The Role of Men and Women in Worship

I’d like to answer the simple question, “What can women do in a worship service?” On one hand, this question sounds awkward or unusual because God created men and women as co-equal persons. Both genders equally express God’s image and both share equally important roles in fulfilling God’s plans and purposes for the world.

On the other hand, though both genders share equally important roles in God’s purposes, he has assigned certain responsibilities to men and other responsibilities to women. By doing so, he has not elevated or valued one as more important than the other, nor has he indicated that one is more intelligent and capable or prone to sin. Both reflect God’s image to the same degree, and both fill equally important roles and purposes in the world, though these roles are different and distinct to some degree.

God has assigned to men the domestic/family responsibility of guiding, protecting, and providing for the home. He has assigned to women the parallel responsibility of bearing and caring for children and supporting or assisting her husband. These are different and distinct roles but equally important.

Now, there is a sense in which a church is a spiritual family, since we are brothers and sisters in Christ. This being the case, the Bible teaches that God has assigned some distinct roles to men and women in the church as well as in the home, though we’re often unsure what this distinction entails.

In a church like ours, some may feel that women can do a lot of things in a worship service but aren’t sure where Scripture says this. Others may feel that women should have a reduced role because the NT says that “women should be silent,” yet these are unsure how ‘silent’ women should be because total silence seems unreasonable.

We must be faithful to God’s plan and confident in our practice.

We need to answer this question from Scripture so we can be faithful to God’s plan and confident in our practices when we worship God together as a church. We don’t want to silence women unnecessarily on the one hand, nor do we want to assign them roles which contradict Scripture. We don’t want to be more restrictive than the Bible, nor do we want to be uncertain about what we allow and encourage women to do.

As I explain what women can do, I will generally explain what they should do rather than what they can do, since women are equally important members and participants to men in the church. God does not merely allow or permit them to do things as though they are secondary members. Either they should do something, or they should not, and if they should, then they should do so wholeheartedly and not as a secondary participant.

Before we look at some clear New Testament teaching, I will provide some background from the OT period and also from the intertestamental period, which was the 400 years between the OT and NT, just prior to the start of the church era. With this background, I will highlight a potential tendency people to limit the role of women in worshiping God more than God does.

We tend to limit the role of women in worship – perhaps too much.

Though this tendency may arise for some well-intended reasons, such as a desire to uphold male headship or leadership against a culture and world that rejects this God-given value, there is no virtue in being “more careful” or “strict” than God himself.

During the intertestamental period, Jews worshipped God at a rebuilt temple (called the “Second Temple” since it was another temple built after Solomon’s Temple had been destroyed by invaders). This temple featured a space called “The Court of the Women.” Both men and women could enter this space, but only men could move further into other areas. Jews practiced similar limitations for women in their worship at local synagogues, too, and rabbis also prohibited women from participating in public prayers, only permitting them to pray privately at home.

This limitation of women in public worship was a new development, not even derived from the OT law. Instead, this limitation was just one of many instances of how Jewish religious leaders had developed extra-strict practices and then enforced such practices as though such teachings represented how God wanted them to worship him.

Jesus spoke out dogmatically and passionately against such extrabiblical requirements, which he criticized as “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt 15:9). There is no virtue in being stricter than Christ. Being so is just as risky or problematic as disobeying him.

Knowing this background should cause us to pause and smile widely when we about the prayer meetings recorded in the NT book of Acts as a backdrop and prelude to the start of the church. Luke tells us that the men who had been the closest followers of Christ gathered together for a prayer meeting, and they did so “with the women” (Acts 1:14). This brief little phrase tells us that these men did not ask the women to leave the room and it also indicates that the women prayed, too, just as the men prayed. They did not follow the extra-strict protocols for a prayer meeting which the rabbis had insisted upon.

So, what can women do in a church worship service? I’m glad you asked!

Women should not be pastors.

The NT consistently portrays pastors as men and never as women. And according to the personal requirements for being a pastor given by Paul, pastors can only be men because only men can be husbands and fathers (1 Tim 3:2-5; Tit 1:6).

By pastor, I am referring to the leading role in the structure of a church. The NT refers to such persons by various terms, including bishop (“overseer”), elder(“leading man”), and pastor (“shepherd”).

I will explain one key function of a pastor in a few moments, but since a pastor (or pastors) leads a church, women should not do things in a worship service, for instance, which are essentially or exclusively associated with this pastoral role. In the simplest sense, then, women should not exercise ultimate oversight or be the final decision-maker in things pertaining to a worship service.

