It is biblical for a woman to be a church leader. Moreover, if we deny gifted women the opportunity to exercise their ministries, we reject some of the very people Jesus has anointed, appointed and given to His church. Galatians 3:28 (NKJV): There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
There are many misunderstandings that women are not important in the early church movement, and that Paul is prejudiced against women in leadership position. Such misconceptions have obstructed gifted and talented Christian women from taking certain roles in which they have been called and equipped by the Lord to do. In Ephesians 4:11, Paul lists five kinds of ministers which Jesus Christ has given to the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. His purpose is to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12 (1 Cor. 12:28-31).
Here is a list of first century Christian women mentioned in the New Testament serving as ministers and ministry leaders:
Philip’s daughters (Acts 21:9), Priscilla (Acts 18:26; Rom. 16:3-5, etc.), Phoebe (Rom. 16:1-2), Junia (Rom. 16:7), possibly Chloe (1 Cor. 1:11), Euodia and Syntyche (Phil. 4:2-3), Nympha (Col. 4:15), Apphia (Phlm. 2), “the chosen lady” (2 John 1), “the chosen sister” (2 John 13), and probably Lydia (Acts 16:40), etc.
In the New Testament, several people, apart from the Twelve, are mentioned as being apostles. Paul is an apostle outside the original twelve. One of the New Testament church’s apostles is a woman—Junia.
Junia and Andronicus (who may have been husband and wife) were members of the church in Rome; they may even have been the founders of the church there. Romans 16:7. Paul also states that Andronicus and Junia were “outstanding among the apostles”. They had suffered persecution because of their faith and at some point had been fellow prisoners with Paul.
In Acts 21:9 we are told that Philip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. They were highly respected female prophets and leaders in the early church, as was the prophetess Ammia of the church in Philadelphia. The fourth-century church historian Eusebius mentions Philip’s daughters and regarded their ministry as the benchmark for prophetic ministry in the early church, comparable with other notable male prophets: Agabus (Acts 11:27-28; 21:10), Judas and Silas (Acts 15:22, 27, 32), and Quadratus of Athens.
Euodia and Syntyche are women evangelists and possibly church leaders (bishops and deacons) recorded by Paul who addressed and commended them as his co-workers in the ministry of the gospel, using the same term describing Timothy. (Philippians 4:2-3, 2:22, 1:1).
Phoebe is another woman minister whom Paul esteemed and commended. In Romans 16:1-2 Paul described Phoebe as both a diakonos and a prostatis. Phoebe was a minister or deacon, and a leader or patron, in the church at Cenchreae. She is a woman of means and has provided facilities and resources to many in the ministry and to Paul personally. (Romans 16:2)
In classical Greek the word prostates (feminine, prostatis) was used to mean either a chief or leader, or a guardian or protector, often in a religious context; it was later used also to translate the Roman concept of a patron. A diakonos is a Christian teacher and pastor (technically, a deacon or deaconess).
Romans 16:1 TPT “Now, let me introduce to you our dear and beloved sister in the faith, Phoebe, a shining minister of the church in Cenchrea.”
Priscilla and Aquila were active in ministry and hosted a church in their home at Ephesus (1 Co. 16:19) and later at Rome (Rom 16:3-5) where they ministered as pastor-teachers. Priscilla (the wife) is the leading Bible teacher. Priscilla’s name appears first in four of the six mentions of this couple in the New Testament. She may have a higher social status than her husband. She and her husband even ministered to the famous preacher Apollo and corrected him and taught him the truth regarding the Gospel messages he preached.
Some of the earlier churches women, who lived in relatively spacious homes, hosted a congregation that met in their home. With higher social status and ampler financial means, the hosts led the congregations and exercised the pastor-teacher gift.
We can read many such examples in the New Testament:
Mark’s mother provided a house with a large upper room (accommodating 120 persons) in Jerusalem for the Christians to assemble (Acts 12:12); believers met in the home of the rich well-connected business woman Lydia at Philippi (Acts 16:14-15, 40). Paul greets “Nympha and the church in her house” in his letter to the Colossians (Col. 4:15). It appears that Chloe is also the host of a home-church (1 Co. 1:11), as may have been some of the other women Paul greets in the last chapter of his letter to the Romans.
In his letter to the Romans (Christians and house churches), Paul describes and commends four very special woman voluntary workers in the ministry,
Mary, “who has worked so hard for your benefit.” (Romans 16:6 NLT)
Tryphaena, Tryphosa and “beloved Persis”. Romans 16:12 DLNT “Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, the ones laboring in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who labored-at many things in the Lord.”
We can note how Paul can see the true worth of these women ministers. Voluntary workers are special and crucial to the churches and ministries because these are those who love the Lord and eager for the advancement of the Kingdom of God, sensitive to the needs of the church with the willingness, energy and financial means to meet the needs of the ministry and the people. They have sacrificed their own comfort and safety for the love of God. They are usually the unsung heroines.
Women in their best 