Women Singing in the Church

What does St Paul mean when he says, Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law (1 Corinthians 14:34)? Does this mean that women cannot direct or sing in the choir? Fr. John Whiteford talks about the history behind this passage.

    

Interpreting this passage is complicated by the fact that it is in the context of a discussion of how speaking in tongues and prophecy were to be handled during the services of the Church, and yet because of the abuse of these practices by those who were suffering from spiritual delusion, the Church ceased to allow such things to be done in the context of the services altogether. Furthermore, because women who claimed to have the gift of prophecy were very prominent in the Montanist heresy (which began in the second century), in many of the comments about this passage you find in the Fathers, they are using it polemically. And so it may be that polemics led some to take the view that this passage means that women should refrain not only from speaking in prophecy or singing audibly in the Church, but even from praying audibly. However, this view was not unanimously held.

St. Paul said earlier in the same epistle: But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven (1 Corinthians 11:5), and here he makes no suggestion that they should not pray or prophesy in Church... only that they should not do so without their heads uncovered. St. John Chrysostom points out:

For there were, as I said, both men who prophesied and women who had this gift at that time, as the daughters of Philip, (Acts 21:9) as others before them and after them: concerning whom also the prophet spake of old: Your sons shall prophesy, and your daughters shall see visions (c.f. Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17—from Homily 26 on 1 Corinthians).

The Daughters of St. Philip The Daughters of St. Philip
    

In his 37th homily on 1 Corinthians (which covers 14:34), he says that the prohibition is directed against women speaking "idly," or "inconsiderately" (i.e. out of the proper order discussed earlier in chapter 14), but he does not suggest that the statement prohibits women who had the gift of prophecy from prophesying in Church.

The context of chapter 14 is about the proper order that should prevail when people either spoke in tongues or prophesied... and there is a previous instance in which St. Paul speaks of keeping silence:

If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God (1 Corinthians 14:27-8).

Clearly in this case, St. Paul is not making an absolute ban on such a person speaking in Church—he is only forbidding him to speak in tongues if there is no one to interpret (in which case no one else would receive any edification). And so the silence is with regard to speaking out of good order.

Then St. Paul again speaks of keeping silent:

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:29-33).

When it speaks of letting the others judge, this suggests that after a person would prophesy, others would comment on it—most likely this would have been done by those who had charge of the Church (certainly an Apostle, if present, and the local bishop, presbyters, and deacons). Probably some would ask questions about what was said. It is in both of these respects that St. Paul is telling women to keep silence, and if they had questions to ask their husbands about it later—but this meant keeping silence with regard to these specific things. And St. John Chrysostom's comments about refraining from idle talk were certainly also applicable here.

Of course, in our context, we would not allow either a man or a women to speak in tongues or prophesy in the context of a service, but the point is that the statement that women should keep silence was not an absolute prohibition against women praying audibly or singing.

St. Ephrem the Syrian actually formed women choirs in Edessa (see "Spoken Words, Voiced Silence: Biblical Women in Syriac Tradition, by Susan Ashbrook Harvey). According to Fr. Robert Taft (a noted historian of Eastern Liturgics), there was also a woman's choir in the Hagia Sophia (Interview of Sister Vassa Larin, "Orthodoxy is not a Religion of Fear").

There are also long standing traditions of congregational singing, such as among the Carpatho-Russians, which obviously included women in the singing. And those who have grown up in that context will tell you that this was one of the most powerful aspects of parish life.

Photo: Expo.Pravoslavie.Ru Photo: Expo.Pravoslavie.Ru
Furthermore, women have been singing in mixed choirs and even directing choirs in the Russian Church for a very long time now, and saints, such as St. John of Shanghai have not only raised no objections to it, but have blessed it to be so. So while one may make a case against women singing on the basis of the comments of some Fathers, the fact that the Church has allowed it, and that this has been without any controversy, and with the blessing of many saints should restrain anyone from making dogmatic arguments against the practice.

