Topics à  Church, Bible Study, Women, Worship

Todd Clippard

There are three issues that need to be addressed in your question.

First, we need to define what the Bible calls a pastor.  Once this is done, it will answer the first part of your question, "Can a female be a pastor?".   Then we will address the final part of your question, which really pertains to the subject of female preachers.  This will be a fairly lengthy discussion, but one that is certainly necessary to a proper understanding of the Scriptures in this matter.

I am a preacher in Marion County, Alabama.  Hardly a week goes by that I do not receive at least one call asking, "Are you the pastor?"  I generally respond, "No, I am the preacher."  This sometimes confuses the caller, but because they usually have some business to discuss, they ignore my reply and go on. 

You may be wondering, "If you are the preacher, then why aren't you the pastor?"  The answer is simple; the Bible never refers to a preacher as being synonymous with being a pastor.  I know this confuses many because the religious world has erroneously conceived the idea that the preacher is "in charge" of the church.  What does the Bible say about pastors?  Who may be rightfully called a pastor?  These are the questions that must be answered first, and then the answer to your question will be evident.

The word "pastor" is found only once in the King James Bible (Eph 4:11).  It is translated from the Greek word poimane.  However, a verb form of the same Greek word is elsewhere translated "feed" (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).  In these contexts, it describes a function of the eldership.  This concept is also foreign to most of the religious world, but we shall shed some light on it later in this article.

In Acts 20:17, Paul called the elders of the Ephesian church to meet him in Miletus.  In that meeting he gave the following charge in verse 28, "Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood."  "Feed" is the verb form of the same Greek word translated "pastors" in Ephesians 4:11.

In 1 Peter 5:1, Peter gives an exhortation to the elders.  In this exhortation is the command to "feed the flock of God which is among you" (1 Peter 5:2).  "Feed" is the same as that appearing in Acts 20:28.  Thus, the charge to feed or pastor the flock (local church) is given to the elders, and not to the preacher.  Now we must answer the question, "what is an elder or pastor?"

The word "elder" is translated from the Greek word presbuteros.  Of this word, Vine's dictionary says these "were appointed to have the spiritual care of, and to exercise oversight over, the churches.  To these, the term "bishops," or "overseers," is also applied (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5-7)."  Paul writes of a bishop and elder as being synonymous in Titus 1:5-7.  For a man to serve as an elder (or bishop), he must meet the qualifications given in the scriptures, specifically 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.  Notice I said "a man."  One of the qualifications for elders, or pastors, is that he must be the "husband of one wife" (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:6).  This excludes women from serving in this capacity.
 
Also, one never reads in the Bible of one man "pastoring" a church.  Each congregation was always overseen by a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23, Acts 20:17; Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:5; Hebrews 13:7, 17; 1 Peter 5:1).

In reference to elders, Paul told Titus he left him in Crete to "set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I had appointed thee" (Titus 1:5)According to scripture, a congregation without elders is lacking.

Finally, women should not serve as preachers or church leaders.  The Bible reserves the role of leadership in the church (and in the home) to men.  A key text in this discussion in 1 Timothy 2:8-15.   The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:8: "I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (NKJV). 

This is the first of several verses delineating the varying roles of men and women in the local body. This particular discussion ends at the conclusion of 1 Timothy 3. (The discussion in chapter 3 also includes the qualifications given for bishops/elders and also for deacons.  These qualifications restrict these God-given roles to men.)

The word "men" in verse 8 is gender specific, coming from the Greek aner or andras (Strong's #435). Thayer's Lexicon identifies the word as being "with a reference to sex, and so to distinguish a man from a woman" (p 45). It also has bearing on the maturity of the male, and is used in Matthew 15:38 to distinguish a man from a woman (gunaikos -Strong's 1135) or a child (paidion - Strong's 3813).

In verse 9, Paul begins with, "in like manner also," a reference back to the holy hands i.e., pure lives and motives, of verse 8, "that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel . . . which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works." So Paul makes a clear distinction between men and women.

Now to verses 11-12 -- "Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence." The phrase "usurp authority" in the KJV implies something different than the text actually teaches.  The silence in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 is to be carried out "with all subjection."  Subjection comes from a Greek compound meaning "under appointment" (Strong's 5293). It is by the appointment of God that women are to learn in silence in the assembly, neither are they at liberty to exercise authority over men in the assembly.

What follows is a specific and in-depth discussion of the silence demanded of women in the public assemblies of the church.  I think you will be interested to study this.

To the Corinthians, Paul wrote, "Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says" (1 Cor 14:34). Though this is a different word for silence than is found in 1 Timothy 2:11, they are nonetheless the same though their relationship to Divine appointment.  In 1 Corinthians, a woman's silence is said to be with submissiveness in connection with the Divine instruction of the Law, but which law?

There is no specific Mosaic injunction for women to keep silence. In 1 Timothy 2:11, her silence is connection with the Divine order of creation and the fall of man (vv 13-14). Thus, one should understand the silence commanded in the law is a reference back to Genesis 2-3, and 3:16 in particular.

A quick look at silence in 1 Corinthians 14:28, 30, and 34.  The demand for silence in 1 Corinthians 14:34 is not absolute. It must be understood contextually. The Greek word translated silence in verse 34 appears three times in the chapter (vv 28, 30, and 34), and nowhere indicates absolute silence. Rather, the word must be understood in its immediate context.

In verse 28, one who is speaking in a different language is to keep silence if there is no interpreter. The silence regulates his public speaking in a tongue, but not from speaking in a tongue understood by all present. In verse 30, if one prophet is speaking and another sitting nearby receives a word of prophecy, the first is to keep silence (hold his peace) while the second speaks. And in verse 34, the woman is to keep silence in such a way so as not to go beyond her authority. This is consistent with Paul's inspired restriction placed upon women exercising authority over men in 1 Timothy 2:8-15 (cf vv 11-12).

In answer to your question, there is no authority for a woman to be called a pastor because only men can serve in that capacity, and because only men are authorized to teach and preach in the public assembly.