The Roleof Women in the Church

The role of women in the church today has drastically changed from 40 years ago. Women over time have fought for their rights and equality. Many people still question if this social movement has invaded the school, home, and church. Even though in society the roles of women have changed, in the church there is set out requirements that for men and women must follow. Nevertheless, I can be very difficult for a woman to find their correct place in the ministry in light of the debate between egalitarianism and complementarianism. The Bible states that churches should be complementarianism, meaning that men and women play different roles in the church. Neither one nor the other is superior. Men and women were created for a specific role in the church. 1st Timothy 3 contains detailed instructions concerning the church’s organization. When Paul wrote his letter, near the end of his life, he knew the time had come for a more formal organization. The New Testament’s definition of an elder “is to be above reproach” (1st Timothy 3:2 NIV). Elders are the one who is in charge of the governing the appropriate and inappropriate behavior in the church. An elder needs to be a model of Christian advancement and capability. They must have a crucial relationship to God, their family, and everyone and everything that surround them. “Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money”(1st Timothy 3:2-3 NIV). As one continues to read in 1st Timothy 3, Paul also goes into detail the qualifications of deacons. They “are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of faith with a clear conscience”(1st Timothy 3:8-9 NIV).
In many versions of the Bible, as one reads through 1st Timothy, the use of the word “man” is used in