Women can be leaders in The Church.

The question of whether or not Women are allowed to be "Priests" or “Bishops” or “Pastors” or whatever term you prefer to use has become a hot topic again due to recent events. And I’ve been forced to realize my initial posts on that topic were among the earliest on this blog, before I understood Church Polity related disputes as well as I do now. 

My position is ultimately the same, I still reject the entire concept of Monoepiscopacy as it’s currently practiced even by other Congregationalists. But to whatever extent the New Testament does permit some Christians to be leaders among fellow believers, the distinction between Male and Female is irrelevant as demonstrated by Galatians 3. 

The office of Prophet was even in The Hebrew Bible always open to women, from Mariam to Deborah to Anna, and Joel 2 foretells that “your sons and your daughters shall prophecy” in a Prophecy quoted in Acts 2 as being fulfilled in The Church. Prophecy in The Bible is more predictive Prophecy, it is proclaiming The Word of God. At least in Low Church Protestantism the Pastors have always identified with OT Prophet over OT Priests.

The Aaronic Priesthood is now irrelevant, in The New Testament all believers are Kings and Priests and our only High Priest is Christ, ALL definitely includes the Women. 

The word “Priest” as a term for Christian leaders is not supposed to have anything to do with the Hebrew or Greek terms translated that way in modern Bibles, its etymology derives from the Greek word Presbyter usually translated Elder.

I believe talk of Elders in the Church in The New Testament is about showing respect to any fellow believer who is your Senior, not an office, 1 Timothy 5 explicitly includes women in that.  So a conservative Episcopal Polity supporter will just insist that passage is about all seniors but others still ordain an office, that is simply selective reasoning. 

Bishop is a translation of Episcopas, a word that means “overseer” or “presider” and also has a verb form used in 1 Peter 5:2 which along with Acts 20:17-28 shows us that for both Peter and Paul all Elders were Overseers. 

Phoebe is a female Deacon in Romans 16:1, a word that just means servant but in Episcopal Polity denominations becomes the rank below Priest and is by these Conservatives treated just as only for women.

Romans 16 also refers to Tryphena and Tryphosa, a pair of female missionaries.  

Priscila also clearly always seems to have seniority over her husband Aquilla. 

Colossians 4:15 refers to Nympha, a leader of a local Church which the KJV changes to Nymphas and tries to make seem like a male but all scholars agree the Greek Text is referring to a Woman. 

Women were the first Eyewitnesses to The Resurrection and thus the first Apostles.

Against all that greater testimony of Scripture these Conservative cling to the “women shouldn’t speak in Church” passage from 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and the “a woman shouldn't teach a man” passage in 1 Timothy 2:12.

Read in context 1 Corinthians 14 is clearly Paul quoting someone else to then immediately rebuke them in verse 36 “What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?”.  Other passages in the same Epistle clearly refer to women speaking in Church. 

I honestly haven’t made up my mind how to explain 1 Timothy 2:12, I’ve seen different approaches. What I do know is that later in the same Epistle Women are permitted to be Elders. This one verse alone can not override everything else.  And that’s without me even getting into how this is the most disputed of all Paul’s Epistles.  I believe Paul wrote it and that there is an explanation, I just haven’t made up my mind what that is.