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March 13 - A Maligned Woman: Mary Magdalene
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March 27 - Hidden Women: Lesser Known Women, the Gospels, Acts, Epistles
All sessions from 7:00 PM-8:30 PM on ZOOM
Study Material for March 27th
Hidden Women:
Lesser Known Women, the Gospels, Acts, Epistles
The Epistles of Paul mention the names of at least 15 women who had roles in the early Church. Many of
them had leadership roles. In a couple of places Paul even uses language suggestive of ordained ministry
when speaking about them. Although these women are mentioned in passing and their role has often
been downplayed by biblical scholars, their mention raises the question for us: what information can we
recover about the role of female Church leaders in antiquity?
The most prominent of these early, female Church leaders is Priscilla, who is mentioned in three
separate epistles and in Acts. In Acts, we learn that Priscilla and her husband Aquila had been forced to
flee Rome and had settled in Corinth, where they led a church in their home. Priscilla is often held up as
the first example of a female preacher and teacher, and it has even been suggested that she is the
unnamed author of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
In this final installment of the Lenten series, we will look at some of the more interesting mentions of
women in the epistles alongside other examples of early, female Church leaders.
In preparation for our discussion, you can take a look at this chart of women mentioned in Paul’s letters
as well as the Epistle to the Hebrews. Do you see anything in this extraordinary letter that suggests to
you its author could have been a woman?
Downloads for this week are:
Read about Priscilla’s ministry in Acts 18