Deacons, Widows, and Churches Silencing Women (1 Timothy)
- Elaine R Kelly
- May 3
- 8 min read
Were women deacons, elders, and overseers in the first-century church?
Yes, the Bible names Phoebe as a deacon, Priscilla as a teacher, Junia as an apostle, and a number of other women as hosting or leading church congregations in their homes. Jesus equipped women as disciples and commissioned them as apostles. Women and men as created equally in God's image, with some women and men empowered by the Spirit to preach and teach.
Women deacons, elders, and overseers - until Church Councils restricted them.
Let's look at evidence from church fathers, from ancient art, and from the Bible that shows women serving in ministry. They were called priests, deacons, and widows. The Office of Widow was for any woman, regardless of whether she had been previously married, who was consecrated to for vocational ministry. The Office of Widows was parallel to the Office of Elders, and both supervised male and female Deacons.
Then we will look at how Christian Councils through the centuries have added limitations or restrictions on what women may do.
Men's Urge to Restrict Women
While the Bible gives evidence of God affirming women in ministry and Jesus bringing freedom for both men and women, men have often tried to restrict women. While Levite priests and the twelve apostles were Jewish men, the church today has no problem removing the Jewish qualification, allowing Gentiles to serve. However, it often retains the male aspect of the apostles as a qualification, prohibiting women from serving.
Augustine speculated that Adam had a more developed mind and lived by his superior reasoning capacity, qualifying him to lead. Eve had an undeveloped intelligence and lived according by the instincts of the body, making her easily deceived and unqualified to lead. Augustine suggested that only men possess the full image of God. Rosemary Reuther calls this ‘perhaps the ultimate core of misogynism’[1]. Augustine defined childbearing as a woman’s only strength, stating, “I cannot think of any reason for a woman’s being made as a man’s helper, if we dismiss the reason of procreation.” [1b]
Evidence of Church Fathers that God created "Men" as Male and Female Persons
In the sixth century, rumours spread that only men had souls, based on the ambiguity around whether the word 'man' meant "male and female humans/mankind". At the sixth-century Council of Macon, clerics discussed the idea that women did not have souls [2]
There came forward at this Council a certain bishop who maintained that woman could not be included under the term “man.” However, he accepted the reasoning of the other bishops and did not press his case for the holy book of the Old Testament tells us that in the beginning, when God created man, “Male and female he created them and called their name Adam,” which means earthly man; even so, he called the woman Eve, yet of both he used the word “man.”
The bishops at the Council of Macon agreed that women and men both have souls, both being made in God's image.
This issue of whether or not women are included in the term "man" was central to the 1929 Person's Case [3]. Nellie McClung and the Famous Five brought a case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled that women were not "persons" according to the British North America Act, therefore ineligible to serve as Senators. However, they appealed to the Privy Council of Britain and won. Women were included in the definition of "men" and deserved the right to hold political office.
Like many early feminists, Nellie McClung was motivated to advocate for women's equality because of her Christian faith. McClung noted that the United Church of Canada's formational documents said that Christ called "men" to ministry. Using the Person's Case, she said that the word "men" included males and females.
Even today, churches find it convenient to sometimes agree that "man" includes males and females, and sometimes it does not. Some of today's theologians talk about a woman only being a partial reflection of God's image, while the man is a full reflection of God's image. Some say that once the male and female are united, their combined forces result in God's full image. Paul uses the unity of marriage to illustrate the unity of Christ and the Church, not to discuss who is in God's image (Ephesians 5). In fact, Paul supports Christians being either single or married, and does not suggest that a married person more fully represents God (1 Corinthians 7). Paul asserts that no one can boast about coming first, since all things come from God (1 Corinthians 11:12). Women and men are each fully in God's image and God equips and authorizes each of us equally (Genesis 1:27-28).
