I’ve been busy these past few weeks and haven’t written anything new worth posting. So I thought I’d post links to some of my older articles about New Testament women who were leaders and ministers in their churches. (This list is updated whenever I post something new on these women.)
The Chosen Lady
The Elder and the Lady: A look at the language of 2 John
Who was the Chosen Lady in 2 John?
Kyria (“Lady”) in Papyrus Letters
Euodia and Syntyche
Women Church Leaders in Philippi
What were Euodia and Syntyche thinking?!
Priscilla
Did Priscilla Teach Apollos?
At Home with Priscilla and Aquila
Were there Women Elders in New Testament Churches?
Phoebe
Phoebe: Deacon of the Church in Cenchrea (Series)
Junia
Junia: The Jewish woman who was imprisoned with Paul
Junia in Romans 16:7
Is Junia well known “to” the apostles?
Junias and Junia in Early Commentaries of Romans 16:7
Philip’s Daughters
Philip’s Prophesying Daughters
Lydia
Lydia of Thyatira: The founding member of the Philippian Church
Lydia and the “Place of Prayer” in Philippi
Rahab and Lydia: Two Faith-filled Women
Apphia
Apphia of Colossae: Philemon’s Wife or another Phoebe?
Nympha
Nympha: A House Church Leader in the Lycus Valley (Col 4:15)
Chloe
“The Co-Elect” Woman in Babylon
Who is “she” who is in Babylon? (1 Peter 5:13)
Tabitha (Dorcas)
Tabitha: An Exemplary Disciple (Acts 9:36-42)
Various NT Women, including the Romans 16 women
Partnering Together: Paul’s Female Coworkers
A List of the 29 People in Romans 16:1-16
Paul’s Personal Greetings to Women Ministers
Paul and Women, in a Nutshell
Women Church Leaders in the New Testament
Working Women in the New Testament
Junia, Nympha, Euodia, Stephana(s): Men or Women?
Were Priscilla, Phoebe and Junia friends?
Jezebel of Thyatira
Jezebel of Thyatira: A Female False Prophet
Many of these New Testament women served the church in some way, a few as leaders:
Apphia, Chloe, the chosen lady, Claudia, Damaris, Eunice, Euodia, Julia, Junia, Lois, Lydia, Mary of Jerusalem, Mary of Rome, Nereus’s sister, Nympha, Persis, Philip’s daughters, Phoebe, Prisca, Rufus’s mother, she who is in Babylon, Syntyche, Tabitha (Dorcas), Tryphena and Tryphosa. Most of these women are associated with the apostle Paul.
Some women mentioned in the Gospels served Jesus and probably served the church also: Mary the Mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Salome, Mary and Martha of Bethany, and many others. I’ll give the Samaritan Woman an honourable mention. And I’ll mention Anna and Elizabeth also, even though they would not have lived to see the resurrected Jesus and did not have the opportunity to serve the church.
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Image
Fractio Panis (“Breaking Bread”) is a 2nd or 3rd-century fresco in the Greek Chapel in the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome. The fresco depicts seven people at a table. It has been suggested they are sharing a Eucharist meal; however, it is more likely they are sharing a funerary banquet. Dorothy Irvin suggests that all the figures are women. “The Ministry of Women in the Early Church: The Archaeological Evidence,” Duke Divinity School Review 45.2. (1980): 76-86. (Image sourced from Wikimedia.)
Related Articles
A Collection of Articles on Paul and Women
A Collection of Articles on the Male Priesthood and Women in Ministry
The First Century Church and the Ministry of Women
There are Women Pastors in the New Testament
Articles on whether women were pastors, elders/ presbyters, bishops/ overseers, deacons, or whether they preached in New Testament churches.