Pastors should carry this responsibility. This does not mean that women cannot have a significant role in planning and conducting a worship service, but rather that pastors should be the primary leader and take ultimate responsibility for what is said and whatever occurs.

In my church experience over the past four decades, I’ve noticed a tendency for churches to bundle together numerous church functions as “leadership” and then limit those functions to men as a result. Though we do generally allow women to play instruments and sing songs (which is not “being silent”), we tend to prohibit other functions such as being a greeter, an usher, or giving announcements. Yet there’s no compelling reason to be so restrictive since these functions are not inherently “pastoral leadership” in nature. I am aware of no clear biblical teaching, for instance, which prevents a women from serving as an usher.

That being said, I’d like to highlight four specific functions which women should do just as well as men in any given church worship gathering. These functions are singing, giving testimonies, praying, and reading Scripture. After I give the biblical rationale for why women should do these things in the church, I will present one thing which women should not do in a church worship service, and that is teach and interpret Scripture.

Women should sing. (Eph 5:19)

According to Eph 5:19, every member in a church gathering should speak to one another through songs. Doing so includes playing musical instruments by logical and reasonable extension, but it primarily includes the actual verbal communication of lyrics, too.

Furthermore, the NT never goes further to specify “music leadership” as an exclusive pastoral function. Though we may add “leadership” to any function and designate it as such, Scripture does not attach this concept to musical practices in a worship service.

This simple observation indicates that either a man or woman could serve as a director, speaker, or vocalist in those moments when a congregation sings, as someone who serves us all by introducing a song, singing a song, making comments about a song, or encouraging and helping us sing better.

For this reason, there is great value in involving both men and women in our worship team. Doing so is a very biblical practice and an appropriate way for both men and women to serve in the church.

Women should give testimonies. (Eph 5:20)

According to Eph 5:20, every member should also be available and willing to “give thanks” when we are gathered together for worship. This result of being “filled with the Spirit” is just as much a verbal expression as singing is, a fact which we may easily overlook. This word (eucharisteo) means more than to feel thankful but includes expressing thanks in an outward, verbal way.

So, when the church is gathered for worship, men and women alike should be given equal opportunities to express their thanks to God through public testimonies. These testimonies should include testimonies about answered prayer, notable blessings and intervention from God, encouragement and insights from Scripture, and recounting their conversion to faith in Christ.

Women should pray. (Acts 1:14; 1 Cor 11:5, 13; 1 Tim 2:1, 8-9)

According to the NT, as we already noticed from Acts 1:14, women and men prayed together from the earliest moments – and even before – of the start of the church. Not only were they both present in the same room during moments of prayer but they both actually prayed. By prayer we are referring to the basic but religious practice of speaking to God in a worshipful way – approaching and speaking to him as God.

The NT doesn’t forbid women from praying in a public worship service, but it rather assumes they will do so and encourages the same. That said, Scripture does provide two helpful guidelines to keep in mind as women participate in worship.

According to 1 Cor 11, ladies should pray in a “head-covered” way. In some cultures, this entails an actual garment or hat on the head and in other cultures this entails noticeably long hair, both serving as a visual reminder that though they are praying just as the men are praying, they have not disregarded or usurped the role of men as leaders in the church and home.

Though not every culture expects such a visual reminder, the NT is very clear that what matters is not the outward form (which may differ between cultures) but the inner disposition of a woman’s heart. When she prays, she should do so in a way that exhibits a submissive spirit not a forceful or belligerent one. A woman should not be domineering, forceful, or interruptive in her prayers or other speaking in the church but should participate with the approval and support of both her husband and pastors.

Paul explains this further in 1 Tim 2:8-10, in which he urges both men and women in the church to pray in the public gatherings of the church. In these verses, he encourages women to make choices that will not draw undue attention to themselves. He uses gawdy, attention-getting jewelry or hairstyles and flamboyant, noticeably expensive clothing as choices to avoid.

Instead, he encourages making apparel choices which are balanced, reasonable, and appropriate for worship, since worshiping God together as a church is not the time to make an attention-getting fashion statement but is rather a time to direct our thoughts and hearts towards God. We should be careful not to create a rigid set of rules and regulations on this point but should encourage one another to make wise choices in this regard, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us.

In 1 Tim 2:8, Paul also gives similar guidelines to men who pray, encouraging them to “lift up their hands,” and to do so with hearts that are holy, at peace with God and neighbor (“without wrath”), and confident in God (“without doubting”). As such, men should avoid angry outbursts, vengeful diatribes, bitter or sarcastic words, and inappropriate humor as they are worshiping God.

