Should a preacher or pastor be a man or a woman?
As believers we are commanded to go out “into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). What exactly does this mean? This command appears to be for all believers but what does Scripture say about women preaching? And are women qualified to be preachers or pastors?
Non-biblical definitions
When we look up the words that are equivalent to pastor and preacher in Webster’s 1928 dictionary, we find something like this (1):
P’ASTOR, noun [Latin from pasco, pastum, to feed.]
1. A shepherd; one that has the care of flocks and herds.
2. A minister of the gospel who has the charge of a church and congregation, whose duty is to watch over the people of his charge, and instruct them in the sacred doctrines of the christian religion.
BISH’OP, noun [Latin episcopus; Gr. of, over, and inspector, or visitor; to view, or inspect; whence, to visit; also, to view. This Greek and Latin word accompanied the introduction of christianity into the west and north of Europe.]
1. An overseer; a spiritual superintendent, ruler or director; applied to Christ.
Ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned to the shepherd and bishop of your souls. 1. Pet.2.
2. In the primitive church, a spiritual overseer; an elder or presbyter; one who had the pastoral care of a church.
PRE’ACHER, noun One who discourses publicly on religious subjects.
1. One that inculcates any thing with earnestness.
ELDER
(not in this dictionary)
Biblical definitions
Many words are used interchangeably to mean Pastor, but if we study the origins of the words, we can see that they are not all the same. Most people will agree that Pastor and Bishop are the same, especially in evangelical churches. In addition, Pastors, Bishops, Preachers and Elders may all have the gift of teaching and should use that gift to proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One other thing to note is that a Biblical principle is offered by Paul as he exhorts women not to usurp authority over the man (1 Timothy 2:12). Preaching requires authority and therefore when men are present the preacher should be a man.
We see these titles and offices in the Bible as follows:
PASTOR
From the Hebrew ra’ah – to tend a flock; a shepherd
Jeremiah 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 17:16; 22:22; 23:1-2
From the Greek poimen – [noun masculine] a shepherd
Ephesians 4:11 (translated as shepherd in 17 other places)
BISHOP
From the Greek episkope and episkopos – [noun masculine] superintendence of the Christian
1 Timothy 3:1-7; 3:2; 1 Peter 2:25; Titus 1:7
PREACHER
From the Greek kerysso and keryx – [noun masculine] to herald (as a public crier) especially divine truth (the gospel)
Romans 10:14; 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11; 2 Peter 2:5
ELDER
From the Greek presbyteros – [noun masculine] a senior, member of the celestial council.
Acts 6:12; 1 Peter 5:1-5
Qualifications for pastors
To understand whether or not a woman may be a preacher or a pastor, again we need to look to the Bible for qualifications. Most churches will use 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9 for guidance to consider at least five areas to qualify as a pastor/preacher:
1 Timothy 3:1-7. “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Titus 1:6-9. “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
To summarize, as a Pastor:
- He must be blameless
- He must be the husband of one wife (not more than one if married)
- He must be apt to teach
- He must be in charge of his own house so he can take care of the church
- He must be a good teacher and teach the doctrine which he has been taught
Final Thoughts
I realize that this can be a very sensitive subject however I have searched the Bible, and I have not found anywhere it tells us that women are qualified to be in leadership as preachers or pastors. When the Bible uses a word that is translated to preacher it is always a masculine noun.
I urge you to study this out for yourself. If you can find Scriptural support for women as preachers or pastors feel free to share it in the comments below. It is my humble opinion that there are plenty of things for women to do in the church and we ought to step aside and let the men lead as the under Shepherd of Christ. Women teaching women is encouraged, especially the older women teaching the younger women (Titus 2:4-6). But women teaching (and preaching to) men is discouraged (1 Timothy 2:12). I pray that Holy Spirit guides you in your study as He has for me.
(1) Webster, Noah. 1828. “Websters Dictionary 1828 – American Dictionary of the English Language.” Websters Dictionary 1828. 1828. https://webstersdictionary1828.com/.
