Women Pastors

By Rebekah Prewitt

Many times we can hear the wrong voice in our heads and think that the voice is God’s. In reality, however, the voice is actually leading us to step outside of the will of God. In this book, you will get a glimpse into the lives of famous women preachers like Anne Hutchinson, Phoebe Palmer, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Catherine Booth, Maria B. Woodworth-Etter, and Aimee Semple McPherson. These women thought they were hearing the right voice, but like so many women preachers both past and present, contending with them was to fight a losing battle. They dogmatically refused to hear. If you, however, are a woman who has “ears to hear,” then this book will be a blessing to you. In Women Pastors you will discover the struggles women pastors face, the importance of hearing the right voice, common arguments for women pastors, and the Biblical answer to this heated issue.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rebekah Prewitt
• Release date: Nov 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005080204

Rebekah Prewitt

Rebekah is the wife of Billy Prewitt. She is also a Bible based Pentecostal Christian Counselor. She holds a PhD in Christian Counseling and operates in North Florida, USA. Visit LakeCityCounsel.com to learn more.

Book preview

Introduction

In the last two hundred years, and since the propagation of the Women’s Movement, there is no question that there have been major changes in the roles that women play in society. From politics to business, women have advanced and are advancing, but their pursuits have not just ended there. Even in the house of God, what was once unthinkable is now being widely accepted as an increasing number of women are occupying pulpit positions in the Church.

Pastor, a title which was once ascribed to the man, is now also being assigned to the wife and to the unmarried woman. From gigantic billboards to church websites, female ministers are being boldly and vibrantly featured. Some are co-pastors with their husbands while others are the senior pastors of their own churches. They preach the sermons, cast the vision, baptize the people, and administrate the church.

The issue of women in the pulpit, however, has raised no small stir. The number of people who oppose the idea seems to equal the number who support it. Some insist that it is perfectly fine for women to assume leadership roles in the Church while others argue that this conflicts with Scripture. What do you think? Is there anything wrong with a woman being a pastor?

Looking into the religious denominations to secure the answer to this question, a person may conclude that he or she has the right answer, but with the major denominations disagreeing on the woman’s role in the pulpit, which one is right? One denomination generously allows for women to receive ordination and pastor churches while another strictly prohibits women from holding credentials and being bishops. Again, who is right?

I must say that for most of my life, I grew up in Pentecostal churches and spent many years in a major Pentecostal denomination. In fact, even though I am no longer part of that denomination, I am still a Pentecostal. I firmly believe in the power of the Holy Ghost for today with all of His wonderful gifts, mighty operations, and the rhema word, but after careful examination of the Scripture, I was sickened to discover that the denomination in which I grew up has significantly erred from what the Bible actually teaches on this subject. Because of their (as well as other denominations) open stance of women in the pulpit, I saw that many women have been encouraged not only to violate the Scriptures but to boldly teach others to do the same.

I remember when my husband and I had started our first church. For a very short time in my life, I thought I was supposed to share in the pastoral duties with him because this is what I saw other women doing. My ignorance and faulty understanding, however, produced unnecessary conflicts

in my life. These were the same conflicts that other women pastors have shared. For example, the aggressive Catherine Booth, co-founder of The Salvation Army and a major proponent for women in the pulpit, is said to have been plagued with a concern that she not appear superior¹ in respect to her husband.

I have also learned that women who share the office of pastor with their husbands (co-pastor) are in a tumultuous place. It places the wife in a position to have serious wrestling with her husband and even causes strife between her and her parishioners. For instance, every time the husband does something that rubs the wife a little wrong, the wife might feel like he is challenging her authority. As another example, if the wife does not receive the same respect from the congregants that her husband receives, she might expend all her energy in trying to secure that respect. On the other hand, if she receives more attention in her ministry than her husband, she may find that it makes her husband unhappy.

Single women pastors also wrestle with their role in the pulpit just as much if not more than married women and share similar struggles. They struggle to know how to relate to and disciple male congregants, struggle with gaining respect from their male counterparts, struggle with finances, struggle with the voices they hear, etc.

Further, how are women pastors to teach all the counsel of God when certain parts of God’s

counsel are so strongly against women in leadership positions? Women pastors then will be