Women should read Scripture. (1 Cor 11:5)

In the earliest NT years, God enabled various church members to prophesy. Most literally, to prophesy means “to speak the words of another.” When the Bible mentions prophecy, it refers to how certain people have spoken the words of God for other people to hear.

Some believers suggest that there are different kinds of prophecy. For instance, some suggest a distinction between “foretelling” and “forthtelling.” To be sure, some prophecy in the Bible is “foretelling” because it foretells what will happen in the future. But this is not a different kind of prophecy than the rest. It’s simply what some prophecy does. Some prophecy tells us things about the future while other prophecy simply gives straightforward information or instructions that God wants us to know. That’s why the entire Bible is called “prophecy,” not just those passages which foretell the future (2 Tim 3:16).

Some suggest that there are two “levels” or “grades” of prophecy. They say that some prophecy, esp. the Bible, must be completely accurate and must contain no false or mistaken information. Then they will say that other prophecy, a secondary level so to speak, must generally be true but may also include a “human element” and may therefore not be entirely true.

These people often mean well and are sincere and will offer the prophecy of Agabus as an example, who prophesied that the Jews would imprison Paul in Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-12). They suggest that Agabus was correct in his prophecy about Paul being imprisoned but that he was wrong about encouraging Paul not to go to Jerusalem as a result. The problem with this interpretation is that the Bible doesn’t include his encouragement for Paul not to go to Jerusalem as part of the prophecy. This was simply the personal conclusion of various people who heard the prophesy about Paul’s imprisonment. Agabus’s prophecy was correct but his personal conclusion was wrong.

So, prophecy in the Bible is always and only one thing – speaking the very words of God that God has given you to speak with 100% accuracy. If you claim to speak a prophecy from God but end up being anything less than 100% accurate, then you are a false prophet that we should avoid (Deut 18:20-22).

Now, in the earliest years of church history, believers did not have a complete copy of Scripture for the NT had not yet been finished. During that time, God enabled various believers in churches to speak his words to their churches when they gathered for worship, and these believers included both men and women (Acts 2:17; 21:9; 1 Cor 11:5).

This being said, such prophecy no longer occurs in churches today. It occurred at key moments in OT history and at the start of the NT era, too, but today we have a complete prophecy from God as provided in Scripture (1 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:19). To hear prophecy today, we read from the Scripture. If you want to know what God says, then read and study God’s Word.

So, if prophecy no longer occurs today, then how does this fact affect how women may serve in a worship service? I’m glad you asked! If a woman could speak the words of God to a church in the earliest years of church history before there was a NT, then women should be able to read God’s Word in the church today.

Just as prophesying was not strictly a pastoral function, so reading Scripture should not strictly be a pastoral function either. Pastors should read Scripture to churches, for sure, but not only pastors should do this and not only men should do this either. Women should read Scripture, too.

Women should not teach. (1 Cor 14:34-35; 1 Tim 2:11-14)

As cooperative and involved as women should be in a church worship gathering (more cooperative and involved than is often the case today), there is one particular function which the NT assigns to men and not to women. In our desire to inclusive – as inclusive as Scripture teaches – we should be careful and conscientious allocate this one function to men alone.

Not only does the NT teach us this perspective, but the early centuries of church history also indicate that there is scant to no evidence of women serving as pastors in churches. A surge in recruiting woman for pastoral roles is a relatively modern phenomenon without a strong precedent in church history.

Two times, the NT specifically states that women should be silent in the church.

“Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive.” (1 Cor 14:34)

“Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.” (1 Tim 2:11)

When we read these statements, we know that our culture considers such statements to be restrictive and outdated. Yet, because we are committed to following the authority of God’s Word in our lives and as a church, we must accept what these statements say whether our culture appreciates this practice or not. The key question we must ask, however, is what do these statements actually mean?

We would all probably acknowledge that we can’t read these statements as a demand for total and complete silence, otherwise we could not allow women to do the things we’ve already showed from Scripture that they should do – sing, pray, testify, and read Scripture. We could also not allow women to speak at all, which means they couldn’t say anything from the start to end of a worship service. So, since total silence isn’t the point here, then we must understand what kind of silence Paul has in mind, and we can answer that question from the surrounding context of these statements (the statements before and after these statements are made).

In 1 Cor 14, the context before and after this instruction focuses specifically on the kind of speaking that entails interpretation and understanding prophecy and Scripture.

In 1 Tim 2, the context following this instruction of silence focuses similarly on matters of teaching, interpreting, and making leading decisions of a spiritual nature.

