Holy Women of the New Testament 	October 30
A number of women in the New Testament are commemorated on particular days in the year in their own right or in association with special events. This includes Mary the mother of Jesus (see 25 March, 31 May, 15 August, 8 September), Elizabeth (see 31 May), Mary Magdalene (see 22 July), and Mary and Martha of Bethany (see 28 July). But there are many others whom we know of by name, and others again whose existence we can infer, though their names are not recorded. Groups of women and individuals are mentioned in the Gospels (Matthew 9:20-22; 14:21; 15:22; 26:7-13; Mark 1:31; Luke 13:11-13; John 4:7-26), and in Acts we hear of women as well as men imprisoned for their faith (Acts 8:3; 9:2).
Women appear and are named at important events in the Gospels. The women at the tomb are charged with announcing the resurrection to the disciples. As well as Mary Magdalene, these women included Mary the mother of James (probably one of the Twelve) and Salome, mother of the sons of Zebedee. They had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to his needs, and had come to perform what they must have thought would be their final service to him. Joanna, wife of Herod’s steward, and Susanna are among those who had been healed and then provided out of their own means for Jesus and the Twelve. So the Gospels report that women disciples played key roles, not just in a supportive capacity during the ministry, but as those to whom was entrusted the supreme message of Jesus’ resurrection.
In the life of the early church, women played important parts that are all too easily overlooked. Romans 16 gives evidence of the extent and depth of female participation and leadership in the apostolic church. Phoebe (16:1) is the only person identified as a deacon in the New Testament, and clearly exercised a specially valuable ministry at Cenchreae, the Corinthian port. Prisca (Priscilla) and her husband Aquila (16:3) were among the most prominent of Paul’s fellow-workers, and Prisca, who is usually mentioned first, was presumably the more active. Expelled as Jews from Rome, they met Paul in Corinth and were left by him at Ephesus, where they catechised the convert, Apollos (Acts 18). Their reputation was such that all the Gentile churches gave thanks for them (see also 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19). Andronicus and Junia (Romans 16:7) were probably husband and wife (Junia is a common Roman name for a woman; the masculine “Junias”, as frequently printed, is otherwise unknown). Both husband and wife, then, are apostles, and outstanding among the apostles, being Christians before Paul himself. Paul lists other friends (16:8-15), including several women, but we know nothing about them beyond their names: Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus’ mother Julia, and Nereus’ sister. 
Other women disciples besides Prisca had churches gather in their homes: Mary, mother of John Mark, at Jerusalem (Acts 12:12), and Nympha at Laodicea (Colossians 4:15). Timothy’s mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois are also held up as examples of faith (2 Timothy 1:5). So there are many women who “struggled hard in the work of the gospel . . . whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3), demonstrating in practice that men and women are equal in Christ.
For Liturgical Use
It is easy to miss the importance of women in the ministry of Jesus and in the early church. Some women are known to us by name; many are anonymous. Women followed Jesus in his ministry and supported his work. Women were present at the crucifixion, when all the apostles had fled, and women were the first to proclaim the resurrection. Romans chapter 16 offers rich evidence of the role of women in the early church, which is also visible elsewhere in the New Testament. They bore apostolic witness to the gospel and suffered for the faith.
Sentence
Shall I open the womb and not deliver? says the Lord; shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb? says your God.	Isaiah 66:9
Collects
Everloving God,
your Son humbly accepted the virgin’s womb
and trusted the ministry of women;
strengthen the hearts and hands
of your disciples of today, both women and men,
that your church may be nourished
by our loving service;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Praise God who sent Jesus,
for us and for our salvation,
for women and men equally and alike.
Praise God for the difference
women have made to the church Jesus gave us.
Psalms	30	33:1-12
Readings
Isaiah 66:10-13		As a mother comforts her child
Romans 16:1-7		Apostolic ministry by women
Luke 7:36-8:3		A woman’s ministry to Jesus
Post Communion Sentence
These women have struggled hard in the work of the gospel, together with all whose names are in the book of life.	Philippians 4:3 (adapted)