Paul's Female Co-workers Respond to Him as Pastor - imagining the conversation

Introduction

Paul's letters are striking for the number of female associates mentioned, and for Paul's high regard for them. In 2014 I was asked to present a paper entitled "What pastoral advice would Paul have given to his female co-workers?" Given the difficulty of the hypothetical title, that there is little specific advice given by Paul to his female co-workers,1 and that most of Paul's pastoral advice would be relevant to both men and women,2 I decided to flip the question. Intrigued by Paul's warm greetings to several female co-workers in Romans 16, I began to imagine the responses of both first century and contemporary female co-workers to Paul and his teachings.

Before beginning this reflection, it is worth highlighting the prominence of Paul's term 'co-worker'. In Acts and Paul's letters there are up to ninety people who could be described as co-workers.3 Several men are specifically named.4 Named women are fewer overall, yet it is noticeable just how many there are- Priscilla, frequently mentioned before her husband, is named five times;5 Euodia and Syntyche;6 Phoebe, a deacon and benefactor; Junia, an apostle, and other women are especially named and described as "labouring hard for the Lord."7 Indeed, of the nineteen people named in Romans 16, ten are women!8 This is a disproportionate representation of women for first century times.

What are the possible explanations for the fact that Paul singles out so many women? It is likely simply because there were just so many of them, and their active ministry alongside men was normal. In addition, one could suggest that their leadership was not always readily accepted, and Paul wants to affirm them before the rest of the church.

The number of women and the recognition Paul gives them shows how female co-workers were considered part of the team in gospel ministry. Co-workers were participants in Paul's preaching and teaching, and in church planting and pastoring. There is nothing about the way he speaks of female co-workers which gives any impression that their work was any different to the males'. Paul's letters and Acts give evidence of women exercising leadership functions, serving as prophets, teachers, deacons, and apostles.9

In my presentation, I firstly imagine that these women are writing to Paul. They draw from a range of Paul's letters, even though in reality they would not have had access to them all. Then I imagine that 1 am writing to Paul from my own perspective today. In doing so I don't claim to represent all first or 21 century women co-workers, nor all their issues. Moreover, because the style is a creative exploration rather than a standard bible study, I will not be engaging in detailed exegesis of passages.10 The paper draws on Paul's teaching, and his pastoral approach that might have been particularly transformative and applicable to women co-workers. I do hope, however, that my imaginative approach will provide fresh impetus for reflection and discussion. Sources for some of my presentation can be found in the footnotes.

To set the scene, take the time to read Romans 16:1-16. I recommend the NIV 2011 version.

From your dear sisters and co-workers with Christ in Rome.

To our brother Paul: grace and peace to you.

We gathered eagerly to hear your important letter delivered by our sister, Phoebe.11 She is a woman of great abilities and character. She faithfully read your letter out to the church, and stayed for several weeks, continuing to clarify the difficult parts of it. We believe you would be pleased with Phoebe's ministry as your personal representative.12 We were glad to respect and welcome her, as you urge us to do for all God's co-workers.

We send her back to you with much love and heartfelt prayers for you, and for Phoebe's continued ministry as deacon of Cenchreae and the church in her home.13 We also send her back with a letter to you from us. We wanted to write to tell you how much your teaching has helped us as your associates in the gospel of Christ.

Firstly we are heartened by your greetings, and for calling us your co-workers. We know that is your favourite word to describe the ministry that we have alongside you.14 We are astounded that, even though the Lord has granted you to be an apostle, you call yourself a co-worker, and count yourself partner with all who toil for the Lord, both men and women. You honour us women as equals, not subordinates. Indeed, the honour of the title 'co-worker' has not come from our gender or position, but in recognition of the service, sacrifice, and suffering for the sake of others and for the gospel.15 In this regard, you know well that Junia was imprisoned for proclaiming Christ. She is an esteemed fellow soldier, and has done much to encourage the churches to stand firm in the capital of the Empire.

We cannot tell you how thankful we women are for the gospel. It has given us a new freedom, dignity and confidence. The work of Christ, who died and rose for all, has opened a new era in relations between humans and God. You describe this change as so radical as to be called a "new creation" 16 All believers participate in this new creation on the same basis, as the Spirit of God has united us to Christ by faith. Junia was one of the first to believe and receive the Spirit; 17 and all of us are justified by grace and have been given the same Spirit to drink.18 As you know, the fundamental divisions of the Empire, which indicate a person's rank and value, are all based on power and gender and race. But in Christ, those standards no longer hold sway.19 This is beginning to have revolutionary social implications amongst us as the new people of God. Jews and gentiles are enjoying table fellowship, and slaves and free, and men and women are participating together in ministry.

