The Five Fold Ministry

To understand the natural position of woman in ministry we need to make sure we look at the concept of the ministry as given by the Holy Spirit.
The concept of the five fold ministry comes from the book of Ephesians Chapter four verse eleven ;

Ephesians 4:10-13 (Amp)

“10 He Who descended is the [very] same as He Who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things (the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest).
11 And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.
12 His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church),
13 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.”

The Apostle

The Greek word for apostle, "apostello", occurs over 80 times in the New Testament. Since apostles did not exist in the Old Testament times, we have to understand the word to mean someone who was sent, and/or was a messenger and that is exactly what the word "apostle" means, "sent one."
So, an apostle is someone who has been sent to transmit a message per the instructions of the sender.
Also it is used in the reference to those in the inner circles of Jesus' 12 apostles. In order to be one of "the twelve" a person had to be with the witnesses from the beginning of Christ's ministry until the day that Christ was taken from them. (Acts 1:21–22) though Paul was not one of the original twelve apostles, he was considered an apostle later on (Acts 14:14). After all, Jesus appeared to him (1 Cor. 9:1) and commissioned him. Paul even refers to himself as an apostle (Gal. 1:1).
And then we have the ones that where sent the apostoloi. (2Cor. 8:23), "As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brethren, they are messengers (apostoloi) of the churches, a glory to Christ."
Also, (Phil.2:25), "But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger (apostolon) and minister to my need." And, (John 20:21), "Jesus therefore said to them again, 'Peace be with you; as the Father has sent (apostalken) Me, I also send (pempo) you.'"
We can find the Apostle Junia in (Rom. 16:7) It is said that Junia, a woman, was an apostle. As stated by the church father Chrysostom (Homily on Romans 31.7; NPNF 1, 11:555) Since apostles are in place of authority, then Junia demonstrates that women can be in authority over men in the church.
As a woman, Junia may be the wife of Andronicus. Which makes it important to note that they where refered to as apostles.

The Prophetess

Six women in the Holy Bible are expressly stated as possessing the title of prophetess: five under the old covenant and one, Anna, is mentioned in the gospels.
In addition, Philip is mentioned in Acts as having four daughters who prophesied which brings the number of prophetesses to ten. Conversely, a woman in the book of Revelations calls herself a prophetess but she is considered false. On occasion, other women in scripture also prophesied, but were not expressly described as prophesying. These women include: Rachel (Gen. 30:24), Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1-10), Abigail(1 Sam. 25:29-31),Elisabeth (Luke 1:41-45), and Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:46-55).
A prophetess is simply a female prophet. A person called by God.
A prophet (male or female) is the mouthpiece for the one who sends him or her; the prophet speaks on behalf of the sender (Ex. 7:1-2). A prophet is considered a seer (1 Sam. 9:9), because God gives him or her the gift of foreknowledge. God reveals his secrets to prophets (Amos 3:7), and true prophesy is initiated by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). (1 Cor. 12:28) and (Eph. 4:11) both rank prophets as second only to apostles.
The bible calls out for woman to prophesy (1 Cor. 11:5)

The Evangelists

Kathryn Kuhlman's ministry began in the summer of 1923. After her ordination by the Evangelical Church Alliance in Joliet, Illinois, she established the Denver Revival Tabernacle in 1935, which she pastored for three years.
In the mid-1940s, she went to Franklin, Pennsylvania, where she began to thrive as a preacher and radio evangelist. Many people were healed with notable miracles at her meetings beginning in 1947, and she gained a reputation as one of the world's outstanding healing evangelists, carrying on as a leading figure during the charismatic movement until her death in 1976.

The Pastor

The New Testament says very little about pastors. In fact, as a term for ministers, the word (poimen) appears only once in (Eph. 4:11). While the word is familiar to use from modern usage, we are uncertain as to the exact role of pastors in the New Testament or how they functioned in relation to elders, bishops and other leaders. In which light we best can see the role at the same level as bishop with the responsibility of growing and educating the church.
Priscilla and her husband Aquila are often mentioned with great respect by Paul.
Together they were pastors of a church in Ephesus, and were responsible for teaching the full gospel to Apollos.
We are informed that they both taught Apollos, and pastored the church together. In fact, Priscilla is sometimes listed ahead of Aquila when their names come up.
This has led some to speculate that of the two, she was the primary teacher and her husband oversaw the ministry. At any rate, we see here a woman in a very prominent position of teaching and pastoring. (Acts 18:2,18; Rom, 16:3, d I Cor. 16:19).

Another New Testament woman who led a house church was Nympha (Col. 4:15).
Paul sent greetings to her and to the church at her house. Some modern scholars try to get around this by saying that Nympha was "just" the hostess, not the pastor.
If that were so, who did pastor her house church, and why would Paul so rudely fail to greet the pastor as well as the hostess?
The personal letter II John is addressed to a church and its pastor, a woman with whom the apostle John had close ties. John opens the letter, "to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth." "Children" was a term of endearment that John used for Christian believers. "Truth" was a term John often used relating to Jesus The word "elect," is used to refer to the ordained clergy.

Conclusion

A few of the women working as Pentecostal pastors during the charismatic movement of the 1960s and 1970s included Charlotte Baker, Myrtle D. Beall, Helen Beard, Aimee Cortese, Sue Curran, B. Maureen Gaglardi, Anne Giminez, Ione Glaeser, Hattie Hammond, Alpha A. Henson, Marilyn Hickey, Violet Kitely, Janet Kreis, Freda Lindsay, Fuchsia T. Pickett, Iverna Tompkins, and Rachel Titus.
A sampling of a few of the other women who were vital during the time of the charismatic movement as speakers, authors, or evangelists, would include Eleanor and

Roberta Armstrong, Rita Bennett, Edith Blumhofer, Hazel Bonawitz, Roxanne Brant, Mary Ann Brown, Shirley Carpenter, Jean Darnall, Josephine Massynberde Ford, Katie Fortune, Shirlee Green, Nina Harris, Sue Malachuk, Daisy Osborn, Dorothy Ranaghan, Agnes Sanford, Gwen Shaw, Bernice Smith, Ruth Carter Stapleton, Jean Stone, Joni Eareckson Tada, and Corrie Ten Boom. Mother Teresa was also an outstanding woman who ministered in the helps ministry to the poor of India.
The women mentioned here are, of course, a mere sampling of important figures who have been mightily used of God in every conceivable capacity of leadership in the church throughout history.

To receive this information in a three fold flyer, please contact info (at) ewcmi.us
For more information on wonderful woman in ministry I love to refer you to our own pastoral counselor Minister Mary E. Reed