It is also a fact that without women singers and choir directors, many parishes would be hard pressed to pull off a decent service, and so even if you could make the argument that in an ideal world, choirs would consist of only tonsured male readers, the problem remains that we do not live in such an ideal world, and have to use the resources that we have. St. Paul's concern in his first epistle to the Corinthians was that all things be done decently, and in good order (1 Corinthians 14:40). If our interpretation of his admonitions leads us to the opposite effect, then I would suggest this means we are misreading him on some level.

When a baby girl is baptized, she is Churched. And in that service, the priest brings her into the middle of the Church and says In the midst of the church shall she sing praises unto Thee (c.f. Psalm 21[22]:22). It is hard to imagine why we would say this if we did not intend that it should actually happen.

News, Comments, & Reflections

Fr. John Whiteford

11/9/2015

See also
"Where your treasure is, there your heart is." The state of Church singing in America
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"Where your treasure is, there your heart is." The state of Church singing in America
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"I think if you really care then you’ll do something, you’ll do better, you’ll do really well if you really care. Christ said Where your treasure is there your heart is. If the liturgy in your church is sung poorly, or half-heartedly, or in a slovenly or disorderly manner, then your heart’s not there. It can’t be."
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Monks in Byzantium said it was the gently pulsing rhythms, uplifting melodies and resonating harmonies of liturgical chants floating through the corridors, sanctuaries and domes of their brick and stone churches. But in 2015, with advanced recording and acoustic measuring technology now available, what do we really mean by angelic sounds?
The Life of St. Seraphim of Sarov: A Musical Tribute The Life of St. Seraphim of Sarov: A Musical Tribute
A Conversation with Robert Sirico of the Orthodox Christian Music Project
Jesse Dominick, Robert Sirico
St. Seraphim was a spiritual warrior in the flesh and a victor in the spirit. Through his severe asceticism he conquered the temptations which gave him power over the world and made him worthy to lead men literally into the light of Christ.
Comments
James9/2/2020 9:18 pm
The practice of the apostles and fathers was that no women should lead in any way liturgical services, whether as clergy or choir. Men and boys should be the only ones in choir. This has been the standard in many Sees, especially Rome, from the time of the apostles to the 20th century. In these days of utter chaos and heresy you can't look at any See as promoting total conformity with the fathers, but the fact that women were barred for 20 centuries from parish choirs should be enough evidence. Women choirs were banned in Rome in the 20th century.
Jeffrey Hickling8/29/2019 11:26 pm
Something which has been forgotten or excluded for some suspicious reason, is that their silence in the church assemblies is a "Commandment of the Lord" "As [is the practice] in all the churches of the saints (God's people), 34 The women should keep quiet in the churches, for they are not authorized to speak, but should take a secondary and subordinate place, just as the Law also says. 35 But if there is anything they want to learn, they should ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to talk in church [ for her to usurp and exercise authority over men in the church]. 36 What! Did the word of the Lord originate with you [Corinthians], or has it reached only you? 37 If anyone thinks and claims that he is a prophet [filled with and governed by the Holy Spirit of God and inspired to interpret the divine will and purpose in preaching or teaching] or has any other spiritual endowment, let him understand (recognize and acknowledge) that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord. 38 But if anyone disregards or does not recognize [ that it is a command of the Lord], he is disregarded and not recognized [he is one whom God knows not]." 1 Cor 14:33-38 (AMPLIFIED BIBLE) Very sinful then to refuse to obey the Lord's command and even worse to reach others to disobey increasing the transgressions.
Evangelos Perry11/25/2015 11:38 pm
I was surprised to see such an open attitude to women prophets, backed by the Church Fathers.I am personally not against women preaching, given that laymen have done so in Greece for many years, or their ordination for that mattter. It would be far from ideal to have Orthodox worship restricted to men rather like conservative Judaism. I believe this is what is meant by misogynism.
I recently enjoyed the privilege of chanting with a choir of two women in a Cretan village, where, perhaps through smoking too many cigarettes, the men who knew how to did not.
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