Unsurprisingly, taking on these new responsibilities in the body of Christ has not been without its challenges for us. 20 However, your teaching on gifts has been vital - the Holy Spirit makes no gender-distinction in the giving of gifts, and you encourage all to use them according to the grace given to each of us. 21 Your main concern is that we use our gifts for the benefit of the body. 22 Such teaching is startling. According to our society's philosophers it is the men who are considered to have greater value, and more capacity for virtue than women. In the Empire the men have the high status and can participate in religious and political life.23 But from the start of our Christian communities, women have been working alongside men as co-workers. Priscilla is a fine example. She and her husband Aquila now lead a church in their house. She is a gifted teacher. Recall how she explained "The Way" more clearly to the great Apollos in Ephesus? 24 Some of the men here initially questioned her ministry. However as you taught, our validation does not come from letters of recommendation, but from God. Moreover, Priscilla is being commended by her teaching and godliness, and the fruit borne in peoples' lives as a result her ministry.25

Paul, we also find instructive your use of both masculine and feminine images for your ministry. You describe the gentleness of your ministry using the metaphor of a breastfeeding woman caring for her infant children. 26 You also use the metaphor of a father who encourages and comforts his own children.27 If you, Paul, can pastor in both a motherly and fatherly manner, then it suggests that we can too. This helps us to see that leadership is not masculine, nor is it somehow unfeminine for women to lead. Of course, as we exercise our ministry you urge us to do so with sensitivity. You affirm our ministry of prayer and prophecy, two highly significant ministries in the gatherings. 28 But you advise us to be mindful of the interdependence of men and women, 29 as well as maintaining gender differentiation through our traditional head-coverings. 30 We see this as reflecting your principles of orderly worship, unity in diversity, and conduct which commends the gospel.

For a woman in our culture, even speaking in public is often seen as inappropriate. Nevertheless, you underscore the legitimacy of our ministry by stating that though a woman might be the glory of man, she also has her own covering, which is her authority upon her own head. 31 Please pray for us women co-workers that we will know how to balance cultural considerations with exercising our ministry in obedience to God.

Priscilla and Aquila are a great team both in their leatherwork business and in leading the church. Your teaching about marriage and singleness has been transformative. Women are always under some man's rule, whether it be a father, husband, guardian, or brother, and society's household codes instruct the husband to rule his household.

But whilst we live out our faith within the societal structures of our Empire, you teach us to do so with gospel motivations rather than simply because of the chain of command. 32 You teach interdependence between husband and wife, and a relationship of love and service in the context of mutual submission. 33 Moreover, the fact that you value singleness as an option is daring, for women have virtually no other choices available than to marry and bear children. 34 Girls are married to their father's choice at puberty or soon after. A good marriage is important for ensuring the family's status in society. Unmarried daughters are to remain confined to the home in order to maintain their modesty and not bring shame on the family.35 But you highlight the priority of the gospel. Both men and women are able to choose marriage or singleness. Some of our women and even some of our men have chosen not to marry.36 This has been particularly radical and liberating teaching for us, since you imply that in the gospel, women lack nothing - we do not need to have a male head, and we can be free to assume roles in the community other than those of wife or mother. Some of our women with a call to evangelism and prophecy are beginning to choose this alternative. You even go further to point out the advantages of singleness for living in undivided devotion to the Lord.37

Lastly, Paul, in our culture, where the household is considered the building block of the empire, please pray that our churches model what it means to live as the household of God. 38 Pray that unbelievers will witness the diversity of Christians using their gifts, and loving, serving, and instructing one another, in such a way that it witnesses to the unity and purpose that Christ brings.

Finally, we pray that you may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and all the preparations for your mission to Spain are successful. We long for your arrival. 39 May the assurance of our prayers for you be as much comfort to you as your teaching has been to us.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Dear Paul

Two thousand years have passed since my female co-workers first toiled for the gospel and sought to put your teaching into practice. A lot has changed in our society. You wouldn't recognise it. Women are leaders at the highest levels in education and politics on equal level with men, and many women even have short hair, and it is not seen as unfeminine.

I received Jesus as Lord during my final year at university. University is a bit like one of your schools of moral philosophy, though less moral. I have been a co-worker in the gospel now for 24 years. I thank God for the men and women who have encouraged me along the way. My experience of ministry has been full of joys. I love working in teams with men and women, teaching the Scriptures and equipping the people of God for ministry. I thank God for this privilege, and for the opportunities He has given me to study theology and exercise my gifts.