My novel has a character who reflects men's shock at the idea of women speaking. His words are inspired by a second-century Greek philosopher, Celsus, who said, “[Christians] show that they want and are able to convince only the foolish, dishonourable and stupid, only slaves, women and little children.[4]”
Evidence in Ancient Art that Affirms Women Leading in Ministry
My upcoming novel portrays Maria, Jesus’s mother, as a leader in the early church. She officiates communion, teaches disciples, and commissions apostles for mission trips.
Scholars are now writing about how Jesus’s mother and other women played a key role in the early church.
In her book, Mary and Early Christian Women, Dr. Ally Kateusz shares historic research showing Maria as an early church priest or overseer[5].
Ancient art and manuscripts show women as priests, bishops, and overseers officiating at holy communion. Historical evidence shows women were martyred for serving as evangelists, patrons, deacons, and priests in the early church for several centuries.
Evidence in 1 Timothy that Demonstrates Women in Church Leadership
Like me, Sandra Glahn, looked through history and found an unbroken chain of women in ministry in every century [14] dating back to the early church.
Then Sandra Glahn discovered that the early church had an Office of Widow with requirements and responsibilities parallel to the Office of Elder [6]. Traditionally, it was understood that 1 Timothy 3 is about church leaders, 1 Timothy 4 is about being a good leader, and 1 Timothy 5 is about the duty of leaders to serve poor widows. Glahn discovered the parallelism in the requirements for elders, deacons, and the office of widows.
She quotes Roger Grayson, author of The Ministry of Women in the Early Church, where he concludes, “Up to the end of the nineteenth century, historians of the early Church often identified deaconesses and widows as if these two different titles corresponded, for those who held them, to the same function.” Grayson argues, “One thing is undeniable: there were in the early Church women who occupied an official position, who were invested with a ministry, and who, at least at certain times and places, appeared as part of the clergy. These women were called ‘deaconesses’ and at times ‘widows.’” Perhaps past theologians concluded women were not clergy because early women clergy used the title "widow" or "virgin" instead of the title "deacon".
Glahn also notes that the second-century theologian, Tertullian, ranked widows with clergy. The Order of Widows included any unmarried woman, including virgins and single women, in addition to women with deceased husbands.
Women were involved in serving Holy Communion and in providing Baptism. It was improper for men to baptize women, since baptism by immersion involved holding the person being baptized, and this person was often nude to symbolize rebirth.
The sixth-century Council of Epaone repealed the office of widows, calling them deacons[7].
Below, I compare the requirements to be an Elder, Widow, or Deacon.
Elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7) NRSVUE | Deacons (male and female) 1 Timothy 3:8-13 | Widows (1 Timothy 5:9-22) |
|---|---|---|
married only once (vs. 1, 12); women likewise faithful in all things. | married only once (vs. 12) | married only once (vs. 9) |
Temperate, self-controlled, respectable, an apt teacher, not a drunkard, not violent, gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money (vs 2-3), well respected by outsiders (vs 7). | tested and proved blameless (vs 10). Not slanderers, but temperate and faithful in all things (vs. 10) | attested for her good works, helped the afflicted, devoted to doing good (vs. 10). Compensated by relatives or by the church. Those who preach and teach may be worthy of double compensation. (vs. 16-17). |
hospitable (vs 2) | shown hospitality (vs. 10) | |
manage the household well, keeping children respectful (vs. 4-5) | manage household well (vs. 12) | raised children (vs. 10) |
Not a recent convert (vs 6) | do not ordain anyone hastily (vs. 22) |
Early Christian Councils Recognize and Restrict Women in Ministry
Women in the early church served as church leaders until later Christian Councils divided clergy and lay people and regulated women’s activities. After Emperor Constantine became a Christian, the church established a divide between orthodoxy and heresy, clergy and laity. Constantine called together male bishops at the AD 325 Christian Council of Nicaea, defining orthodox or true, authentic Christian beliefs. Michele R. Salzman states that in the fourth century, the persecution of Christian heretics became a higher priority than the persecution or conversion of pagans [8].
