Hello. Is ok for a female pastor/minister/officiant to marry a couple? It doesn’t specifically say in the Bible, however, it does say females shouldn’t be pastors etc. I am really confused on this. If the woman officiant isn’t preaching in a church but is only ordained to perform marriages is that ok as well? Please advise; doing this correctly under God means a lot to me. Thanks, Ms. Robinson
You are correct that the Bible does not authorize a woman to preach the Gospel to an assembly in which men are present. The New Testament makes a distinction between the religious roles of women and men. For instance, sisters in Christ must remain silent in the worship assemblies (1 Corinthians 14:34), except for their part in congregational singing (Ephesians 5:19), confessing their faults (James 5:16) and professing Christ (Romans 10:9-10). Further, Scripture forbids a woman to teach or have dominion over a man (1 Timothy 2:12). The New Testament makes no provision for female preachers, teachers, elders, deacons, song leaders, leading prayer, Scripture reading or any other religious activity in which men are subject to a woman. (Women, of course, may preach, teach, lead singing, etc. in the presence of women exclusively, e.g., Ladies’ Days, Ladies’ Bible Classes.) In addition, a woman may participate in teaching God’s Word to a man in a private setting as long as the man is not subjected to her (e.g., Bible study, conversation, etc.) per the examples of Priscilla (Acts 18:26) or a grandmother or mother of a grandson or son (2 Timothy 1:5).
Marriage, though, is not described in the Bible as a religious ceremony. Today, however, officiating marriages occurs in both religious settings and also in wholly secular scenarios, at the discretion of the participants. The Bible does not regulate the marriage ceremony, but it does require that couples must be married to avoid immorality (1 Corinthians 7:2). We are obligated to obey the laws of the land in which we live (Romans 13:1-7), which includes those laws pertaining to marriage ceremonies.
Incidentally, the New Testament uses the word “pastor” (Ephesians 4:11; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-4) as a synonym for an “elder” (Titus 1:4-9) or a “bishop” (1 Timothy 3:1-7), rather than for a preacher (Romans 10:13), an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5) or a Gospel minister (1 Corinthians 3:5). Finally, even appointing a woman to be minister solely for the purpose of officiating marriages would likely appear to be disregarding the religiously differing biblical roles of men and women. Furthermore, it is likely that to appoint a woman as a minister, though only for officiating marriages, would lead to the eventual disregard religiously for the differing biblical roles of men and women. However, in a secular capacity (e.g., a female judge), a woman could certainly officiate a marriage without appearing to or in actuality compromising diverse biblical roles for men and for women.
