So I understand from previous questions that God does not condemn women ministers. Are there examples in the Bible, though, of women fulfilling such duties?

Yes indeed there are many examples in Scripture of women ministering to a variety of different audiences,. For instance, let’s look at Romans 16:1-2

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me”

It is clear that Phoebe is a woman's name. Her title in Greek is “diakanos”, a word that can either mean minister or deacon. This seems to suggest Phoebe was at least a deacon in the church, but might also means she was a pastor, evangelist, apostle, or teacher as well.

Next we have Romans 16:3-5.

“Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house.”

Priscilla is a woman, part of a husband and wife team who work as pastor-teachers, overseeing a church that meets in their home. Since Priscilla is mentioned first here in the greeting, it is suggested that she was more the leader.

It may help to look at what the work of a pastor-teacher is. Let’s take a moment to look at two passages in particular.

Timothy 4:11-14: Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. “

2 Timothy 2:14-2:17; 4:1-5 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

Here we see the job description of a pastor-teacher. So, can we know for sure that this fits Priscilla? Yes, because we see that she engages in this specifically. Let’s look to Acts 18:24-26.

Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately”

Notice that it doesn’t say just Aquila, a man, instructed Apollos on the way of God, but rather they both did…..thus Priscilla, a woman, was also instructing a man, Jew named Apollos, on the way of God. How could this be if it was wrong for a woman to teach?

Let’s look at another important woman in Scripture now, a woman named Junia. Romans 16:7: “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.”

Some translations say these are two male names, “Adronicus and Junias” but the actual Greek is one male name Adronicus, and Junia. Junia is always a woman's name in Greek culture.

So we see that Junia was counted among the apostles. But what does an apostle do?

Observe Romans 15:20 “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation”

Also, we can see 1 Corinthians 3:5-15

“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.  By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. “

The role of an apostolic minister is to oversee sharing the Gospel, planting churches in areas where a Gospel ministry is not yet at work. They set up the “foundations” of new ministries and new churches. They train leaders who build on that foundation. As an apostle, Junia is a woman who led the church and proclaimed the word of God in this way.

Next we see in Acts 21:8-9 the daughters of Philip, the evangelist, who serve the church as female prophets.

“Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.”

So Philip’s daughters prophesied. But what does that mean? A prophet in the New Testament is a man or woman who reports in human words messages they directly receive from God in prayer.

In Acts 21:10-11 we see a male prophet prophesying in a worship service.

“After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.”

The purpose of prophetic ministry is to show others that God is real. Observe 1 Corinthians 14:3, 24-25.

But everyone who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"

In conclusion, we will look at two passages spoken by Paul. Romans 16:12 says “Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.”

And Romans 16: 6 -- “Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you”

Paul's reference to working very hard in the Lord usually is reserved by for those engaged in a Gospel mission, such as missionaries. This shows the special work that these women did as ministers of the Gospel. All these show that women in the Bible really did preach, prophesy, teach and spread the Gospel.