The ordination of women in the church has been a controversial issue for centuries. Church denominations opposed to ordaining women use biblical reference to support their position on the issue. Supporters of ordaining women in the church make the argument that women are equally capable of being church leaders. Although women weren’t official church leaders in biblical days, they did have authority in the church.

Ordination

Ordained church leaders are consecrated to perform religious rites and ceremonies. Ordination offices in the church include elders, deacons, and ministers. Ordained church leaders have the authority to preside over the sacraments of Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion. Church leaders are ordained by the church, but many church leaders also attend seminary school to prepare for their religious office. The role of women in the church is an ongoing debate. While some denominations have ordained women, other denominations restrict religious offices to men. A timeline of ordained women can be viewed by visiting http://www.religioustolerance.org/femclrg13.htm.

Opposition of the ordination of women

Many protestant churches refuse to ordain women because they believe a man should be the head of the church. There are many biblical references to support this argument. In the book of Genesis, God tells Eve that her husband will rule over her. In the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul states that man is the head of a woman. People who are opposed to ordaining women use these references to validate the opinion that God did not intend for women to be church leaders. Furthermore, there are no women in the Bible that were official church leaders. More biblical references to support the opposing viewpoint of ordaining women can be found by visiting http://www.teachingtheword.org/apps/articles/?articleid=75197&columnid=5449.

Church denominations that don’t ordain women

• The Southern Baptist Convention

• The Pentecostal Mission

• The Seventh-day Adventist Church

Supporters of the ordination of women

Although there is a great deal of opposition associated with the ordination of women, many denominations have ordained women as pastors. While the Bible does not reference any woman as official church leaders, there is evidence of women having authority in the church. Deborah served as a judge and Huldah was a prophet in the Old Testament. Priscilla is called a minister in the book of Acts and Pheobe is called a deaconess in the book of Romans in the New Testament. Supporters of ordination women imply the reason why women weren’t mentioned as official church leaders in the Bible is because they played a different role in society than women do today. The main role of women in the biblical days was of wife and mother. Furthermore, women were not as well educated compared to men.

Church denominations that do ordain women

• The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

• The Presbyterian Church (USA)

• The United Methodist Church

Ordaining women in the church has been a controversial issue for centuries. Denominations opposed to women being ordained use bible references to prove their argument. On the other hand, supporters of women being ordained assert that women did have authority in the church in biblical days. Women in the Bible assumed the role of judge, prophet, deacon, and minister.