Olympias was a determined woman who renounced her aristocratic lifestyle in order to devote herself to the church. She was an ordained deaconess and she founded and led a monastery. Olympias and her friend Chrysostom supported each other through difficult times.
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Marcella of Rome (325–410), a friend of Jerome, dedicated herself and her considerable talents and resources to serving the church and helping the poor. Here’s some information about this remarkable woman.
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Judith, Thecla, and Catherine of Alexandria are three heroines whose stories of conviction and courage are part of our history and heritage.
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In this article I look at the NT verse which mentions women elders and compare it with other verses. I also look at elders, men and women, in early Judaism. My claim is that the “older women” in 1 Timothy 5:2 may well have been more than just “older women.”
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Here are a couple of lines from the Acts of Peter about Candida, a Roman woman who instructed her husband in the faith sometime in the first century AD.
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This is the second part of a two-part series which looks at the women in the church at Smyrna in the post-apostolic period. This article focuses on Gavia.
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In Christian writings known as the Apostolic Fathers (late 1st and early 2nd centuries) we discover that women were active in ministry in the church at Smyrna. Part 1 looks at Alke (or Alce) of Smyrna.
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Several ancient Christian documents show that women were prominent ministers in the second century church. Two of these documents show that Theonoe and Myrte were prophetesses in the church at Corinth.
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The social world of the Roman Empire was patriarchal. Women were typically thought to be less capable than men, yet they were able to lead in certain contexts. This article describes four of these social contexts.
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In part 4 I look at the deacons in the Philippian church, and at the development of church offices in the apostolic and post-apostolic church.
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In Part 2, I look at what Romans 16:1-2 in the ancient Latin texts say about Phoebe. These indicate she was recognised as an official deacon (or deaconess.)
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This is part 1 of an in depth look at Phoebe of Cenchrea who is mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:1-2. Here I look at Paul’s introduction of Phoebe to the church at Rome. I also look at the ministry of certain women in the Gospels, and Tabitha’s ministry in Acts, and compare them with Phoebe’s ministry.
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