Resources for Studying the Role of Women in the Church

Books

• Kat Armas, Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us about Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2021. (also available in Spanish as Abuelita fe: Lo que las mujeres marginadas nos enseñan acerca de la sabiduría, la perseverancia y la fortaleza)
• Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008.
• Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011.
• Beth Allison Barr, Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2025.
• _____, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2021.
• Richard Bauckham, Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
• Sarah Bessey, Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women. New York: Howard Books, 2013.
• Leslie Ann Bustard and Thea Rosenberg, Strong Allies: Creating, Cultivating, Restoring. Baltimore: Square Halo Books, 2026.
• C. Ross Chandler, In His Image: A Biblical, Historical, and Practical Exploration for Women in Ministry Leadership. Marble Falls, TX: Follow Press, 2025.
• Lynn H. Cohick and Amy Brown Hughes, Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second through Fifth Centuries. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2017.
• Lynn H. Cohick, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians: Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009.
• Loren Cunningham and David Joel Hamilton with Janice Rogers, Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women, in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership. Seattle, WA: YWAM Publishing, 2000.
• Ingrid Faro, Redeeming Eden: How Women in the Bible Advance the Story of Salvation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Reflective, 2025.
• Sandra L. Glahn, A Woman’s Place Is in the Story: Seeing Women in the Biblical Narrative. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2026.
• _____, Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2023.
• Nijay K. Gupta, Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2023.
• Craig S. Keener, Paul, Women & Wives: Marriage and Women’s Ministry in the Letters of Paul. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992.
• McKirland, Christa L., A Theology of Authority: Rethinking Leadership in the Church. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2025.
• Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How you Read the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008.
• Jennifer Powell McNutt, The Mary We Forgot: What the Apostle to the Apostles Teaches the Church Today. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2024.
• Ellis Orozco, Fire in Her Bones: A Biblical Defense of Women as Preachers and Pastors. Austin, TX: Austin Brothers, 2024.
• Philip B. Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2009.
• _____, The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood: How God’s Word Consistently Affirms Gender Equality. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023.
• Amy Peeler, Women and the Gender of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022.
• Lucy Peppiatt, Rediscovering Scripture’s Vision for Women: Fresh Perspectives on Disputed Texts. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2019.
• _____, Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul’s Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2015.
• Preston Sprinkle, From Genesis to Junia: An Honest Search for What the Bible Really Says about Women in Leadership. Colorado Springs, CO: David Cook, 2026.
• Sarah Sumner, Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003.
• William Webb, Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2001.
• Cynthia Long Westfall, Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016.
• Terran Williams, How God Sees Women: The End of Patriarchy. Cape Town, South Africa: Spiritual Bakery Publications, 2022.

Articles and Other Resources 

• Bridgetown Church, “Defining a Biblical Position on Women and Eldership” (2023)
• Mercy Uwaezuoke Chukwuedo, “Women, Leadership, and Ordination in the Anglican Church in Nigeria: Debating 1 Corinthians 14:26–40,” Priscilla Papers 39.3 (2025): 9–16.
• Miranda Zapor Cruz, “Women in Ministry Cheat Sheet,” for Indiana Wesleyan University’s School of Theology and Ministry
• Kimberly Dickson, “Are Things Changing for Women in the Majority World Church?,” CBE International (May 16, 2024)
• _____, "Words Matter: How a Corrected Translation Transformed a Community,” Mutuality (2024): 8–10.
• Gordon D. Fee, “Issues in Evangelical Hermeneutics, Part III: The Great Watershed—Intentionality and Particularity/Eternality: 1 Timothy 2:8–15 as a Test Case,” Crux 26 (1990): 31–37 (also in his book Gospel and Spirit: Issues in New Testament Hermeneutics [Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1991]).
• Mimi Haddad, Charel du Toit, and Jeannine Brown, “Women and Words: Understanding ‘Wives Submit’ and the Household Codes,” on the Mutuality Matters Podcast from CBE International (August 15, 2025)
• Chesna Hinkley, “What to Say When Someone Dismisses Women’s Leadership in the Bible,” CBE International (September 25, 2019)
• _____, “What to Say When Someone Says Patriarchy is God’s Plan,” CBE International (April 10, 2019)
• _____, “What to Say When Someone Says Wives Should Submit to Husbands,” CBE International (February 26, 2019)
• _____, “What to Say When Someone Says Women Are Not Permitted to Teach,” CBE International (February 18, 2019)
• _____, “What to Say When Someone Says Women Should Be Silent in Church,” CBE International (January 30, 2019)
• _____, “What to Say When Someone Uses Paul’s Letters to Endorse Patriarchy,” CBE International (September 9, 2019)
• John R. Kohlenberger III, “Presumption, Bias, and Gender Accuracy in Bible Translation,” Mutuality (2024): 18–20.
• Glenn Packiam, Women in Leadership: Restoring a Biblical Vision of Kingdom Partnership. Costa Mesa, CA: Rockharbor Resources, 2024.
• Pamela J. Scalise, “Women in Ministry: Reclaiming Our Old Testament Heritage.” Review and Expositor 83 (1986): 7–13.
• David M. Scholer, “A Biblical Basis for Equal Partnership: Women and Men in the Ministry of the Church”
• Todd D. Still, “Women in Ministry: Biblical, Theological & Practical Reflections”
• Marieke Sybrandi, “Women Leaders Lost in Translation? A Study in Romans 16:1–16.” The Expository Times 136 (2024): 93–104.
• Charles Talbert, “Are There Norms for Biblical Marriage?,” Journal of Family Ministry 15 (2001): 16–27.
• W. Dennis Tucker Jr., “Women in the Old Testament: Issues of Authority, Power and Justice,” The Expository Times 119 (2008): 481-86.
• Terran Williams, “Priscilla and the Explosion of Woman Church Planters Today,” CBE Conference 2024
• _____, “Where Mike Winger Went Wrong on Women: Why He Can’t Think Biblically About It”
• Ben Witherington III, Women and Ministry, Part 1: Seven Minute Seminary,” Seedbed
• _____, “Women and Ministry, Part II: Seven Minute Seminary,” Seedbed
• N. T. Wright, “The Biblical Basis for Women’s Service in the Church,” The Priscilla Papers 20 (2006): 5–10. 

Co-laborers

• Baptist World Alliance Women
• Christians for Biblical Equality International
• The Junia Network

Inclusion on this bibliography does not indicate blanket endorsement; rather, these are helpful resources to aid in the study of this important topic within the life of the Church.