Women’s Voices Silenced

An AI-generated image of five early female church leaders depicted in a mosaic pattern

by Elaine Ricker Kelly

Women’s Voices Silenced

I am empowered by women prophets and leaders in the Bible and early church history, and I feel betrayed to see current Christians opposing women’s equality. Regrettably, this mirrors the church’s previous missteps in silencing women’s voices.

Women Prophets in the Bible:

The Bible gives account of women prophets such as Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Anna, Mother Mary, and the daughters of Philip. [i] We also know that women were prophesying to the congregations of the early church (1 Corinthians 11:5). Dr. Lyn Kidson discusses the role of prophets, noting, “…however the office of prophet worked in the early church, it is clear that churches had women in them who were exercising this vital ministry.” [ii] When the office of prophet was lost, women’s voices were silenced.

Ammia of Philadelphia: A Woman Prophet in the 2nd Century

I was delighted to discover Ammia of Philadelphia. Even the male historian, Eusebius, called her a prophet whom people revered throughout Asia Minor. [iii] Eusebius names Ammia of Philadelphia as a female prophet, leader, and reliable teacher who helped found the second-century church in Asia Minor. Eusebius contrasts Ammia with a New Prophecy movement in Phrygia, near Philadelphia, which promoted fasting, revelations, and ecstatic visions over apostolic teaching. Eusebius stated that a false prophet may fall into an ecstasy or madness of soul, but that genuine prophets, such as Ammia of Philadelphia, were not carried away in spirit. [iv] He regarded Ammia as a successor to the early prophets, worthy of respect and authority equal to Agabus (Acts 11:27, 21:10), Silas and Judas Barsabbas (Acts 15:32), Philip’s four daughters (Acts 21:9), and Quadratus (a contemporary of Ammia). [v] Respectable behavior and teaching in line with church orthodoxy were signs showing that Ammia was a genuine prophet. [vi] Kidson points out that the church was concerned about prophets who spoke in ecstasy. It disapproved of the New Prophecy movement because of their deportment, not because they were male or female. [vii]

Silencing women in the 3rd century

The succession of prophets from Agabus to Ammia may have led to Perpetua, martyred in AD 203, who first had a vision where she was stripped naked and became male. Margaret Cotter-Lynch translates the vision to understand that Perpetua simultaneously exhibited both male and female traits, eradicating the relevance of gender.

However, Augustine taught that Perpetua’s vision showed a woman must “divest herself of her femininity” and physically transform to be male. Augustine taught that when Perpetua was stripped, she saw she had acquired a man’s member. Augustine wrote, “[Perpetua] changed into a man, defeated the devil, having stripped off the world and put on Christ …and made in the particular member of His body, in which of the whole body, not one member had been cast aside.” [viii] Cotter-Lynch notes that Augustine codified a hierarchy of male over female when he taught that to be holy, a woman may ‘become male.’ The church has upheld the male idea of a gender hierarchy, silencing Perpetua’s prophetic vision of the insignificance of gender.

Silencing the Offices of Women Deacons, Elders, and Widows:

We know that women such as Phoebe held the office of deacon, Priscilla was a teacher, and Junia was an apostle, and Lydia, Nympha, Apphia, and Chloe led churches in their homes. Sandra Glahn points out that women of any age and marital status served in the Office of Widow. Tertullian, a second-century theologian, ranked widows with clergy. He complained about a virgin who was ordained to the Order of Widows at the age of 19, lest she later want to marry and break her vow to the office. Women enrolled as a widow made a vow to the office, had duties equivalent to elders, and had to meet requirements similar to elders (1 Timothy 3:2, 5:9-11). Glahn notes that church historians identified women in official ministry positions as both deaconesses and widows. [ix]

The AD 325 Christian Council of Nicaea declared that women deacons were to be reckoned as lay persons and prohibited from being ordained as deacons. [x] The AD 364 Council of Laodicea prohibited women from being ordained as presbyters (elders), confirming that they had been ordained as such before that time. [xi] The AD 451 Council of Chalcedon declared that a woman could not be a deacon unless she was at least forty and never married. The office of widow gradually merged with the office of deaconess. The sixth-century Council of Epaone officially repealed the Office of Widows, calling them deacons. [xii]

Silencing Women Priests and Pastors (Shepherds):

Ancient art and manuscripts show that women held the office of presbyter, priest, or bishop. [xiii] Mosaics and sculptures portray Mother Mary raising her arms to give a benediction, holding a eucharistic cloth or maniple, and wearing the episcopal pallium and red shoes of an archbishop. Leoba was a seventh-century pastor in an Anglo-Saxon mission to Germany [xiv]. Hilda of Whitby was an overseer of men and women in a large abbey [xv]. Hildegard of Bingen founded and led a Benedictine community. [xvi] All three of these women are remembered in art with a shepherd’s crook, showing their role as a pastor.

