At Emmanuel Baptist Church we have a variety of different ministries including teaching children of all ages in Sunday School and our Wednesday evening kids’ club. Musicians lead the congregation in singing by providing skilled accompaniment, and others care for infants and toddlers in the nursery. Our treasurer pays the bills and accounts for all financial transactions, while the financial secretary provides a record to each individual giver for tax filing purposes. The clerk maintains an accurate membership roll and records all business that is done by the congregation in our quarterly members’ meetings, and the Sunday School superintendent orders and organizes curriculum and works alongside the pastor to find volunteers for each class, as needed. Some individuals pass the plates to gather up the weekly offering, while others work in pairs to count the monies and make bank deposits, and still others run the audio mixer, live stream, and slideshow during our Sunday morning service.
This is not an exhaustive list of ministry opportunities at EBC, and it is focused on things which we might call ministry programs. These are organized, planned, and governed by a defined set of expectations and procedures. But there is much that goes on in the life of the church which does not fit into this category, such as the many personal acts of service and discipleship which occur almost spontaneously throughout the week between members of the congregation. People meet for coffee to discuss God’s word or pray together. They help each other with home projects, offer a ride or childcare, and enjoy recreational activities together. They visit each other in the hospital to offer comfort and encouragement.
Speaking Where Scripture Is Silent
The list could go on and on, but in light of my most recent posts on women’s roles in ministry, I want to think about how women may serve in these and other areas. It is one thing to look at passages of Scripture which make specific statements about women’s roles in the church like 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:9-15. In these cases, once we have carefully interpreted the meaning of the text and discovered the timeless principles, we must apply them to our contexts and obey. But where does the New Testament speak about the Sunday School superintendent, the usher, or the musicians who accompany the congregation?
The answer is that it does not speak of these and so many other ministry positions which we have created in the church. Does this mean that we should not have these offices or positions? Some might argue that way. There are churches which do not allow any instruments to be used to accompany human voices, presumably because they do not see them commanded in the NT. But I think most Christians understand that there is quite a bit of liberty among individual congregations to appoint volunteers (or even to hire staff members) to meet needs which arise.
The Early Church’s Example
In fact, this seems to be precisely what the Jerusalem church did in Acts 6, when a problem arose over the distribution of food to the widows. The Greek-speaking widows were being neglected in favor of the Hebrews, and their complaint threatened to disrupt the unity of the body and to distract the overseers from the ministry of the word and prayer. With the elders advising, the congregation chose men of godly character to oversee the food ministry, and God’s word spread even more widely as a result of their wise action.
This does not mean that every church must have a food distribution ministry to widows overseen by seven men. It means that churches have freedom in Christ and wisdom from the Holy Spirit to appoint servants to meet the needs of the congregation. These will be different in every place and time, and may well be adapted to various cultures without violating either the clear teaching of Scripture or the consciences of those to whose culture they are applied.
Freedom Within the Boundary
But are there limits on which roles or ministries women may occupy? Other than those we have explained already? Not really. 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 2 limit the office of elder/overseer/pastor to men, while 1 Corinthians 11 and 14 require women to be in submission to their husbands (if they are married) and the male leadership in the church, and 1 Timothy 2 prohibits women from authoritative teaching in the gathering of the church or taking authority in place of the men he has called to lead. As long as the ministry role does not violate these principles, it would not be wrong for a woman to hold the position.
So while few if any would have a problem with a woman teaching a children’s Sunday School class, it might be a problem for a woman to serve as the Sunday School superintendent, if she is overseeing men. But the individual circumstances of that congregation at that particular time will have to dictate what the church should do. What about a woman instructing men how to serve a funeral dinner or where to put dishes in the church kitchen? Should women lead worship music by playing instruments and singing? How about creating a schedule and checklist for couples to clean the building? We could imagine countless similar scenarios, but each must be answered by the local church in light of their particular circumstances and culture.
It would be possible for a woman serving in almost any capacity to violate Paul’s instruction about silence (i.e. internal stillness) in 1 Tim. 2:11. But that does not mean that a specific ministry should be off-limits to women in the church. Instead, we should encourage women to serve in as many various places as there are needs in the congregation, as long as their participation does not violate clear NT prohibitions. Because of Scripture’s silence on many of these things, churches must exercise wisdom and will certainly come to different conclusions about what is best. It is not our duty to police others, but to examine Scripture and seek to obey it to the full.