This is a portion of an article written by Barbara Collins. For the full article and much more on this subject please visit http://www.godswordtowomen.org/ website. These are women who know their call and are helping other women to realize theirs as well. They were instrumental in helping me through some rough waters a few years ago. I will be eternally grateful to the Lord for raising them up 'for such a time as this'.
- Tara Dorroh

     "The church in many ways is a sort of potter's field, where the gifts of women, as so many strangers, are buried. How long, O Lord, how long before man shall roll away the stone that we may see a resurrection."

Phoebe Palmer in her work
"The Promise of the Father" written in 1869

     What is a "helper?" Since Adam even needed a helper shows us that he needed more than he was in himself.

     The traditional Jewish interpretation quoted in the article is right on--the combined Hebrew word meaning "a helper who stands opposite but on the same level with a sense of equivalence that is often lost in translation." Adam's counterpart, then, is not identical but complementary, offering mutual support through companionship. Woman's role as helper does not mean she is an inferior assistant created for man's comfort, pleasure and use. Nowhere in the creation account do we see man ruling over woman, and woman living out the idea that she was created to serve her husband. The man ruling over the woman was a consequence of sin but was removed at the Cross. (Gen. 3:16) In the beginning, man and woman were co-workers and co-regents ruling together. That truth holds under the Old Covenant as well as the New.

     “Head,” as used in the passage (Eph 5:21-33 ), doesn’t mean "authority over" or "superior rank," but rather it means "source of life" that nourishes and enables. As Christ is the enabler of the church, so the husband is to enable and bring to completion all that his wife is meant to be. The husband is to nourish and cherish his wife as he does his own body, even as Christ nourishes and cherishes the church (v. 29). For an amplification of headship in the New Testament, see God's Word to Women, by Katherine Bushnell, p. 128-136.

     "The concept of sacrificial self-giving so that a spouse can achieve full potential has been the role traditionally given to the wife. Here Paul gives it to the husband." (Who Says a Woman Can't Teach? by Charles Trombley, p. 131.) Self-giving involves mutual submission (v. 21) as the husband learns how to yield to and become one with his wife. As her head, he has the source of strength to make or break her. The wife submits to her husband "as unto the Lord." Likewise, the husband submits to her and God's desire for her.

     A distorted view of male-female, man-woman, and husband-wife relationships will always relegate woman to a secondary and inferior position. In present-day restoration, God doesn't want us to return to the fallen state of Gen. 3:16 where the husband is ruling over his wife. Rather, He wants to restore us to the place of our being co-laborers and co-rulers with Him over the universe, fish, and birds, but never over one another. Nowhere in the New Testament is the husband instructed to rule his wife. As co-equals in the household, the husband and wife share jointly in that rulership.

     Since the Apostle Paul gets the blame for restricting women from serving as pastors, his words need to be closely examined in light of the whole of his teachings as well as in the context and cultural atmosphere in which they were written to determine what Paul really meant. Long ago, when the hierarchical leadership model was adopted; the ministry of laymen and laywomen disappeared and paralyzed the ministry of the Body. Since many today are members of churches that have been organized beyond the New Testament pattern, countless individual gift ministries either lie dormant or are seldom used. God hates the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which represents the whole clergy/laity system. (Revelation 2:15)

     What happened to women's ministry following its glorious initiation in the early church as women were delivered from Jewish traditions as well as the Gnostic heresy which included male superiority? Women’s ministry all but disappeared along with the decline of Christianity in general in the first few centuries when apostasy crept in, which included the doctrine of a select priesthood. Women were ordained as deacons in the early church. By the third century, they were being called "deaconesses," and their ministry was looked upon as something less than a male deacon. Charles Trombley said the progressive decline of women's status and acceptance in the church reached a peak in the fifth century when "the church's mistrust and misunderstanding of women was complete; the women were back in bondage again." (Ibid, p. 207)

     "The elect lady," to whom II John is addressed, was indeed a church leader. The term "elect" was used to designate the overseer (bishop/elder) of a church. Most scholars agree that in the early church, there were no differences between episkopos (bishop) and presbuteros (presbyter or elder). Both words describe the same office. For an insightful article on women pastors, go to www.godswordtowomen.org and click "History," then "Women Pastors" to read an article by Kathryn Riss about other women who fulfilled the role of pastor such as Chloe, Lydia, Nympha, and Priscilla.

     The release of women into their God-ordained ministries is vital to the life of the Body of Christ. If Paul is correct in saying that no distinction exists between male and female because we are all one in Christ Jesus, then the wall of male dominance, superiority, and exclusive right to eldership must come down along with all of our other prejudices toward other races and denominations. The Body of Christ will never reach that full stature, maturity, and completion until all members, including women, make their own unique contribution to that completion of His personality in His Body. (Ephesians 4:13, Amp.)

     The lack of the release of women in the Church has given rise to the warped women's liberation and feminist movement. Jessie Penn-Lewis in her book, The Magna Charta of Woman, originally published in 1919, wrote: "God's time has come for the emancipation of women, but it will be woe to the world and a terrible loss to the Church if they are not won for Christ and for His service. For it is certain that if Christ does not get hold of the women today, the devil will." She concluded by saying that it will be woe to the "serpent" and to his kingdom when the women he has so oppressed and persecuted lay hold of the fact of his utter defeat at Calvary and in the power of their triumphant Christ turn upon their foe in assurance of victory. (p. 103) When will women's emancipation come? When the Church recognizes that the Spirit of the Lord doesn't operate by gender but by anointing, release will come.

     How can women have a part in carrying and speaking the gospel since they're supposed to be silent in the Church? Is the scripture in Acts 2:17, which quotes Joel 2:28-29, inerrant? --And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. . . Or, is it ignored when it doesn't fit into our theology box about women? God's prophetic word in Psalms 68:11 is yet to come to pass: "The Lord gave the word; great was the company of those who proclaimed it." (NKJV) "The Lord gives the word; (of power); the women who bear and publish the news are a great host." (Amplified) Did David's prophetic psalm miss the mark, or is it God's desire to restore woman to her before-the-fall condition? How can women publish, proclaim, preach, or teach the gospel to anyone except children and other women without "usurping authority" according to traditional interpretation?

     All Christians, including women, need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit for His interpretation of controversial scriptures concerning women rather than relying on the prejudices and biased opinions that have been passed down through the centuries in a spirit of patriarchy that is anti-women. Then, a hastening of the fulfillment of Psalm 68:11 will be possible.

     They're coming! Don't you hear them marching? It's that great company of women that the Lord is assembling to bear and to publish the good news. If you're a man, do you rightfully acknowledge the freedom in Christ by His blood that women have to carry and minister the gospel as well as their freedom from the bondage of Christian traditions that have been humanly interpreted? If you're a woman, let the Lord know that you don't want to be left out. Ask Him to wash you of all the false concepts about who you are and what you can and cannot do and to give you His divine ability to rightly divide the word of truth. Further, ask Him to propel you into the destiny that He has ordained for you.