Paul, I can say with sincerity that your teaching on singleness has been incredibly helpful for me. You pointed me to the priority of pursuing Christ above all. Though I never set out to choose singleness, your teaching on the validity of singleness, protected me when I was tempted to believe that I needed a husband to be complete or to have a place in the church. This is still a radical message for our churches today! I can also attest to what you say about the advantages of singleness. I have been freed from many of the burdens of my married female co-workers who struggle to balance self-care, family responsibilities, theological training and ministry work. Some women with children can only do what they do because their husbands are so supportive. But the reality is, the lion's share of the care still falls on the wife.

As a single, I may be free from those concerns, but there are many other issues that are common to all of us women. Undoubtedly the biggest question for me has been legitimacy, that is, whether as a woman I have the right to teach and lead as I do. Sometimes others question my legitimacy. Sometimes I face my own internal questioning - am I being disobedient to God, as some suggest? Men never have to justify themselves, or their positions in ministry simply because they are men. But deal with these questions we women must.

Paul, I am sure that your teaching on women in ministry was clear to Phoebe and Priscilla and the others, but it isn't clear to everyone today. Did you have any inkling that the meaning of your writings would be so highly disputed? Many such as myself see you affirming women as equals in ministry. Yet there is also a widespread doctrine of what is called "male headship". This teaches that the man is ordained by God to lead in the home, church, and the wider world, and that your command for wives to submit is normative today. Women's role should be focussed on the home. 40 Well, the debate doesn't look like resolving any time soon. But it is not just a theoretical or academic question for us women. It affects our lives.

More ink has been spilled over 1 Timothy 2:12 than any other verse. Many claim that you are clearly prohibiting all women for all time from teaching men. This is despite the dozens of women you affirm as co-workers, and prophets, a role which edifies the church and must involve teaching. 41 I spend my fair share of time helping men and women to understand this text. One of the first questions I'll ask you when I meet you in heaven is what you meant by authentein? It is the only time you use that word, and it has the idea of exercising authority in an objectionable manner. 42 Many scholars do, however, conclude that a universal prohibition should not be made from this text, which is still so hotly debated, which contains an unusually high number of obscure terms, 43 and which was written to address the situation of false teaching in Ephesus.

Paul, it comforts me to know that you also faced situations where your ministry and message were questioned. I know that it caused you distress. 44 But you are a great model to me of someone confident of your identity "in Christ", and what Christ had called you to do. You always sought to have a clear conscience before God. Sometimes of course, you were forced to defend yourself and your motives. That informs my approach with the women who come to me for guidance on this issue as they seek to respond to Christ's call. The women need extra assurance and resources to help make sense of your writings. It can be tempting for them to ignore the issue. I urge them to earnestly study the scriptures with the help of the Spirit and the wisdom of the church, and whatever decision they come to, to act on it confidently, with a clear conscience. In the end, they always find it important that you affirmed partnership in the gospel, and the contribution of men and women collaboratively in ministry.

That makes a big difference, because most women co-workers struggle with confidence and courage. Many books on church leadership are from men's point of view, or assume that pastors are male. The names and faces on conference brochures, and church planting networks are usually men. What a contrast to Romans 16! Lack of confidence leads women to self-select out of ministry roles because they think they have to be superwoman or as gifted as or better than men to be accepted.

Women are often the minority on teams and can struggle to find their voice. It doesn't help that women have fewer models of women in prominent ministry roles. At times of discouragement, I bolster them with your command to Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."45

Paul you might also be surprised that women are confused about how to lead. Sometimes they are told to be assertive and lead "like a man". At other times they are told that if they lead, they must do so "like a woman", that is, they should maintain so-called "feminine" distinctives like humility, submission, and non-assertiveness. But you don't emphasise power or position, and you never talk about masculine and feminine styles of leadership. You are very concerned that churches have good leadership, but you consistently associate leadership with humility, service, and sacrifice, as we proclaim Christ, and build up God's people.

Sadly that is not always prominent in the Christian literature on "becoming a leader." You know, Paul, I have never read a best-selling leadership book on being a slave for Christ! But if leadership is primarily understood through the lens of servanthood rather than gender, then women co-workers have many models to look to, both in men and women. Indeed you yourself provided such a model - in Philippians you urged us to imitate you, not because you were a male, but because you imitated Christ. Women co-workers don't need to be urged to be like men, but like Jesus.

That's probably a good place to end, though there is much more to say about issues female co-workers face today. It might alarm you to know that some regard you as anti-women, but to me you have never been a foe and always a friend. Your gospel is good news to me as a woman, and you give me a vision of a new community in Christ. It is that sort of community that I am deeply committed to developing. You warmly include women in your sphere of ministry as colleagues in the gospel, and you praise their active contributions to church life. In affirming women as full disciples you reflect to me the ministry of Jesus. And for that I am eternally grateful.

