Introduction
The question of women in ministry has long stirred both theological and practical tensions within the Church. Within the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), this tension has resurfaced in recent years, prompting renewed discussion around ordination, ecclesiology, and biblical authority. This summary seeks to offer a constructive response rooted in the biblical categories of Qahal and Edah as a ‘reframing’, and supported by the historical research of Dr. Paul King, a respected scholar of the C&MA’s heritage.
Our goal is not merely to resolve a denominational debate, but to reframe it from a total reading of scripture. Rather than asking whether modern categories like “senior pastor” can be applied to women, we ask: What does Scripture actually reveal about how the people of God are formed, led, and gifted for mission? And what has our own Alliance tradition affirmed in this regard?
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I. Qahal and Edah: Biblical Foundations for Community and Witness
In the Hebrew Scriptures, two primary terms define the covenantal community of Israel: Qahal (קָהָל)—the gathered assembly—and Edah (עֵדָה)—the witnessing congregation.
The Qahal refers to the people called together, often at Sinai or in the Temple, for worship, covenant renewal, or corporate action. It carries the weight of divine summons.
The Edah, by contrast, stresses the communal role of witness and testimony, often used in the wilderness to describe Israel’s shared experience and vocation.
In the New Testament, these concepts find resonance in the terms ekklesia and martyria. The Church is the ekklesia—the gathered body called out by God—and it lives as martyria—a witnessing community empowered by the Spirit (Acts 1:8).
This framing transcends rigid office structures and opens the door to a theology of function, where all members of the body are equipped for service (Ephesians 4:11–13; Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 12).
The critical insight here is that the early Church saw itself as a Spirit-filled Edah, not a hierarchical bureaucracy. Leadership was given for the sake of equipping others, not for domination or exclusion. Women were part of this Spirit-driven witness from the beginning (Acts 2:17–18, cf. Joel 2).
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II. Biblical Examples of Women in Leadership and Shepherding Roles
Scripture offers numerous examples of women functioning in what we might today call pastoral or leadership capacities, even if the exact titles were not employed:
Scripture offers numerous examples of women functioning in what we might today call pastoral or leadership capacities, even if the exact titles were not employed:
Deborah (Judges 4–5): A prophetess and judge who led Israel both spiritually and politically.
Huldah (2 Kings 22): A prophetess who delivered authoritative counsel during Josiah’s reforms.
Priscilla (Acts 18:26): A teacher who helped instruct Apollos in the way of God more accurately.
Phoebe (Romans 16:1–2): A diakonos and patron, possibly the bearer and expositor of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Junia (Romans 16:7): Described as “outstanding among the apostles,” likely a church-planting emissary.
Nympha (Colossians 4:15): Hosted a house church—suggesting functional leadership.
Lois and Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5): Named as key spiritual formers of Timothy, whom Paul later entrusts with significant ministry.
These women are not exceptions but examples of how God’s Spirit calls and empowers both men and women for gospel ministry. Their roles were not limited to private spheres or auxiliary service but extended into teaching, leading, discerning, and shepherding.
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III. The Role of Shepherding in the New Testament
A central argument against women serving as “pastors” is that the New Testament restricts the role of shepherd-teacher to men. However, a closer examination reveals a more fluid and function-oriented framework:
A central argument against women serving as “pastors” is that the New Testament restricts the role of shepherd-teacher to men. However, a closer examination reveals a more fluid and function-oriented framework:
The term poimēn (shepherd) occurs rarely (Ephesians 4:11) and is not tied directly to an office like presbuteros (elder) or episkopos(overseer).
The gifts of Ephesians 4:11—apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers—are given to the Church for equipping all the saints, not to define rigid offices.
Nowhere does Paul equate “pastor” with “elder” in a formal sense. Instead, various functions overlap depending on gifting, need, and Spirit-led appointment.
The Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy, Titus) do provide qualifications for elders and overseers—often cited as exclusionary. Yet these lists reflect the specific sociocultural context of Ephesus and Crete, where patriarchy and household order were under scrutiny (1 Timothy 2:8–15). They are not abstract universals but contextual exhortations for preserving the gospel witness in turbulent communities.
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IV. The C&MA’s Historical Practice and Paul King’s Research
Dr. Paul King’s extensive research has demonstrated that women have served in the C&MA with public and pastoral authority since its inception:
Dr. Paul King’s extensive research has demonstrated that women have served in the C&MA with public and pastoral authority since its inception:
A.B. Simpson affirmed women as evangelists, teachers, missionaries, and preachers under the anointing of the Spirit.
Women were licensed as “preachers of the gospel” and served in roles equivalent to pastors in home and overseas missions.
In early C&MA gatherings, women preached from pulpits, led revivals, and helped establish churches, especially in pioneer contexts.
King documents that the 1912 General Council explicitly affirmed the ministry of women in the work of the gospel.
This history is not incidental—it reflects a theology of Spirit-led empowerment consistent with Acts 2 and Joel 2. The question today is not whether women can minister, but whether we are faithful to our own founding charism in recognizing and releasing them.
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V. Reframing the Debate: From Modern Office to Missional Body
The modern Western church has inherited a framework of ecclesial office rooted more in Roman legal categories than in Hebraic covenantal community. This has led to the elevation of “office” over function and “authority” over edification.
The modern Western church has inherited a framework of ecclesial office rooted more in Roman legal categories than in Hebraic covenantal community. This has led to the elevation of “office” over function and “authority” over edification.
The C&MA is not a magisterial church; it is a missionary movement. Our theology must remain nimble, biblical, and mission-centered. The Qahal/Edah framework reminds us that the Church exists to gather and witness, not to institutionalize and stratify. When women preach, lead, disciple, and serve—whether or not they carry the title “pastor”—they participate fully in the mission of God.
To deny them recognition not only contradicts biblical patterns and C&MA history, but also quenches the Spirit who gives gifts without respect to gender (Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 12:7).
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Conclusion
The path forward for the C&MA is not to retreat into restrictive categories but to recover a more biblical and Spirit-led ecclesiology—one rooted in the witness of Scripture, the legacy of our founders, and the empowering movement of God’s Spirit across time and culture.
The path forward for the C&MA is not to retreat into restrictive categories but to recover a more biblical and Spirit-led ecclesiology—one rooted in the witness of Scripture, the legacy of our founders, and the empowering movement of God’s Spirit across time and culture.
We must allow the Qahal to gather all whom God calls and let the Edah testify with clarity, humility, and boldness—both men and women, old and young, in every tribe and tongue. This is not theological compromise. It is covenantal faithfulness to complete the task of Matthew 24:14.
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Endnotes
Paul King, Anointed Women: The Legacy of Women in the Christian and Missionary Alliance (unpublished research papers and seminar notes).
A.B. Simpson, The Gospel of Healing and The Fourfold Gospel.
Walter Liefeld, Women and the New Testament Church: The Female Voice in Christian Ministry.
Craig Keener, Paul, Women & Wives: Marriage and Women’s Ministry in the Letters of Paul.
Ben Witherington III, Women in the Earliest Churches.
Ruth A. Tucker and Walter Liefeld, Daughters of the Church.
