We shall look at five types of roles the women in Acts appeared to perform. There is no clear-cut demarcation or distinction of roles in each woman or group of women, but rather some roles appeared to be more prominent in one woman than another.

A number of women in Acts performed this supportive role. This means serving quietly, behind the scenes, doing tasks which may be menial, domestic and unnoticeable. The mention of Rhoda in Acts 12:13–25 is rather significant because of her position as a maidservant. Luke mentions her name perhaps to show that even performing menial domestic tasks can be just as important to the extension of the Kingdom of God as those more prominent roles. In the first place, she was a spiritual ally of the woman (Mary) she served. She faithfully guarded the gate while the other believers gathered to pray in Mary’s house. She confessed Mary’s God, experienced the same spiritual life that Mary experienced, and shared in the joys and woes of the Church of God. Naturally, she would have preferred to be inside where the others were at prayer. In spite of that, she faithfully performed her duty, keeping vigil over the house.

Another woman who played this supportive role was Lydia, the first European convert. She practised hospitality by urging Paul and Silas to stay at her home (Acts 16:15). She was a wise woman who knew what a privilege and blessing it would be to open her home to God’s servants. Her home became a refuge for Paul and Silas until the riot arose and they were imprisoned. We read that the other believers gathered in her house presumably to pray while Paul and Silas were in prison. They returned to Lydia’s house, after their miraculous release and enjoyed her generous hospitality.

The one woman who stood out most prominently as initiating this role of Care Provider was Dorcas. There must have been many needy people in the 1st century, widows and orphans who had no public institutions to look after them. Dorcas, touched by the love and example of Christ, dedicated her life to the needs of many. She was described as "full of good works and charitable deeds which she did" (Acts 9:36). Abraham Kuyper (Women of the New Testament, Michigan, Zondervan Publishing House, 1962, 79) made this fitting comment about her, "For that reason Tabitha’s being raised from the dead has a special significance. By completing that miraculous wonder the Lord placed His divine stamp of approval upon the work of caring for the poor, which Tabitha introduced. She lived that she might devote her life to His genuinely Christian philanthropy."

The women in Acts contributed significantly to the spread of the Gospel. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit empowered them to become witnesses. The promise and commission in Acts 1:8 were for the women as well. Since women were influential in the home, often the conversion of women led to the conversion of the entire household. For example, in Acts 16:14,15 we see Lydia’s conversion resulted in the baptism of her entire household. We may also imply that the conversion of those prominent Greek women in Thessalonica and Berea led to the spread of the Gospel in these parts of the Roman Empire. It was also logical to conclude that both women and men were persecuted and were dispersed during the period of Saul’s reign of terror. The women and men took the Gospel everywhere they were dispersed.

In Acts, we have an example of a woman performing the teaching role. It was possible that Priscilla shared teaching responsibilities with her husband at their house church in Ephesus.

There were other women who played the teaching and counselling role in an unobtrusive, informal way, as in the case of Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois. Eunice, together with her mother, Lois, taught the Scriptures to young Timothy as attested by Paul in his letter, (2 Timothy 1:1–5; 3:15). This is significant, because Timothy’s father was a non-believer, a Greek. Despite her difficulty in bringing up her son in a home where only one spouse was a believer, she did not fail in her duty in teaching him the scriptures, thus giving him a firm foundation.

The clearest evidence that women of Acts were involved in public ministry is found in Acts 21:9: "Now this man had four daughters who prophesied." Besides these four women, there was the illustrious Priscilla who featured prominently as a credible teacher. After the first mention in Acts 18:2, Priscilla’s name always occurs first when they are discussed (Acts 18:18–19; Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19). Paul later commended her together with her husband as "fellow workers in Christ Jesus" (Romans 16:3,4).

The early church gave women a place of honour and dignity. Today, as in the first century, there is plenty of scope for the ministry of a godly woman without violating the divine order.

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