Women’s roles in the church are vital and we cannot deny that God has always been using women since Eve was created.
The early church grew significantly because of women’s critical roles in that era – from evangelism to charity to praying, leadership, and more.
In this post, we will discuss a woman’s role in the church today, as influenced by the women’s activities in the early church.
So without further ado, let’s get started!
5 Roles Of A Woman In The Church Today
In today’s generation, women are taking over roles that once belonged to a man. However, as much as they are gaining power, there are still many challenges and obstacles in their way. Read on as we look at 5 of the role of a woman in the church today: homemaker, wife, mother, daughter, and sister.
1. Women’s Evangelical Roles
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
~ Acts 20:24
Women are great evangelists, and they are usually the most enthusiastic. After all, evangelism is a task set before all Christians, both men and women (Acts 20:24).
In today’s church, women can follow in the footsteps of women who were dedicated followers of Christ in earthly ministry (Luke 8:1-3), and we’re among the 72 followers that Jesus sent out two by two to preach the gospel ( Luke 10:1-9).
Also, the Samaritan woman at the well did proclaim Christ as no one did.
After meeting Jesus at the well and experiencing the benefits of his presence, she went into her town immediately and called as many as would listen to come to the Messiah she had found (John 4:1-30).
Women And Evangelism In The Early Church
We also have women like Pricilla, who accompanied Apostle Paul on some of his missionary journeys (Acts 18:-19).
In today’s church, women should partake greatly in evangelism. They can be involved in activities like tract sharing, online preaching, missionary, and more.
2. Women’s Hospitality and Visitation Role
8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. 9 She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”
~ 2 Kings 4:8-10
The Bible has multiple records of women serving in hospitality roles.
Starting from the ancient land of Israel in Shunem, where the Shunammite woman would urge Prophet Elisha to come into her house and eat (2 Kings 4:8-10).
They’ve always contributed to the work of God significantly by their kind acts of giving, caring, and visitation.
Home-to-home visitation was the order of the day in the early church (Acts 2:46), and breaking bread was a must. So considering the culture of that era, women are the ones that would have served at the table, thereby championing that church activity.
Even in today’s church, women do the most visitation, showcasing their godly motherly love to other believers.
Women And Charity In The Early Church
Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
~ Acts 9:39
Hospitality, visitation, and charity have always been done best by women.
Jesus has women who follow and care for his needs using funds from their businesses (Luke 8:3).
Dorcas was famous for her many good works and helped the needy immensely.
She was generous enough to sew clothes for the people in her community, thereby attracting her society to God, which helped the church immensely (Acts 9:39).
We also have Lydia, who, after being converted, urged the Apostles to come and stay in her home. However, the Bible says she insisted they go and prevailed over them (Acts 16:14-15).
In today’s church, women are also needed to play these roles. It will help retain new converts, make less-active members active, and spread God’s love through caring and giving to the poor and needy.
3. Women’s Prayer Role
Women are mighty prayer warriors. In the book of Acts, the Bible mentioned severally that the church gathered and prayed (Acts 4:32, 2:40-42).
But one of the most notable of these prayer gatherings was in Acts 12, where the believers gathered behind closed doors and prayed for the deliverance of Apostle Peter.
After Peter escaped – thanks to God’s intervention – he went to the house of Mary, John’s mother, and a certain girl named Rhoda opened the door for him (Acts 12:12-14).
From this, we know that women were in the gathering.
Praying and leading prayers is one of the women’s roles in today’s church.
We, as Christians, are commanded to pray continually without ceasing ( 1 Thessalonians 5:17) because the prayers of believers are very effective ( James 5:16).
We can’t start talking about the benefits of prayer here. However, we can say that it is vital, and women in today’s church are encouraged to partake in it.
4. Women Teaching Role
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor[a] and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28 For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
~ Acts 18:24-28 (NIV)
In the 21st century, with the level of information overload and confusion everywhere, we need Christians that can teach and explain the scripture painstakingly to new believers and people in the faith.
This task women did in the early church should still be carried out in today’s church.
For instance, Priscilla was responsible for helping Apollos know more about the way of the Lord.
Apollos was a learned and enthusiastic Christian who boldly taught the scriptures to people in the temple, but he had limited knowledge, as all he knew was the doctrine of
John’s baptism.
But Pricilla – a Christian woman (along with her husband Aquila), took him aside and gave him a better understanding of God’s word (Acts 18:24-28).
5. Women Should Teach Their Fellow Women
and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
~ Titus 2:4-5 (ESV)
Also, in Titus 2:4-5, it became a biblical doctrine for women who have been in the faith for a longer time to be teachers, “If good things,” teaching the younger women as well.
Who can teach a woman better than another woman?
Women Should Teach Church Kids
Also, women have the role of teaching the children in their church.
Timothy was said to have learned the scriptures since infancy ( 2 Timothy 3:15), and this was because his believing mother and grandmother taught him (2 Timothy 1:15).
If we want Christianity to pass down from generation to generation, we need more women to occupy the roles of teachers.
5. Women Leadership Roles
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea.
~ Roman 16:1 (NLT)
In today’s church, we need more women serving in leadership roles because they are good at it.
The godly women leaders in the Bible times were more successful in their era – talking about Esther, Deborah, etc.
But it did not end there.
God still uses women to lead in critical positions in the church.
A Christain Woman Served As Deacon
As an example and role model, we read Phoebe, a deaconess of The Church of Cenchreae and highly commendable by the Apostle Paul (Roman 16:1).
The early church’s two most acknowledged roles are that of an Elder and Deacon.
So if a woman can become a deacon despite being in a high leadership role, then women in today’s church are also to take key leadership roles.
Some leadership roles women in today’s church can partake in include deaconess, ministry president, lead missionary, church secretary, Sunday school superintendent, etc.
God is waiting for them in that leadership seat.
Bottom Line
Women have lots of roles to play.
Even though history has tried to suppress some of the critical roles women can play, the Bible has remained to shine a light on these tasks.
There are numerous roles for women in today’s church inspired by the Bible, and these roles need more women to serve them.