He called together the AD 325 Christian Council of Nicaea, which declared that women deacons were lay persons and prohibited from being ordained [9]. The AD 364 Council of Laodicea prohibited women from being ordained as presbyters (elders). The AD 451 Council of Chalcedon declared that a woman could not be a deacon unless she was at least forty and never married. In AD 494, Pope Gelasius condemned women for officiating the Eucharist, limiting the role to men.
Jewish law called unclean any man with excrement or "discharge from his member" (Leviticus 15:30) and any woman during the seven days of her menstrual period (Leviticus 15:19). However, as Christianity became dominated by Gentiles who did not understand Jewish law, Christians came to call all men clean all the time and all women unclean all the time. Christian Councils did not consider that women who were not menstruating for 75% of each month, nor about 50% of their lives after menopause. Christian clerics argued that women were unclean and that touching a woman disqualified a man from touching sacred objects, so therefore priests were to remain celibate[10]. Being unclean prohibited women from marrying, from administering sacraments, such as baptizing, officiating communion or marriage ceremonies, and laying on hands for confirmation, commissioning, or ordination.
The sixth-century Council of Macon placed abbeys under the authority of bishops, taking leadership away from the abbess and prohibiting women from touching or transcribing Scriptures. The seventh-century Council in Trullo suggested that an ordained priest set aside his wife and she should enter a monastery (canon 48); it prohibited women from speaking “at the time of the Divine Liturgy” (canon 70)[11].
In the sixteenth century, women such as Katharina Schutz Zell[12] and Argula Von Grumbach[13] preached in support of the Protestant Reformation, even as male Protestant Reformers largely criticized women for speaking publicly. Christian Councils have repeatedly attempted to silence women, but nevertheless, in every century since Christ, women have preached[14].
Conclusion
Records from church fathers, ancient art, and scholarly biblical commentaries show that women were involved in responsible positions in the early church. They were patrons, deacons, apostles, evangelists, and church planters. See how that may have looked in action by reading my newest fiction: Finding Her Voice, from Broken to Bold: A Novel of the Earliest Female Apostles.
Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine. Her books include:
Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1, A Novel (2022)
The Sword: A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role (2023)
Because She Was Called from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church (2024)
Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience (2024)
Finding Her Voice from Broken to Bold, Book 3, A Novel of the Earliest Female Apostles (coming October 2025)
[1] Matthew V. Brown, “The ‘Woman’ of Augustine of Hippo”, October 30, 1990, CBE International, https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/woman-augustine-hippo/
[1b] Brown, ibid.
[2] Michael Nolan, "The Myth of Soulless Women", First Things, April 1, 1997, https://firstthings.com/the-myth-of-soulless-women/
[3] Tabitha deBruin, David Cruickshank, "Persons Case", Canadian Encyclopedia, February 7, 2006, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/persons-case
[4] Michael J. Kruger, “How Early Christianity was Mocked for Welcoming Women”, July 13, 2020, Canon Fodder, https://michaeljkruger.com/how-early-christianity-was-mocked-for-welcoming-women/
[5] Kateusz, Ally. Mary and Early Christian Women Hidden Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-11111-3
[6] Sandra Glahn, “Is having women in ministry really a recent invention?” May 28, 2021, Fathom Magazine, https://www.fathommag.com/stories/is-having-women-in-ministry-really-a-recent-invention
[7] “Council of Epaone", Wikipedia, Accessed 7 May 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Epaone
[8] "Religious Policies of Constantine the Great", Wikipedia, Accessed 7 May 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_policies_of_Constantine_the_Great
[9]“Ordination of women and the Catholic Church”, Wikipedia, Accessed 3 May 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordination_of_women_and_the_Catholic_Church
[10]Phylllis Zagano, “Married priests and women deacons: It’s about law, not doctrine”, National Catholic Reporter, October 22, 2019, https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/just-catholic/married-priests-and-women-deacons-its-about-law-not-doctrine
[11] “Council in Trullo (A.D. 692), New Advent, © Kevin Knight, Accessed 7 May 2025, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3814.htm
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