Can women be pastors but not elders?
Obviously, egalitarians have long contended that they can. But did you know that there is a “complementarian” case for women serving as pastors? The argument goes like this: Yes, it is true that the office of elder is reserved for men as qualified by scripture. But rightly understood, pastor is not an office in the New Testament but a gift. Since the Holy Spirit gifts both men and women for service and since one of the gifts is pastoring, we should expect to see women serving as pastors. Again, serving as pastor is different from serving in the office of elder. While all elders will have the gift of pastoring not all who have the gift of pastoring will be elders. Thus, women can be pastors.
This is a novel understanding of the terms for pastor in the New Testament, but it is nevertheless a viewpoint held by some evangelicals. One of my own seminary professors, the late Harold Hoehner, made a case for this view a little over a decade ago in the The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, where he writes:
A woman, then, may have the gift of pastor-teacher, apostle, evangelist, and prophetess (as Philip’s four daughters—Acts
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
