Biblical identification of a female pastor and a female apostle.

When it comes to the question of whether or not the Word of God forbids women to pastor a church, we should not overlook the fact that Paul identified a woman who had a church in her home. The New International Version of Colossians 4:15 reads, "Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house." If Nympha had a church in her house, then it stands to reason that she was probably functioning in a pastoral role; afterall, the church was in her house. The early translators realized this as well and was not able to fathom a woman in the position of pastor. They apparently assumed that the scribes must have made some kind of mistake. So instead of leaving the Greek as is, they changed the name of Nympha to Nymphas and had the scripture to read "Nymphas and the church in his house." The King James Version reads, "Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house." Most of us know by now that the English translation of the New International Version of the Bible is closer to representing what the Hebrew and Greek actually say as compared to the King James Version and other earlier English translations. There is no doubt that Paul was referring to a woman who had a church in her house. And we can't overlook the fact that during those times church services were held in homes. It is interesting that earlier translators attempted to erase the fact that the passage is referring to a woman and not to a man. What would make the earlier translators change the gender of who Paul was referring to? I think the answer is that they just couldn't wrap their minds around the fact that a woman was over a church. In addition to Nympha, the Elect Lady of 2 John should not be ignored. The entire letter implies the pastoral leadership of a woman.

Finally, not only has a woman (Nympha) been identified in scripture as operating in the function of pastor, but a woman has also been identified as an apostle. The New International Version of Romans 16:7 reads, "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was." Junia is a female name. Therefore Paul has identified a woman as not only an apostle, but an outstanding one at that.