Library    >    Subject Guides   >   Ministry Topics   >   Women in Ministry

Subject Guide: Women in Ministry

Topic Overview

Women in ministry can be influenced by the hierarchical view of headship of men called the Complementarian position, or the view that men and women are equal in the Church called the Egalitarian view. Given the history of the Holiness and Pentecostal traditions, many of these resources will more heavily address the Egalitarian position. 

Recommended Books

Thomas C. Oden

Chapter 4 covers women in pastoral office and eldership. 

Scholarly Books

Available Books
Locked/Paid Books
  • (paperback) Thomas C. Oden, Pastoral Theology: Essentials of Ministry (Chap. 4: “Women in the Pastoral Office”)
  • (paperback) Deborah Menken Gill, “The Pastorals,” Life in the Spirit: New Testament Commentary, eds. Arrington and Stronstad, Chap. 1 Tim. 3. (Keener is heavily quoted.)
  • (paperback) William J. Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis, 2001. This addresses the hard passages, putting guardrails so that slavery and homosexuality are not advocated for.
  • (paperback) Ruth A. Tucker, Women in the Maze: Questions and Answers on Biblical Equality. This is a historical examination of the Reformation and other points in history.
  • (paperback) Drummond, Women of Awakening
  • (paperback) Sumner, Men and Women in the Church
  • (paperback) Ruth A. Tucker and Walter Liefeld, Daughters of the Church: Women and ministry from New Testament Times to the Present.
  • (paperback) Burgess and McGee, “Women, Role of,” Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charistmatic Movements (DPCM).

Recommended Journal Articles

Craig Keener and other authors
Dr. Jon Ruthven

This covers Galatians 3, the filling, anointing, and joint-heirs position of women in Christ.

Bernadette Brooten, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University
Background: She directs the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project and is a “lesbian scholar.” These articles are listed for their archeology and historical content, not for their theology.