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The Question: In the early days of the Pentecostal movement a large amount of women felt a call to preach and evangelized/pastored, making a difference to the world around them. That has changed. Why are there not that many women evangelists or preachers anymore? Are women no longer nurtured and encouraged in today's Apostolic churches? And if a woman pastors, can she be the spiritual leader while her husband maintains the scriptural leadership of his home?

Answer: "An Apostolic Woman has many avenues of Ministry available to her. But, according to the Scripture, there was not a Woman Apostle, Evangelist, or Pastor. This is not a popular view, but it is a Biblical view.”

Answer: "There are no easy answers to the questions posed here. I think the number of woman preachers has decreased because our Apostolic culture discourages it. In the brush arbor days, any preacher was welcomed. Now there are so many preachers available that the women are not welcomed as freely as they once were. It is unfortunate, because I believe that they have something special to offer. Our annual Ladies Retreat features women speakers exclusively, and believe me, many of them preach. It would take a special marriage for a woman to successfully pastor, though, unless she did it jointly with her husband. While I have no problem with female preachers, I think it would be very difficult to be a married female pastor."

Answer: "It's an insecure man who can't work under a woman. There should be no serious problem to a man working under the leadership of his wife-pastor, just as she should have no serious problem following under his husband leadership at home if they both "love as Christ loved the church." Would it be tricky? Yes. Would it be viable? Very."

Answer: "The most successful female ministers we see today are usually foreign missionaries. They form a team with their husband to reach the lost. It's a partnership that requires a minister's wife to do more than play the piano and decorate the church. Women, other than missionaries, that I see being used of God are those who have a strong commitment to prayer and are teaching others in this area."

Answer: "This subject is definitely taboo among Apostolic churches, and must be handled with kid gloves. I imagine that certain "Feminazi" groups would sic the ACLU on us if they happened across the answers to this question. Of course, women are nurtured and encouraged in our churches...only not in the area of pastoring. The real reason for the decline in women as pastors was the invention of the credit card and shopping malls. No! Just Kidding! We love our ladies who are the most beautiful women on the earth today and we appreciate them for being exactly that: ladies."

Answer: "I hate to step on anyone's toes...but where women once felt empowered to answer God's call, they are now subtly told that they are empowered only to help a man who is answering God's call. Part of it is our dress code. It says to them, "You must look different than other women. Other women won't understand why, and they're going to think you're weird. You are called to suffer this in silence. This is called separation. "Pioneer” women of Pentecost knew no such "separation." They dressed and appeared (and had the confidence that comes with being accepted as "normal") like the women of their day. Today, it is only the men of our movement that can interact with our culture without looking like they don't belong. Our women must first overcome the fear of rejection and the stigma that comes with being so different. This is not all bad. The women that do overcome the fear live with a boldness and confidence that the world marvels at. Further, some of our culture's dress standards are immodest to the extreme, nothing less than degenerate. Make no mistake: I am very fond of the natural unadorned beauty of our women. But I think it would be intellectually dishonest to ignore one of the costs of our standard: In the beginning of our movement, stable, clean-living women and stable, clean-living men made a difference in their culture. They called their world into relationship with Christ leading to stable, clean living. Today, stable, clean-living men make a difference in our culture while their unusual, old-fashioned looking wives cheer from the sidelines. They call our world to a relationship with Christ leading to stable, clean-living men and old-fashioned looking women. How should the church respond to changes in our culture?"

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