Women Speaking in Church

In a New Testament letter to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul instructs that women should remain silent during church services. He places this command in the middle of a larger discussion about order, prophecy, and how the gathered church should conduct itself when believers come together to worship. This brief line has become one of the most debated passages in the Bible, with Christians wrestling over whether Paul was addressing a specific local problem in Corinth or laying down a universal rule for all churches in all times. Taken at face value, however, the instruction would rule out women serving as pastors, preachers, lectors, or even singers and public prayer-leaders - effectively limiting them to silent attendance whenever the church assembles. “...the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak...” - 1 Corinthians 14:34 (ESV)