Why are women allowed to lead worship? Read Below?

Question

I am kind of new to this whole Christian thing and i was reading in the book of Timothy. I go to a community church and sometimes a woman leads worship and sometimes preaches. The passage in 2 Timothy says, "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." I was wondering, how you get around that when it sounds so blatent that women should not do that?

Answer 1

I do think that the passage in Timothy does teach about the role of a woman, but Timothy is not teaching about worship leading. He IS teaching about women preaching and I do think that is where your church rails against scripture. Your church may have been one that is more easily swayed by the winds of changing culture, and i know you are aware of where our culture is heading regarding roles of women and men. Now to the worship leader part: When Timothy wrote this, the "worship leader" as we think of it did not exist. What existed was teachers and church leaders and that's it. Some churches use this passage as well as 1 timothy 3 to deny all church leadership roles that have developed later (such as Sunday School teachers, worship leaders etc.) Some churches allow women to teach children and to teach other adults alongside their husbands. If you want more info on this there is a CD simply called "The Role of Women." It is available for 10 bucks from Ligonier Ministries here: https://ecom.ligonier.org/ecom/product.asp?idProduct=ROL01CI
Also a great sermon by Matt Chandler out of The Village Church (they also have a podcast of all his sermons of which i highly recommend) the sermon is available here: http://www.thevillagechurch.net/resources/RoleofWomen.mp3
The podcast is available here: http://www.thevillagechurch.net/podcast/index.html
All sermons are free.
If either of those links do not work, or if you would like to discuss this or any other religious matter further, feel free to e-mail me and ask. I may not have all the answers, but I may provide some sort of help... My email is: [e-mail]
If you download the podcast, the sermon titled "What are Elders" preached on 5/28/06 also has some info about women in the church. You'll find that about 28:30 min into the sermon.
If you emailed me about what kind of church you are going to, i may be able to provide more info about what they belive. Hope all this helps.

Answer 2

When it says that a woman must be silent it doesn't mean that a woman can't say even one word in a church setting because then this passage also written by Paul wouldn't make any sense.

1 Corinthians 11:5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head--it is the same as if her head were shaven.

Here in the context of exhorting women to dress appropriately for the time and cultural setting of Corinth in the first century AD Paul mentions that they are allowed to pray and "prophesy" in church. That means that if a woman has an insight from God that He gives her to help edify and encourage others in the church she has the right to share it with others in the church setting.

The passage you cite refers to a woman being the spiritual leader of a congregation and delivering the main teaching from a position of authority like a senior Pastor exhorting the entire congregation in a church today. In the context of leading worship that passage doesn't come close to applying since the worship part of a service has nothing to do with examining God's Word and teaching other people how to apply it to their lives in the 21st century.

Answer 3

Ok, let's try a serious answer. Many Christian believers recognize that the letters of Paul were written in a specific context to instruct early groups of believers in the time of the Roman empire. Therefore, some of what he writes can be understood within that context. Much of the teachings, such as on justification, love, grace, etc. are applicable for all time and should be taken in this way. But other matters, such as this very controversial passage, may be looked at in terms of what was happening within that particular group at that particular time. Other places Paul himself writes that the distinctions of the world don't have a place in God's kingdom: "In Christ there is no master or servant, male or female..." etc. which could be taken to contradict the above instruction on women not teaching in church. Some rules are for orderly functioning of a group of believers, others define the life of Christians in any time or context. Well, that is my answer for what it's worth. I see nothing wrong or unbiblical in women having leadership roles in church. Look at the old testament. Women such as Deborah were accepted as leaders, and even in the new testament some of the important people in the churches Paul assisted were women too. So you need to look at the whole, not just one part.

Answer 4

You are right, that is what it says. Some Christian denominations still do not allow women to preach or hold positions of authority in the church. Others allow women to serve as Elders or Deacons, but not as ministers. People like to use terms like bigotry or chauvinism to describe these traditions. What they forget is that this is a choice made by the members of that denomination. If someone does not like the practices or traditions of a particular denomination, they can speak up and try to change it. If that does not work, they also have the option of choosing another church. When people outside a church try to change it, it is not out of concern for the members of that church, but rather for themselves.

Answer 5

You are doing exactly what you are supposed to do: Search the scriptures to see if what is being done or taught in religion is authorized by God. Now, what will you do next?

Hopefully, you’ll go and find a congregation of the Lord’s church that is striving to follow God in all things and learn what you need to do to be saved.

But, always remember this: No matter where you are or where you go, always check out what people tell you concerning religion. Don’t follow preachers and teachers blindly.

Answer 6

1. In Christ Jesus there is neither man or woman, Jew or Gentile, bond or free. We are all the same in His eyes.
2. If the woman who leads the worship is under the direction of the pastor, then she is not trying to "have authority" over a man.
3. Deborah was a great judge in the book of Judges. Old Testament.
4. Wives are to submit to their husbands, husbands to God, children to their parents.
There are roles that carry authority with them. We all submit to the police, until it smacks up against God's laws.
We submit one to another. Have faith, friend, keep studying the Word. Keep asking questions.

Answer 7

This is a hard one!
It is not a sin for a woman to teach, but it is a shame, (most likely for the men).

A lot of it has to do with the way men and women think, and learn. There is a difference between men and women, women are more nurturing, there line of though is very different, they like to talk, or ramble.
Men take a direct route in thought, there quite, they do not like to talk.

Wives know what I mean "He does not talk to me"

It is best if there is a women's group.

Answer 8

Women are NOT allowed to lead during worship.
You should visit your local church of Christ where they strictly adhere to the New Testament.
Churches that allow women preachers, churches that give reverance to men, churches that deviate from the new testament are churches that have been tampered with by the will of man and not of God.
People just change things and say that they are changing with the times, or call things outdated, or they omit parts of the Bible, or they try to explain it in ways that satisfies themselves...

Answer 9

You get around that by realizing how heavily edited and male-centric the book is, how some is folklore and some is "he said, she said", and how anyone who believes in human rights, or equality of any kind probably can't logically reason putting 100% of their belief into a religion that forced women to marry men who had raped them.

Answer 10

Hypocrisy