Women in Ministry (Luke 24: 22-23): Where are they in Nigeria Ecclesia?

Abstract

The biblical faith tradition prides itself as foremost in gender relations, which a close reading of the biblical text assents. Some scholars, however, argue that women in the Hebrew Bible were totally beholden to the men and as such played little or no part in Israel’s faith history. A critical reading of the Scriptural texts highlights an array of women whose active participation in salvation history remained largely unsung. Shrouded in anonymity, the liberative role of biblical women as well as women in church history continued to be inaccessible to the ordinary reader because of entrenched androcentric interpretation of the religious texts, which tends to minimize women’s unique role repeatedly. Scripture and church tradition present women who from the beginning of the Jesus Movement and down through the centuries have collaborated with men as well as stood on their own, in church ministry. This expository paper draws insights from scripture, church history and cultural studies, and with hermeneutics of acknowledgement as critical tool, shows women’s active engagement in church ministry. The Lucan text (24:22-23), provided the platform from which to tease out the assertion of women participation for the optimal engagement of contemporary Nigeria women in church life and ministry.

Key Words: Ministry, Women, Service, Asceticism, Diaconate