Knowing this, we can conclude then that though women should sing, testify, pray, and read Scripture, they should not teach, preach, or be the doctrinal decision makers for the church. In moments of that nature in the full gathering of the church, women should step back and let the men do the talking.

This limitation has nothing to do with a woman’s ability. It is not due women being less capable at interpreting and understanding Scripture, less skilled at teaching, more emotional, or being more easily susceptible to false teaching. I know quite a few women, including my wife, who are skilled Bible students and teachers and who are quite emotionally stable. I also know quite a few men who are not skilled Bible students or teachers, who are not emotionally stable, and who are easily prone to false teaching.

The limitation here has everything to do with God’s created design and order in the world. Just as everyone is not assigned to be an officer in the military and not everyone who works at NASA can be in charge, no matter how intelligent they may be, God has assigned to men the responsibility of interpreting God’s Word and making corresponding decisions as a result.

Now, a wise man will work closely together with his wife, if she is also a believer, as he seeks to understand and make decisions about God’s Word. Yet, he is the one who must make the final determinations of this kind for their family and home. The same principle applies in the church as well. Men – esp. pastors – should take responsibility for interpreting and teaching God’s Word to the church. In this way, women should be silent.

I say “esp. pastor” here because after giving these instructions to women in 1 Tim 2, Paul immediately transitions to giving the qualifications for a pastor as though that’s what he specifically had in mind as he wrote the last words of 1 Tim 2 (1 Tim 3:1).

Also, notice how Paul connects this teaching back to the Garden of Eden (1 Tim 2:13-14). Paul observes that the reason for assigning this interpretive, leadership responsibility to men both in the home and the church was based upon the order of God’s creation – he created a man first and then a woman. The irony, though, was that the woman – Eve – sinned first and Adam followed.

Paul is not suggesting that women are more easily deceived. If you’ve observed people long enough, you know men are just as easily deceived as women – and sometimes even more so. Instead, Paul is pointing out that Adam abdicated his leading role by letting Eve make the decision of determining or interpreting what God had said and she concluded that it would be okay to eat the fruit in that case. She was wrong, of course, but not because she was a woman. Adam would’ve made the same decision and indeed he did.

The problem here has nothing to do with the man or woman’s aptitude to interpret God’s Word but with the social order for doing so. Men and women should work closely together on this, but men should take the leading role, owning the final decisions and doing the teaching for the church.

To be clear, women can teach God’s Word.

We know they can do so for children and teens because that’s how Timothy had learned God’s Word, from his mother and grandmother. (2 Tim 3:14-15, cf. 2 Tim 1:5)

We also know they should do so for younger women (and other women) in the church, as Paul told Titus to arrange in the churches on the island of Crete. (Tit 2:3-5)

We also know they can do so in tandem with their husband, just as Priscilla and Aquila discipled and taught a man named Apollos in the city of Ephesus (Acts 18:24-26). What’s fascinating about this married couple and their teaching ministry is that Priscilla is frequently named first ahead of her husband, which is an abnormal sequence that indicates she may well have been the more informed, involved, or influential of the two when they discipled men like people together. Still, these sessions occurred together with her husband present, supportive, and involved and were small group sessions not the entire gathering of the church.

Will we be faithful to God’s plan and confident in our practice?

In conclusion, I trust that we will be a church who involves women in our church worship services in all the ways that Scripture presents while also assigning the role of interpreting, teaching, and doctrinal decision-making to men, esp. the pastors.

As we’ve learned from Eph 5:21, we should all – men and women, members and pastors alike – submit ourselves first and foremost to the truth of God’s Word and then also to one another. Even the men and pastors of a church should exhibit this humble, servant mindset to the rest of the church.

Yet, in our commitment and desire to uphold male headship and leadership in our families and church, we should also be careful to respect and value women as equal contributors and participants in all the ways that Scripture not only allows but encourages, for they are equal partners and members in our families and church, made in the image of God, with abilities, backgrounds, spiritual gifts, skill sets, talents, and experiences which we all need.

In this way, we may take our next steps in following Christ together as a church, “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Eph 4:16).

In conclusion, I will offer four points of personal application to prayerfully consider:

Will we thank God for the ways that women are able to serve him in the church, including in our worship services?

Will we all – men and women alike – wholeheartedly participate in worshiping God together as a church?

Men, are you taking responsibility for the doctrinal teaching and spiritual direction of your family?

Women, are you submitting to and supporting your husbands at home, esp. as they are endeavoring to provide doctrinal and spiritual direction for the home?

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