From your sister in Christ,

Anthea This article was first published in Giles, K. and Cooper-Clarke, D. (2017) Women & Men: One in Christ: CBE National Conference ‘Better together 2017’, Melbourne, Australia Denise Cooper-Clarke & Kevin Giles, editors. Melbourne, VIC: Christians for Biblical Equality.

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1. The limited times Paul gave advice specifically to women in ministry situations was when dealing with some disruption involving women in the church community. So, Euodia and Syntyche are leaders in the church in Philippi who were in some conflict with each other (Phil 4:2-3); and Paul provides instruction to women generally ( Cor 11:2-16; 14:34-35; 1 Tim 2:8-15).

2. For example, teaching on godliness, relating to different age groups, dealing with false teaching, guarding the truth of the gospel, and the central place of the Scriptures in ministry (1 and 2 Timothy; unity (Phil 4:2-3); equipping God's people for works of service (Eph 4:12); the right of gospel-workers to be paid (1 Cor 9:14; 1 Tim 5.18b) etc., is not gender-specific.

3. E. E. Ellis, "Paul and His Co-workers" in Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, eds G.F.Hawthorne, R. P. Martin, D.G. Reid, Downer's Grove, III: IVP, 1993, 184.

4. Amongst some named men are Timothy, Aquila, Urbanus and Stachys, Titus, Epaphroditus, Aristarchus, Barnabas, Philemon, Mark, and Luke, and, Clement.

5. Acts 18:2, 18, 26; Rom 16:3; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim 4:19. It is suggested that the placement of her name before her husband's is a reflection of their equality as a team, and perhaps even her prominence.

6. Phil 4:2-3

7. Paul's phrasing "work hard in the Lord" is another way he describes

8. Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, Junia, Narcissus, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus' mother, Julia, Nereus' sister. There are also many unnamed women in the list. It is not clear how many of these unnamed women were considered Paul's co-workers.

9. Acts 18:26; 21:9; Rom 16:1-2, 7; 1 Cor 11:5, 13; 1 Tim 3:11-22.

10. Space does not allow me to do justice to the debates surrounding the interpretation of several complex and contested texts.

11. Many scholars suggest that Phoebe was the letter carrier for Romans, eg. M. S.

    Harmon, "Letter Carriers and Paul's Use of Scripture", Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters, 4.2 (2014), 139.

12. Studies into first century letter carriers shows that they were more than couriers.

    They often played the role of personal envoys in place of the author's presence, and were authorized to explain the contents further. Harmon, "Letter Carriers", 129-148.

13. The Greek word diakonos may express an officially recognized title for a local church leader at the time (Rom 16:1 NIV11, NRSV cf. ESV, NASB, HCSB); Keener draws our attention to the fact that translators often interpret the word "deacon" as

    "minister" for men and "servant" for women, revealing a bias against women. C. S.

    Keener, Paul, Women, and Wives: Marriage and Women's Ministry in the Letters of Paul, Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1992, 39.

14. Bilis, "Paul and His Co-workers",184.

15. Women's work was generally not mentioned, let alone honoured in the first century world, perhaps in part because the majority of tasks women did took place in the home, L. Cohick, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians: Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009, 226. In this context, Paul's esteem of their labour for the gospel just the same as men is transformative.

16. 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:14-15.

17. Ellis, "Paul and His Co-workers", 18%.

18. Gal 3:28; 1 Cor 12:1-7.

19. 19 Gal 3:28; Col 3:11.

20. Educated women and female philosophers could be charged by men for seeming

    "bold' or forward in their public demeanour, and talent at public speech could be connected to sexual promiscuity, Cohick, Women in the World, 243.

21. "If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy, if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach...if it is to lead, do it diligently..."(Rom 1:6b). See also 1 Cor 12:1-31;

    Col 3:16-17. Peter also makes no gender distinction (1 Peter 4:10-11).

22. 1 Cor 12:7; 14:5b, 26b.

23. Few women had leadership roles. Some places such as Philippi and Rome may have offered more freedoms to women, but generally speaking, women ought not to be seen or heard. Wealthier women may have been educated, but certainly not the female slaves, Cohick, Women in the World, 190, 315, 320. Cohick describes how social status and the role of benefactor allowed women some voice and freedom of movement without risking social condemnation.

24. Acts 18:26.

25. 2 Cor 3:1-6.

