesus.” However, in a situation like Romans 16:1, it is used in relation to a specific church, as in Philippians 1:1. In that case, it would have been confusing to use the term of her to the Romans if Paul wasn’t calling her a deacon. We might consider that those opposed to women in ministry would never use that word of her so as not to create any ambiguity or question of the possibility!
But Paul does not feel any need to say, “Now when I call her a diakonos, I don’t mean she’s a diakonos!” Why? The most obvious answer is that she really was a diakonos. No need to clarify. It apparently was normal for the early church to have women as diakonoi.
In fact, in Reading Romans Backwards, Scot McKnight concludes Phoebe would have been the letter carrier of Romans to Rome. This suggests that she would have read the letter to the churches there as Paul’s surrogate. If he is correct, then God (and Paul) used Phoebe as the first one to present Romans as Scripture to the churches. She would have answered their questions about the letter and assumed an apostolic role in that process.
The example of Phoebe is important. We know so little of the names and roles people played in the New Testament church. This brief comment Paul makes in the greeting section makes it clear that 1 Timothy 3 was only addressing the majority case when it talked about deacons being the “husband of one wife” (1 Tim. 3:12).
In 1 Timothy 3, Paul never prohibits a woman from being an overseer or a deacon. That’s an argument from silence. He merely addresses the majority case, where men were in these roles. Phoebe makes it clear that women could be deacons.
It is an argument from silence to assume men were the only possible deacons. Paul never says that. The majority of deacons and overseers were obviously men – that’s completely expected given the patriarchal culture.
One of the most important women to minister in the New Testament church was Priscilla. Paul never has occasion to tell us what if any official role she might have had – the early church was much more charismatic in organization than some of the simplest churches today. She seems to fit the role of an apostle in a more generic sense (someone sent to witness to Christ’s resurrection). She serves the church (as deacons did). And nothing in the New Testament would have prevented her from serving as an overseer or elder in the church at Ephesus.
Priscilla (or Prisca) is mentioned six times in the New Testament, three times in Acts and three times in Paul’s letters. In Acts, while her husband Aquila is mentioned first when the couple is introduced (18:2), she is always mentioned first when the two are involved in ministry. This is striking given the male-orientation of the ancient world. It suggests that she took the lead when it came to ministry.
“Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos… began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.”
Acts 18:24, 26
Indeed, Acts 18:26 mentions her first with the discipling of Apollos, and her name is mentioned first. Here is a clear instance of a woman teaching – indeed discipling – a man in the New Testament. Apparently, 1 Timothy 2:12 must not preclude women from ever playing such a role, because Paul and Acts viewed her with complete affirmation.
Paul also mentions her first in two of his references. When he sends greetings to them in Romans 16:3 – in a list of greetings to house churches – he mentions her first. Similarly, 2 Timothy 4:19 mentions her first. We can easily imagine that she was an “overseer” or “elder” in the church that met in her house (Rom. 16:5). Nothing in the New Testament would prevent it, and she clearly functioned in these roles.
These are all women of faith who played key roles in the ministry of the early church. Lydia opens her home up to Paul and Silas in Acts 16:15. It is natural to assume that the church at Philippi met in her home. It is thus natural to think she was an elder in that house church. Nothing in the New Testament would prevent her – only our assumptions about what could or couldn’t be.
We can imagine the same of Nympha, who hosted a church in her home (Col. 4:15). Our assumptions make all the difference. If you assume women couldn’t be elders – something the New Testament never says – you will assume Nympha was not an elder. If you see that Paul put no barriers on women ministering or leading, the natural assumption is that Nympha would play a significant leadership role in a church she was hosting as one of its overseers. No mention is made of her husband.
Many other women played ministry roles in Paul’s churches. Euodia and Syntyche at Philippi are clearly Paul’s “co-pastors,” although we are not told what title they might have had (Phil. 4:2-3). Romans 16 mentions many women who served in the churches: Mary (16:6), Tryphena and Tryphosa (16:12), Persis (16:12). Deacons, elders, “pastors” in general (literally, “shepherds”) – these women functioned in these ways and may have held the title.
If we look at the actual practices of the early church, there are no instructions indicating that these women should “stay within the lines.” We never find Paul telling Junia, Priscilla, or Phoebe to make sure they only teach women or children. Rather, he “dangerously” leaves open the possible interpretation that they were church leaders and ministers.
Those opposed to women in ministry today certainly wouldn’t have left any ambiguity in the text about taking them those ways. Indeed, the ESV has made it a point to remove those possible interpretations from its translation. By contrast, Paul doesn’t seem to mind if you take them that way.