Unpacking the Spectrum of Views on Women & Church Leadership

Authoritarian, Libertarian, the Left, the Right…political polling data of United States voters reflects a broad spectrum of beliefs about organizational leadership and governing policies. Similarly, yet in a different context, Christians hold a spectrum of beliefs on what the Bible teaches about women and their pastoral leadership.

If you were polled today, how you answer key questions about what women can do in the church, i.e. be a pastor, deacon, elder, teach men, perform baptisms, serve communion, reveals your theological framework of women and leadership. Exemplary scholars and theologians who hold to the essentials of the faith, have a high view of Scripture, and have deeply studied the Bible and church history about women and the church land in different “camps.” 

The Spectrum of Views About Women

Where do your beliefs fall on the spectrum of Christian views about women? Are you a traditionalist, in the complementarian camp, or an egalitarian?  Perhaps your view is best categorized as “unsure.” If unsure, you’re not alone because, unfortunately, the majority of believers including many pastoral leaders haven’t studied what the Bible says about women, how Bible stories of women inform us, and what Bible women’s words reveal about God and humankind.

Keep reading as I unpack the spectrum of views on women and church leadership, whether for a refresher or because you are seeking to learn and understand. I’ll begin with the traditionalists’ view.

Traditionalists

The traditionalist viewpoint, not to be confused with the view held by most complementarians, teaches that God created in his image only men, not women; and that women image God indirectly via men. Therefore, men are ontologically (by nature) superior to women. They believe the divine design is for females to function under a male hierarchy. In addition, the traditionalist view interprets the Fall (Gen 3:16) as teaching that women are more easily deceived than men.

Similarities Between Complementarian & Egalitarians

Before I move on to broadly defining the two major views—complementarian and egalitarian—it is important to highlight their similarities. While egalitarians and complementarians arrive at different conclusions on women’s functioning in the home and the church, both groups believe in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures. Both groups affirm that God created men and women with ontological equality (equality in their being), and created humankind in his image. They agree that women and men receive the same spiritual gifts. In addition, each camp acknowledges sex (male/female) differences—in other words, they affirm their differences. Finally, both views attest to the complementarity of the sexes in the church and family.

I’ll now define in broad terms the complementarian and egalitarian views.

Complementarians

The complementarian “view” is not one view. Complementarians hold a wide range of views within orthodox Christianity. Overall, most complementarians’ views differ in three main ways: (1) how they define authority, (2) the meaning they assign to the New Testament Greek word kephalē translated as “head,” and (3) the boundary lines in the church that women may publicly teach and lead.

While agreeing that both sexes are made in God’s image and are equal (in nature) before God, complementarians believe the Bible teaches “differentiated roles” for men and women. The belief in female and male “roles” is based on Bible creation stories (Gen 1:27; 2:18–23). These “roles” are defined in terms of an ideal masculinity and an ideal femininity—a “biblical pattern of mature manhood and mature womanhood.”[1]

The most restrictive complementarian view supports male hierarchy in spiritual and secular realms—all men are designed by God to lead. Regarding female submission—all women submit to all men. Complementarians falling in the middle range hold to varying degrees of male authority over females, including those who believe only in a husband’s authority over his wife as her “head.” Finally, the most unrestrictive view of women within the complementarian camp rejects a hierarchy of men over women, including in marriage. Instead, a wife voluntarily submits to her husband. Motivated by love, a husband rightly acts with self–giving love toward his wife.

The Bible verse frequently cited as the basis for a complementarian theology of women is 1 Timothy 2:12, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet.”[2]

Egalitarians

Egalitarians believe the Bible teaches the equality of men and women. In their understanding of the creation stories, the male and female “shared authority, responsibility, and purpose,” but the Fall precipitated women’s oppression.[3] While affirming the inherent biological differences between the sexes, egalitarians do not see differences in “roles.” Therefore, they reject limiting women’s gifts, abilities, and callings and “any created or otherwise God-ordained hierarchy based solely on sexual difference [emphasis theirs]” in the home or church.[4]

The editors for the newest edition of the book Discovering Biblical Equality define biblical equality as: “Women and men are made equally in God’s image and likeness (Gen 1:27), equally fallen (Rom 3:23), equally redeemable through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection (John 3:16), equally participants in the new-covenant community (Gal 3:28), equally heirs of God in Christ (1 Pet 3:7), and equally able to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit for life and ministry (Acts 2:17).”[5] Some egalitarians prefer the term “mutualist” as it best describes their theology of women.

Egalitarians’ capstone Bible verse is Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slaves nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ.”

Other Terms

Some scholars reject the labels of complementarian and egalitarian because they question whether either position fully reflects the biblical view. Some of these scholars include Michelle Lee-Barnewall, author of Neither Complementarian Nor Egalitarian, Lucy Peppiatt, author of Rediscovering Scriptures Vision for Women, Andrew Bartlett, author of Men and Women in Christ, and Christa McKirland, author of God’s Provision, Humanity’s Need: The Gift of Our Dependence. Lee-Barnewall advocates for an alternative viewpoint because she believes “the topic cannot be completely defined by either the complementarian or egalitarian viewpoint.” Peppiatt prefers the terms “hierarchicalists” rather than complementarian, and “mutualists” rather than egalitarian, because she sees her preferred terms are more reflective of the true theology. Peppiatt and McKirland are self-described “mutualists.” 

I hope these descriptions of the various Christian theologies of women are helpful to you. It is a complex topic. As I stated in my previous blog post titled “In Church Leadership, Where Are the Women,” what you believe about women matters! It matters because how you view women impacts the majority of your relationships in the home, community, and church.

Theology of Women Academy is opening for enrollment soon. Join the Waitlist now for the first opportunity to enroll in my online course in early 2023. Enrollment only opens 2 times a year. In this self-paced course, I teach all the necessary Bible passages and historical data to move you from confusion and uncertainty to confidently being equipped to form your beliefs on women and church leadership.

[1] John Piper and Wayne Grudem, eds., Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, 54.

[2] Sarah Sumner writes that 1 Timothy 2:12 serves as a complementarian “boss verse” (a term she coined), in other words, this Scripture verse takes priority over other verses because it serves as a “guiding hermeneutic” for their theology of women in the church.” Similarly, she writes that the “boss verse” egalitarians prioritize is Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slaves nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ.” In Sarah Sumner, Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2003), 127–128.

[3] Margaret Mowczko, “The Biblical Basis of Egalitarianism,” July 27, 2022, https://margmowczko.com/biblical-case-for-egalitarianism/

[4] Ronald W. Pierce, Cynthia Long Westfall, eds., Discovering Biblical Equality, 2.

[5] Pierce and Westfall, Discovering Biblical Equality,