In AD 385, Pope Siricius declared that priests must be celibate after ordination. [xvii] In AD 494, Pope Gelasius condemned women for officiating the Eucharist, limiting the role to men. After that, women were considered unclean and prohibited from officiating communion or transcribing Scriptures. [xviii] The seventh-century Council of Trullo stated that when a priest was ordained, he should set aside his wife, and she should enter a monastery (canon 48); women were prohibited from speaking at the divine liturgy (canon 70). [xix] The sixteenth-century Council of Trent prohibited an abbess from leading men and placed all abbeys under the authority of bishops. [xx]

Silencing Women in Churches Today

In 2026, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) affirmed its opposition to women as pastors, elders, or preachers. Baptist Women in Ministry responded by expressing “solidarity with the women in ministry who have been harmed by this vote, the hateful rhetoric and propaganda leading up to the vote, and the damaging theology the vote represents.” [xxi]

Also in 2026, the Catholic Church reaffirmed that only men may preach the homily during Mass. Speaking for the Catholic Women’s Association of Germany, Ruth Fehlker stated that as long as women are “excluded from central ministries, the church will continue to lose credibility.” Kate McElwee, of the Women’s Ordination Conference, stated that this stance reveals “the extent to which the Vatican will go to try to stop the Holy Spirit.” [xxii]

We can celebrate an unbroken succession of female prophets and preachers from Ammia of Philadelphia, Perpetua, and Hildegard of Bingen to today. They model courage and faith in God’s calling to teach, preach, and lead, despite how the church has repeatedly created new rules to silence women. We can draw power from these historic women to advocate for the voices of women in the church.

References:

^[i] John DelHousaye, “Who Are the Women Prophets in the Bible?” CBE International, June 5, 2009.

^[ii] Dr. Lyn Kidson, “Ammia in Philadelphia (part 2),” Engendered Ideas, June 6, 2018.

^[iii] Catherine Kroeger, “The Neglected History of Women in the Early Church,” Christian History, 1988 Issue 17, accessed May 7, 2025.

^[iv] “Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 5.17.2, 5.17.3,” Topos Text, accessed July 15, 2026.

^[v] Dr. Lyn M. Kidson, “Ammia in Philadelphia,” Engendered Ideas, May 28, 2018.

^[vi] Aida Besançon Spencer, “Early Church Heroines: Rulers, Prophets, and Martyrs,” CBE International, January 31, 1993.

^[vii] Dr. Lyn M. Kidson, “Ammia in Philadelphia (part 2),” ibid.

^[viii] Margaret Cotter-Lynch, Gender in the Premodern Mediterranean, ACMRS Press, 2019, “Chapter 2. Ambrose, Augustine, Perpetua: Defining Gender across the Mediterranean,” Arizona State University, accessed July 15, 2026.

^[ix] Sandra Glahn, “Is having women in ministry really a recent invention?” Fathom Magazine, May 28, 2021.

^[x] “Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,” Canon XIX, quoted in Wikipedia, “Ordination of women and the Catholic Church,” Wikipedia, accessed May 3, 2025.

^[xi] Marg Mowczko, “Women Elders in Ancient Christian Texts (Part 1),” Marg Mowczko, accessed July 15, 2026.

^[xii] Fr. William Most, “Texts on Ordination of Women,” Council of Epaon, Canon 21, EWTN accessed July 14, 2026.

^[xiii] Dr. Ally Kateusz. Mary and Early Christian Women: Hidden Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

^[xiv] Dr. Karen Palmer, “Leoba’s Life,” excerpt from “Chapter 4: Rhetorical Analysis of the Words of Women in the Bible and Church History” from Clarifying God’s Purpose for Women in Ministry Today: A Rhetorical Analysis of Women’s Words Through History, accessed May 3, 2025.

^[xv] Sarah Lindsay, “6 Medieval Women who Shaped Christian Theology,” CBE International, March 19, 2028.

^[xvi] Sarah Lindsay, ibid.

^[xvii] “A Brief History Celibacy in the Roman Church,” FutureChurch, accessed July 15, 2026.

^[xviii] Phyllis Zagano, “Married priests and women deacons: It’s about law, not doctrine,” National Catholic Reporter, October 22, 2019.

^[xx] Trent, “Twenty-Fifth Session of the Council of Trent,” 1563, EWTN, accessed July 15, 2026.

^[xxi] “BWIM Responds to SBC Vote to Further Restrict Women from Pastoral Roles in Churches,” BWIM, June 10, 2026.

^[xxii] Claire Giangrave, “Vatican blocks women’s homilies, testing Leo’s view of women in the church,” Religion News Servic, June 24, 2026.

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