26. 1 Thess 2:7b. Trophos could refer to a wet-nurse, or it could mean a mother nursing and rearing her chidren. J. P. Louw, E. A. Nida, eds., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, New York: United Bible Societies,

    1988, 35, 52.

27. 1 Thess 2:11-12a

28. The prophetic ministry, its importance, and women's place in it can be found in Paul's teaching in 1 Cor 11, 12, 14.

29. See 1 Cor 11:3-12 where the point of this difficult section seems to be that the first man was the source of the first woman, but the man has his birth through the woman.

    And God is the ultimate origin of both.

30. Or hairstyles (this is debated).

31. 1 Cor 11:10. As Morna Hooker puts it, "Far from being a symbol of the woman's subjection to man, therefore, her head-covering is what Paul calls it - authority: in prayer and prophecy she, like the man, is under the authority of God", M. D. Hook-er, "Authority on her head: an examination of 1 Cor 11:10", NTS, 10 (1963-64), 416.

32. Note that the household code in Eph 5:21-33 begins with a call to mutual submis-sion, and is striking for the way it addresses slaves, children and women, not just the household's paterfamilias (see further footnote 40).

33. These qualities were absent in many marriages in Graeco-Roman society. The advice on marriage and singleness in 1 Cor 7:1-40 is the same for men and women, and the symmetry of verses such as 1 Cor 7:3-5 is counter-cultural.

34. Most men had no choice either. Marriage was mandatory. Bachelors were forbidden

35. Even widows were expected to remarry within 2 years, Cohick, Women in the World, 104

36. The radical nature of Paul's teaching on singleness as an option is to be seen against a culture where "to die a virgin is to die having only half lived", Cohick, Women in the World, 64.

37. Again, see 1 Cor 7.

38. Eph 2:19; 1 Tim 3:15.

39. Rom 15:24, 28, 31.

40. See Paul's household codes which describe the relational order between various members (Col 3:18-4:1; Eph 5:22-6:9, Tit 2:2-10). The Graeco-Roman household codes were the cultural norm for promoting familial order and cohesion of the Em-pire. Paul is adopting this norm, but the vexing question is how these texts should be applied today. For a good discussion of interpretive models see M. Bird, "What Do We Do With The Household Codes Today?" in E. Murphy and D. Starling, eds, The Gender Conversation: Evangelical Perspectives on Gender, Scripture, and the Christian Life, Macquarie Park: Morling Press, 2016, 63-72.

41. 1 Cor 14.

42. See, for example, the study by J. Hübner, "Revisiting authenteo in 1 Timothy 2:12:

    What do the Extant Data Really Show?"SPL, 4. 1 (2015), 41-70.

43. J. Hübner, "Revisiting the Clarity of Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:1", Priscilla Papers, 30.3 (2016), 18-25 originally published in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 59.1 (March 2016), 99-117.

44. Consider, for example, the letter of 2 Corinthians.

45. 2 Tim 1.6-8

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Rev Anthea McCall (1961 - 2022) submitted an article for publication on Fixing Her Eyes in 2018. We are thankful to be able to share this paper which was first presented at the 'Paul as Pastor' Conference at Ridley College in August 2014, and then at the Annual Conference for the Melbourne chapter of the CBE August 2015. We are thankful for the encouragement she shared at the time and her ongoing legacy. Below is what Dr Brian Rosner wrote about her passing. Dear friends of Ridley,

It is with great sadness that we write to pass on the news of the death of our dear colleague and friend, Anthea McCall, after a long illness, which she faced with dignity, grace, and profound trust in the promises of the Lord. Anthea died late yesterday afternoon, 28th April.

We have known Anthea as a faithful Christian, and as a bright and beautiful person who enjoyed the company of family and friends. We loved her humour, her matter-of-fact way of dealing with problems, her acts of kindness to faculty, staff and students, and her evident joy in the Lord. Along with the Ridley College community, her long-standing housemate Andrea, the community at Merri Creek Anglican and neighbours from church, formed for her a cherished community, especially during recent lockdowns.

Her contributions to the life of the College have been significant since she joined the faculty in 2007. She taught Greek and New Testament, served as Dean of Students, ably assisting Richard Trist as Assistant Dean of the Anglican Institute, and was very much involved in the development of the Women’s Writing Group, the Women’s Preaching Network, and Evangelical Women in Academia. At College, her preaching and mentoring were gifts to the next generation of leaders whom she trained. She resigned from Ridley at the end of 2020 to manage her deteriorating health.

With those who were closest to her, we grieve but not without hope. She is now enjoying her eternal reward as a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus, whom she loved.

In Christian fellowship

Brian Rosner

Principal, Ridley College